Funny stuff…I love it–that’s exactly what it looks like he is trying to do…with the leather jackets and the training shots?? come on..who is he kidding?

“Do you have to rub it in our faces? People might actually be able to get behind that guy and invest their energy into the product.”

100% AGREE!

I’m another who agrees that a change of scenery would help. A building like the ECW Arena looks great on ESPN for boxing – something similar outside of the US can’t be that hard to find. (I’m just guessing that Ayre would prefer to film these tapings outside of America).

I also wouldn’t mind a different announcer than Col. Bob Sheridan. While he’s definitely improved as an announcer, I think Bodog could use someone a bit younger who appears as more of an “MMA guy”. The Col. just always strikes me as a boxing announcer first, MMA guy second, and he’s always seemed out of place.

Having said this, I think your comments on Bodog’s raunchiness are spot on. I guess it makes sense to target the 18-34 audience but there’s no reason to treat them as if they were drooling teenagers who will buy anything that has T&A in it or believe playing poker & partying is a viable lifestyle for everyone.

Bodog has some great fighters and from all accounts it treats them very well and pays them decently. It really is a diamond in the rough and if they play their cards well they could eventually position themselves as competition for Zuffa.

One suggestion I would add is that they should target other demographics as well as have more events in areas that the UFC doesn’t visit often. The southwest, outside of California, seem to be predominantly served by KOTC and smaller shows. The Midwest, the occasional UFC show in Ohio notwithstanding, is also full of small promotions like XFO but none of them has a large fan base or the advantage of boasting big name fighters on their cards that Bodog does. Likewise, how about pulling one on the UFC and having a show in Mexico before Zuffa holds its event in 2009? How about one in Chicago?

I don’t really know if it’s more profitable to create a grassroots fan base like ECW did (or WEC before it moved to Vegas) or if it’s simply better to focus on the weekly show like Bodog is doing now. Nonetheless, I believe more local advertising (I didn’t see much of it in NJ) whenever they have an event and having more shows in areas where fans are starving for live MMA might be a good way of creating more fans of Bodog Fight.

Change the shooting locations – Yeah. That St. Petersburg shoot looked like it happened in a hotel conference room. And the beach is getting old. All I can think of is heat and humidity, then add two sweaty guys rolling around on top of each other looking like they are humping… Not a good visual.

Tone down the women – Yep. This is why I thought that it was an ad for a chat line. I kept expecting to hear “Dial 976-BODOG chat LIVE with these hot foreign girls. Find nice Russian Bride for lonely Americans!”

The old ECW arena was great, the crowd was on top of the action, and a real part of the show. I’m sure that the athletes feed off of the crowd, and people screaming and having fun is exciting. Sure, having other MMA people standing around the ring makes for a knowledgeable crowd, but it looks like a sparring match with all those people milling around.
Unfortunately, most sport suck to watch live. The participants are too far away, the angle on the ‘Tron is bad, the sound is awful, and you don’t know what is happening because there is no auditory information being given. And no replays (or pausing and rewinding with DVR).