The UFC's marketing muscle has already given a boost to Strikeforce, according to CEO Scott Coker.
On Wednesday Coker told MMAjunkie.com (
www.mmajunkie.com) that the first Strikeforce commercial to air on a UFC broadcast prompted a surge in ticket sales for "Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley."
The executive believes the promotional push will drive ticket sales even higher when the final tallies are in.
"We're right around 4,000," Coker said of current ticket sales.
"Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley" takes place April 9 at Valley View Casino Center in San Diego and airs live on Showtime. It features a headlining bout between Strikeforce welterweight champ Nick Diaz and hard-slugging challenger Paul Daley. Both are UFC veterans.
The UFC aired a commercial for the event during this past Saturday's UFC 128 broadcast.
Both Coker and UFC president Dana White took note of the surreality of seeing the once-competing MMA brands sharing air time.
However, Coker said Strikeforce stands to benefit greatly from the UFC's footprint on television and social media.
"I think they definitely made an impact on ticket sales over the weekend as that commercial ran," he said. "They have the ability to get the consumer that purchases MMA. As you know, their Facebook (page) has five million (friends), and their Twitter is 1.2 million. They just get to a lot of people really quick about events that are happening.
"It's a good thing. It's a lot more than we had."
And that could lead to bigger numbers in television viewership and live attendance.
"I believe this fight can do 8,000 to 10,000 people," Coker said.
Among its 46 events to date, Strikeforce has topped the 10,000 attendance mark just eight times.
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