Reports: EliteXC Closing Doors
Mixed Martial Arts company EliteXC– hich has televised three events on the CBS network-is going out of business, according to multiple published reports
By Ben Grossman -- Broadcasting & Cable, 10/21/2008 10:39:00 AM EDT
Mixed Martial Arts company EliteXC–which has televised three events on the CBS network–is going out of business, according to multiple published reports. CBS’s Showtime network is a minority owner in the company.
CBS has aired its EliteXC events on Saturday nights, the most recent on Oct. 4 ,when the league’s biggest star, Kimbo Slice, was beaten in 14 seconds by a last-minute replacement named Seth Petruzelli. Reports surfaced afterwards that Petruzelli had been encouraged to fight in an entertaining style.
CBS had varying levels of success with ratings for EliteXC. The first card – which featured Slice -- drew 6.5 million viewers on May 31, before a card without Slice did just 2.7 million on July 26. The event earlier this month averaged 4.5 million viewers.
A request for comment from CBS had yet to be answered at press time, but Showtime confirmed in a statement that there will be no EliteXC bout on Nov. 8. "ProElite officials have advised us that they will not be able to put on the EliteXC event scheduled for exhibition on Showtime on Nov. 8. In view of Showtime’s leadership role in sports programming, including boxing and mixed martial arts, we intend to explore other opportunities. "
