Front Office Football Central - View Single Post - Mixed Martial Arts Thread (UFC and others)

JonInMiddleGA · 02-28-2008, 12:14 PM

http://sports.myway.com/news/02282008/v1846.html

LOS ANGELES (AP) -Mixed martial arts will air on one of the major television networks for the first time.

CBS announced a deal Thursday with ProElite, which produces MMA events, to broadcast in prime time a sport that has been growing in popularity. The plan is to televise two-hour live specials four times a year on Saturday nights.

ProElite CEO Douglas DeLuca called it a "pivotal moment for the sport."

ProElite already produces MMA events for its EliteXC fight division on the Showtime cable channel, which is owned by CBS.

"Mixed martial arts is one of the fastest growing sports in the country and a wildly popular entertainment vehicle for upscale, young adult audiences," Kelly Kahl, CBS Primetime's senior executive vice president, said in a release.

edit to add question: For the people who follow this a lot more closely than I do, isn't EliteXC/ProElite compared to the big boy(s) only about a notch above your local Friday night indy wrestling fed compared to the WWE? I mean, I wouldn't even consider the people who just produced Slice vs Abbott to be as close to the top as I consider indy wrestling's Ring of Honor.

02-28-2008, 12:14 PM	#177
JonInMiddleGA Hall Of Famer Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Behind Enemy Lines in Athens, GA	http://sports.myway.com/news/02282008/v1846.html LOS ANGELES (AP) -Mixed martial arts will air on one of the major television networks for the first time. CBS announced a deal Thursday with ProElite, which produces MMA events, to broadcast in prime time a sport that has been growing in popularity. The plan is to televise two-hour live specials four times a year on Saturday nights. ProElite CEO Douglas DeLuca called it a "pivotal moment for the sport." ProElite already produces MMA events for its EliteXC fight division on the Showtime cable channel, which is owned by CBS. "Mixed martial arts is one of the fastest growing sports in the country and a wildly popular entertainment vehicle for upscale, young adult audiences," Kelly Kahl, CBS Primetime's senior executive vice president, said in a release. edit to add question: For the people who follow this a lot more closely than I do, isn't EliteXC/ProElite compared to the big boy(s) only about a notch above your local Friday night indy wrestling fed compared to the WWE? I mean, I wouldn't even consider the people who just produced Slice vs Abbott to be as close to the top as I consider indy wrestling's Ring of Honor. __________________ "I lit another cigarette. Unless I specifically inform you to the contrary, I am always lighting another cigarette." - from a novel by Martin Amis Last edited by JonInMiddleGA : 02-28-2008 at 12:18 PM.