IFL cancels August Show

It looks like the beginning of the end for the IFL. They just announced they are canceling their August show. The junkie is reporting that declaring bankruptcy is a possibility.

Well a lot of things probably went into this outcome. The team fighting concept while interesting was flawed on two counts. The first it was city as opposed to camp oriented. Second without differing point values for fights (i.e. KO gives 5 points, submission 4 points, TKO 3 points, unanimous decision 2 points and split decision 1 point) watching later fight could be meaningless.

The IFL probably went public too early and the result was overvalued stock ($17) that resulted in a pretty sharp drop in the value (5 cents) of the company. Trading stocks so early without a real fanbase or known quality of product reeks of speculation or early investors trying to make a quick buck in a new market. Coupled with a weak T.V. deal there has been little revenue.

That being said they did do some things right. Fighters were annual salaries as opposed to fight pay offs. There was health care for the fighters. They did create a star in heavyweight Ben Rothwell. And credit is due to the company for adapting, going from city model to camp model to the normal fight promotion model. They are keeping their most marketable fighters in action but in other promotions.

While the IFL may be doomed give them credit for trying to create a responsible promotion, owned by the fans and put on for them. Unfortunately publicly owned companies in sports rarely works out (exception Green Bay Packers).