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MMA Promotion - Get Those Seats Filled
As a promoter I feel that I should make my way to other promoters' events. Many are friends and I am going to show
support for their show. Often times I will take fliers for my events or handout business cards. I offer the same to
other promoters who attend my events. It helps in many ways. It helps to promote your event and also network with
fighters and other people in the industry. Most of us share a common goal, to sell out our events. Most of us got into
the promotion side because we love MMA but, we also want to show a profit for the long hours and mind numbing work we do
in promoting our events. It is the same for almost every event. You don't truly know what kind of turn out you will have
unless the show sold out before hand. You don't know how many of the fighters will be a no show and there are no shows at
most events. Last minute problems throw you off and take up valuable time. So what are ways to help avoid these
problems?
Marketing
Man did I learn the hard way about marketing. I did not know much going into my first event and a small numbers of
attendees showed. Now I take a different approach and it seems to be working. I partner with businesses and promote them
while promoting myself. They hang posters for you, hand out fliers, and let people know about your event. In return you
throw a small logo on your posters or website for them. I get huge numbers of fliers made. Find a good printing company
that offers you a quality product for a good price. I use 4x4 double side laminated cards. These are small enough to fit
in a pocket, the look very professional and make great coasters for bars and restaurants. Getting the fliers out can be a
pain in the rear. It's a lot of driving and talking to people and gets to be a burden. One way to get around this is to
get the fliers to the fighters. They want to fight in front of packed houses. It just isn't the same to fight in front
of 50 people. So the fighters will run their butts off handing out fliers. They will plaster them everywhere. Posters
are nice but they get costly and a lot of them get torn down. You still need them, so find the best outlet for them at
the best price and get them hung everywhere you can. Television commercials are awesome. You can get a lot of commercial
spots on local cable channels for very little. Find a kid who can work a computer like a watch maker and have them edit
and burn your commercial on the computer. If you buy air time most cable companies will add the final items to the DVD at
no cost. For example, I am going to have 78 thirty second commercials aired for 2 weeks before my next event. These will
air during Pro Wrestling shows (all of the major ones), during UFC shows and the rest spread out on channels like Spike
and ESPN. The attention this will draw is so valuable and costs far less than you would imagine. Radio is another tool
that does a lot. The draw back is that it is expensive in most areas. Cable can localize the commercials to a specific
region, where as radio has no such boundaries. Another draw back lies in the fact of how large their broadcast areas are.
A guy 50 miles away isn't really likely to attend your event. He may want to, but it isn't likely he will make the drive
to it.
Ticket sales
It's getting hard to get a feel on ticket sales. I had tickets advertised for a month before my last event. They really
didn't start selling until the week before the event. The problem could lie in the limited amount of locations in which
to buy them. I had ticket sales on my website and that was pretty much it. I knew that for the following shows I needed
a different outlet. I made a deal with a couple of local businesses to act as tickets agents. They get a cut off each
ticket sold but, they push the heck out of them. Two of the businesses I use sell tickets to pay for their VIP tables at
the shows. What ever money they make above that is used for food and drinks. Another outlet for sales is the fighters.
Amateurs can't be compensated for their fights. That's a known fact but, you can use them as ticket agents. Again, they
want to fight in front of a packed house and will sell tickets to every person they can. They don't care who it is as
long as they can sell a ticket. Plus they get some extra money for what ever they need.
Pre show costs
Your first event can cost you a ton of money. You have to build your base in everything. Cage or Ring rentals are
ridiculous. I saw cages go from $1,200 to $2,000 for the night. Rings are no better. I was quoted $1,000 to $3,000 to
rent a ring. I rented a very nice cage from Matt of Xtreme Cagefighting Championship in Michigan. It was a top quality
item and he had the fairest price out there. I liked his cage so much I bought one from the company that made his. It
was a bit costly but it will be paid off in just a few shows and rentals. Gloves were something that I wasn't prepared
for. Gloves can run anywhere from $24 to $80 each pair. Amateur gloves seem to be a hard item to find, and if you do
find them, prepare to pay around $40-$60 a pair. I am currently working with a manufacturer to have my gloves custom
made. By buying in bulk I save a lot of money and can turn around and sell the gloves to other promoters. There are so
many things that I needed that I wasn't prepared for. I found eBay to be a great place for things like banners. Then I
found a sponsor who makes banners for different clients. They made me some nice banners for free. Take your time and
research everything. There are so many companies out there wanting to make money that will offer you a lot for some very
competitive prices.
I hope these tips can help some of you out. Just remember to take it slow. I personally take 2-3 months to plan out a
show. I may book them so that I have them almost every month, and some months I have 2 shows, but the planning for each
show starts early. I have fight cards shaping up for one event and will shuffle fights in and out from 2 or 3 events to
make my fight cards even. I personally watch over all aspects of my events. They are small enough for that to happen.
That way I know what is going on and how. I am always open to suggestions and talk to other promoters or industry
insiders. Listen to them they have valuable advice that can make things easier for you. Above all else, put on a good
show and take care of your fighters. They have a tough enough role to play in this. They should be able to rely on the
person who is putting them into the cage.
by John Poe
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