Elite XC and the XFL

Great line from Yahoo! Sports MMA columnist Kevin Iole. You can read his mailbag here.

It would have been far better off to let [Kimbo] Slice fight off-television fights and develop his mixed martial arts game rather than exploit him for a quick buck and, as it appears has happened, permanently ruin him. He only seems to have gimmick appeal now.

In 2001 I lived through the bloody disaster that was the XFL as a WWF employee. It was bad enough the WWF forced its sports-entertainment brand down the throats of those looking to see if it can produce a legit alternative to the NFL. The worst was that first it launched one year after it was founded when it needed at least a good two-three years to properly build a front office, its franchises and thoroughly evaluate both talent and a business plan.

Then, instead of changing perception and creating a reputation on a small cable network with a niche audience, it signed with NBC, which gave it a prime-time slot Saturday nights. The league ended up a catastrophic embarrassment and died a painful death.

I'm not saying Elite XC is the XFL; the former can brag about a collection of great fights. But their big mistake — and CBS bought into this — was forcing a cult creation down everyone's throats without any regard for the total package. Look at Strikeforce: They're on NBC during the overnight on Saturday/Sunday. They're building a program. Look at the Tampa Bay Rays. Since their inaugural season, they finished out of last place only twice, but learned after the 1999 season that the quick fix never works. They stayed patient and built a program, and they're in the World Series.

There would have been no harm in developing Kimbo slowly and getting your marketing department to promote around Robbie Lawler, Jake Shields, Nick Diaz, Eddie Alvarez. Instead, the public was force-fed a fighter who needed seasoning and its core audience has its intelligence insulted.