News Corp. and Comcast are doing their part to grow the fight/wrestling industry. As anyone who watched the NHL All Star Game likely knows, Chuck Norris was interviewed during the game to promote the World Combat League.
The World Combat League is the latest acquisition by the Versus network, joining the NHL, lacrosse, bull riding and many other minor sports with very small followings. The league apparently has eight teams, and actually has a rule against “passivity”.
No Passivity- Retreating or circling without striking – or fighting only when the opponent attacks.
No Ali rope-a-dope here.
The league has several one-hour appearances on Versus at various times. One wonders if Chuck Norris simply doesn’t have the powerful cachet he used to; in the old days, Norris could simply walk up to George Bodenheimer and get a league like the WCL on ABC in prime time. And, in lieu of The Pussycat Dolls, he himself would sing the introduction.
Elsewhere, News Corp. makes the interesting move of placing a sports property on little watched My Network TV. MyTV, formed after several FOX-owned affiliates were left without programming after the WB and UPN joined together to form The CW, consists of two hours of soap operas every night but Sunday. Joining those soap operas is the International Fight League, which will get 22 two-hour programs on MyTV starting in the middle of the year.
The IFL will be the only other property period for MyTV, as the network has only two shows it airs every single day. The mixed martial arts series will be a very large fish in a very small pond when it comes to the advertiser friendly male 18-34 demographic, but it is very unlikely that the IFL will see any major success, if any at all.
In addition to bouts on MyTV, the IFL will have distribution on FSN as well as Myspace and IGN.
Both of these moves seem to be a direct result of SpikeTV’s success with the Ultimate Fighting Championships; the UFC on SpikeTV outdrew NBA and Major League Baseball playoff games in the male 18-34 demographic last year, a relatively stunning development. One UFC telecast outdrew Game 1 of the ALCS on FOX by approximately 500,000 viewers in men 18-34 (incredible considering that FOX is broadcast and SpikeTV is cable), and a recent UFC telecast on SpikeTV outdrew a Suns/Heat game on ESPN 531,000 to 180,000 in the demographic.
Considering that the WCL and IFL are on Versus and MyTV respectively, that kind of success will likely not be duplicated. IFL bouts on FSN are the most likely to have relatively high ratings, but the NBA and MLB have no reason to fear either upstart league.
But then again, Chuck Norris is involved. Anything can happen.
