When Pete Dilorenzo was running around in that leather trench coat, Rob Font had a Jerry Curl, and Tapout was still cool....
Reigonal events would occur outside fairly often. Cards would be divided in to Ammy prelims, and pros on the main card. Occasionally you'd get a stick fight during the intermission.
With everything at a stand still, are there any promoters exploring these alternate options? I can't help but to notice fighters chomping at the bit to get back in there. It just seems promoters are worried about a financial loss by going the streaming route. So I figured I'd just blast out some alternatives.
Amateur prelims:
It probably wouldn't hurt to not have to pay half the fighters on the card.
Actually getting people to stream the event:
In loo of ticket sales just credit the fighter when you buy the stream. The fighter will get their percentage still and it's guarneteed eyes on the show if you allow people to pay in advance.
Ask gyms to help:
No one wants to do anything for free, but I'm sure there's a gym with 4-5 guys looking to fight and secure a paycheck. I can't imagine a gym owner rejecting the idea of allowing an event to occur in their facility. It's free advertising and home field advantage for their fighters.
Sponsorship:
You can stream ads between fights and as a sponsor you actually get your commerical played vs just a logo on the cage floor. No offence Coops but sweaty dudes in spandex don't really make me crave fish and chips.
I could go on and on but the bottom line is that there are alternatives. When no venue wanted to be associated with MMA promoters found a way. In 2020 it's never been easier to put on a kick ass show remotely. Take the risk, if you build it they will come.
Amateur bouts will be nearly impossible to promote without the fan availability. Streaming is the best bet right now, CFFC, LFA, CES have had the luxury of UFC fightpass deals that allowed them to pull off shows with limited or no attendance. Without the partnership with a service such as fightpass or flocombat the promotion would be entirely responsible for the production of such events and that comes with an entirely new set of circumstances. Also the only state currently allowing contact sports in New England is New Hampshire I believe, New Hampshire seems to be the key to running any type of local show in the near future, New Hampshire seems to be the most likely to sanction MMA events. As far as sponsorships go, its a great idea, in theory, but there are not a lot of businesses currently looking to put up a decent sum of money to support an event, so the market for sponsors is limited. I think it is going to take a New Hampshire licensed promotion with a streaming service in order to have an event before New England thaws...