Affliction 3 appears likely to air on free television. However, a deal with a major network is unlikely. Without mainstream stars that can draw ratings, networks will not be interested in giving them a Saturday night slot. MMA Weekly had more on this this weekend:
Affliction will counter-program UFC 100 on the summer date with its third event at a location yet to be determined, according to sources close to the situationPlans are to air the event to fans on non-premium cable television, although sources could not confirm the broadcast platform. Affliction Entertainment has partnered with Fox Sports Net and HD Net for the undercards of its first two events, so either would be a likely candidate for Affliction 3.
Additionally, WAMMA heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko and Josh Barnett are expected to fight on the card, but likely not against each other. According to one source, the cost of the heavily anticipated fight would be too expensive for a non-pay-per-view broadcast. Other sources indicate that Affliction is trying to put together another heavyweight bout, pitting former UFC champion Tim Sylvia against Paul Buentello, though it has not yet been agreed to.
What can we make of this? It's obvious they are trying to capitalize on the press for UFC 100 by running a show that weekend, but if this thing is on HDNet, how many people will even see it? This could be a big play on HDNet's part to try to get thousands of fans to call and demand that their cable provider provide HDNet. I still don't see how it makes sense for Affliction though.
The fact that they are considering this completely undermines the dubious claims that the second show did 200,000 pay per view buys. Even if Barnett and Fedor don't fight each other, it's still an expensive show. Where is the money coming from? They can easily reduce payroll by over a million by not doing a huge Fedor fight, and they can reduce it by close to 2 million if they get everyone to take paycuts. That would account for almost everything they make on pay per view, but wouldn't it still be better at that point to do it there?
Perhaps Affliction has another angle they are approaching this from. Maybe pay per view fees are not being supported by interest, and they just want to fulfill their obligations and get out of promoting. Or maybe this story doesn't make sense for a reason, and it just won't happen.
