Big news for Vancouver based MMA fans

[chadsexington]

Hey guys...just wanted to let you know if you hadn't heard that Vancouver City Council has overturned the sanctioning ban for MMA, meaning UFC next July can go ahead, as can Mike and the boys from King of the Cage paying us a visit here

 

[Shaboobala]

I also heard that MFC has already applied to host an event in the near future.

The only stipulation with the ban being lifted was that the promoter must accept all liabilities of injury. In other words, they will have to buy their own insurance before any events - the city will not be liable for any injury that a fighter suffers.

 

[chadsexington]

In other words, they will have to buy their own insurance before any events

Is Jon writing a letter to MFC and UFC yet? If not, he should be

 

[Bebop]

Thanks for the heads up.

Sending my business card to DW shortly :beer:

 

[Triple B]

Hey guys...just wanted to let you know if you hadn't heard that Vancouver City Council has overturned the sanctioning ban for MMA, meaning UFC next July can go ahead, as can Mike and the boys from King of the Cage paying us a visit here

Hopefully Ontario can get their thumbs out of their bums in 2010 so that we can have St-Pierre vs Silva at the Rogers Centre. Can you say "70,000"?

 

[chadsexington]

Hopefully Ontario can get their thumbs out of their bums in 2010 so that we can have St-Pierre vs Silva at the Rogers Centre. Can you say "70,000"?

I JUST saw this post Ryan...I'm really surprised the UFC hasn't tried a couple big venue shows yet. Toronto is a very good example...I'm in agreeance that St. Pierre vs. Silva would do huge attendance numbers. I know they've had trouble selling larger arena venues in the States, but it really amazed me they didn't take UFC 100 for example, and put it somewhere like the Rose Bowl instead of an 11,000 seater. Wrestlemania still sells 50,000+ tickets, and I think a show like 100 could've done that too.

 

[Bulk-Buyer]

great news, hopefully something can get done in ontario

 

[Turtlelo]

Hey guys...just wanted to let you know if you hadn't heard that Vancouver City Council has overturned the sanctioning ban for MMA, meaning UFC next July can go ahead, as can Mike and the boys from King of the Cage paying us a visit here

I believe Ken from KOTC Canada is working on bringing a show to Vancouver.

 

[Turtlelo]

The only stipulation with the ban being lifted was that the promoter must accept all liabilities of injury. In other words, they will have to buy their own insurance before any events- the city will not be liable for any injury that a fighter suffers.

This is a must in my books, and something we do for every show we put on, regardless of where it is held.

 

[Turtlelo]

Hopefully Ontario can get their thumbs out of their bums in 2010 so that we can have St-Pierre vs Silva at the Rogers Centre. Can you say "70,000"?

Last I was told, Ontario is working on legislation right now for sanctioning of MMA. It may not be as far away as you think.

 

[Turtlelo]

I JUST saw this post Ryan...I'm really surprised the UFC hasn't tried a couple big venue shows yet. Toronto is a very good example...I'm in agreeance that St. Pierre vs. Silva would do huge attendance numbers. I know they've had trouble selling larger arena venues in the States, but it really amazed me they didn't take UFC 100 for example, and put it somewhere like the Rose Bowl instead of an 11,000 seater. Wrestlemania still sells 50,000+ tickets, and I think a show like 100 could've done that too.

UFC has a hard enough time selling enough tickets in LA and can not even fill the Staples Center. UFC 100 would have brought in about 20,000 to the Rose Bowl....tops. Interesting that WWE out sells MMA as far as attendance goes, but they only had 3 of the top 20 PPV's last year Wrestlemania #11, Royal Rumble #18, and Summerslam #20), yet the UFC had 13 in the top 20, including #1 (UFC 100).

Here's the top 20 estimates from August '08 through August '09 from f4wonline...

ESTIMATED NORTH AMERICAN PPV BUYS

1. 1,600,000 - Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir/Georges St. Pierre vs. Thiago Alves

2. 1,250,000 - Oscar De La Hoya vs. Manny Pacquiao

3. 1,250,000 - Manny Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto

4. 1,050,000 - Floyd Mayweather vs. Juan Manuel Marquez

5. 1,000,000 - Forrest Griffin vs. Rashad Evans/Frank Mir vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira/Quinton Jackson vs. Wanderlei Silva

6. 920,000 - B.J. Penn vs. Georges St. Pierre

7. 850,000 - B.J. Penn vs. Kenny Florian/Anderson Silva vs. Forrest Griffin

8. 825,000 - Manny Pacquiao vs. Ricky Hatton

9. 650,000 - Anderson Silva vs. Thales Leitis/Chuck Liddell vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua

10. 635,000 - Rashad Evans vs. Lyoto Machida/Matt Hughes vs. Matt Serra

11. 582,000 - WrestleMania: Undertaker vs. Michaels/Orton vs. HHH

12. 450,000 - Lyoto Machida vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua

13. 430,000 - Randy Couture vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

14. 360,000 - Rich Franklin vs. Wanderlei Silva

15. 350,000 - Quinton Jackson vs. Keith Jardine

16. 330,000 - Tito Ortiz vs. Forrest Griffin

17. 310,000 - Rich Franklin vs. Vitor Belfort

18. 288,000 - Royal Rumble: Rumble/Edge vs. Jeff Hardy/Cena vs. JBL

19. 250,000 - Rich Franklin vs. Dan Henderson

20. 229,000 - SummerSlam: Punk vs. Jeff Hardy ladder match/Cena vs. Orton

 

[chadsexington]

UFC has a hard enough time selling enough tickets in LA and can not even fill the Staples Center. UFC 100 would have brought in about 20,000 to the Rose Bowl....tops. Interesting that WWE out sells MMA as far as attendance goes, but they only had 3 of the top 20 PPV's last year Wrestlemania #11, Royal Rumble #18, and Summerslam #20), yet the UFC had 13 in the top 20, including #1 (UFC 100).

Mike, the Canadian market lends itself to being a bit of an anomaly in terms of show attendance because we don't get as many big shows here, so people jump on them when they do come out. The WWE was capable of selling out larger venues here for house shows back in the days they were almost bankrupt and couldn't draw a picture, let alone a full house in the US (though not anymore...they couldn't even sell out the 5,000 seat Agrodome last year) ... it's this sense of newness that still exists with us because we don't get the events often, if at all.

The reason why I think Rogers Center would be capable of selling a large amount of tickets isn't only because of Toronto's large population, but the surrounding markets. Within a few hours drive are a few large US markets with people that would probably make the trip. LA and Vegas are tough destinations for Western Canadians to make...even Portland was a bit of stretch since it's 6 hours drive.

btw, King of the Cage coming to Vancouver is pretty exciting. I know they run shows in Nanaimo once a year-ish, but it's a bit of a drive + ferry ride for us.