STRIKEFORCE FINALE RATINGS: 'MARQUARDT VS. SAFFIEDINE' ENDS ON LOW NOTE...

This past weekend's "Strikeforce: Marquardt vs. Saffiedine" event, which officially signaled the end of the organization, drew one of the smallest audiences in Strikeforce-Showtime history.

Overall, the event averaged a 0.82 household rating and 310,000 viewers, MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) confirmed with industry sources.

Even though the Jan. 12 event took place during Showtime's free-preview weekend, which made it available in approximately 80 million homes, the event ranked 13th out of the 14 "Arena Series" events that have aired since 2011.

"Strikeforce: Marquardt vs. Saffiedine" took place at Chesapeake Energy Center in Oklahoma City. The main card, which saw Tarec Saffiedine take the welterweight title from Nate Marquardt, aired on Showtime following select prelims on Showtime Extreme. Daniel Cormier, Josh Barnett, Gegard Mousasi and Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza also picked up wins during the main-card broadcast.

The event came after two canceled shows (in September and November). While initially expected to feature three championship fights, "Strikeforce: Marquardt vs. Saffiedine" was plagued by injuries and featured many mismatches. Many winners and losers from the card are now headed to Strikeforce's sister promotion, the UFC.

Strikeforce's five 2012 events averaged 446,000 viewers. Strikeforce's eight events in 2011 drew an average of 521,000 viewers. The previous event, "Strikeforce: Rousey vs. Kaufman," scored 529,000 viewers.

The Showtime ratings for Strikeforce "Arena Series" shows since 2011 included:
"Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Silva" (February 2011): 741,000 viewers
"Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum" (June 2011): 624,000
"Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson" (July 2011): 571,000
"Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg" (January 2011): 561,000
"Strikeforce: Rousey vs. Kaufman" (August 2012): 529,000
"Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley" (April 2011): 528,000
"Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey" (March 2012): 472,000
"Strikeforce: Heavyweight Grand Prix Final" (May 2012): 463,000
"Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal" (December 2011): 460,000
"Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Kennedy" (July 2012): 420,000
"Strikeforce: Feijao vs. Henderson" (March 2011): 412,000
"Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine" (January 2012): 344,000
"Strikeforce: Marquardt vs. Saffiedine" (January 2013): 310,000
"Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Kharitonov" (September 2011): 274,000

http://www.mmajunkie.com/news/2013/01/strikeforce-finale-ratings-marquardt-vs-saffiedine-ends-on-low-note

They had no marketing for this event and the NFL playoffs probably hurt. Plus, some mismatches. Even the free preview weekend couldn't help that.

I'm sure the playoffs had a huge effect.

Especially considering the games were great.

nodogoshi wrote:I'm sure the playoffs had a huge effect.

Especially considering the games were great.

Yeah, I think that was def. the reason. They were some great games this weekend. Sucks I missed the end of the Baltimore game because of the fights but MMA had to take priority.