The deal sell Strikeforce to Zuffa seemed to happen almost overnight, after
the San Jose, Calif. based promotion had much improved television ratings over
its last few shows.
While the actual purchase price of the organization is still unknown, the
reason why the sale became necessary is much clearer now.
Speaking
to the media on Monday, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker eluded to the idea that
financial backer Silicon Valley Sports and Entertainment, who owns a stake in
the NHL’s San Jose Sharks as well as the HP Pavilion in San Jose, was looking to
get out of the MMA business.
“This is a historical day for mixed martial arts,” Coker stated.
“This is something that we thought long and hard about. SVSE have been great
partners, I think they wanted to get back to their hockey business and expansion
of sports business, which is their core business.
“So we had a long conversation and we decided to start looking into different
offers and that’s when we started talking to Lorenzo (Fertitta).”
While Strikeforce had different partners in the business, SVSE was the major
financial backer for the promotion. Coker made it clear that there were no bad
feelings between Strikeforce and SVSE, but ultimately the relationship was
coming to a close and he wasn’t ready to get out of MMA business, while they
clearly were.
“I think they had a really good time in this business, but like I said, they
want to get back to their core business,” said Coker. “I wanted to continue in
the mixed martial arts industry, and so that’s where the two linked up a while
back.”
Zuffa capitalized on the situation and swooped in to scoop up the second
biggest MMA promotion in North America.
Now Zuffa owns the two largest properties in the MMA world with the UFC and
Strikeforce. Both UFC president Dana White and CEO Lorenzo Fertitta have stated
that Strikeforce will remain a separate entity and operate independently, but
how long that lasts remains to be seen.
Source: www.mmaweekly.com
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