Luke Rockhold
“Rockhold vs. Kennedy” earns 420K viewers on Showtime
This past weekend’s “Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Kennedy” averaged 420,000 Showtime viewers, a number comfortably in range of the average number of viewers for Strikeforce this year.
The event’s main event featured Luke Rockhold defending his middleweight title against Tim Kennedy, while the co-main event featured Nate Marquardt winning the vacant welterweight title by stopping Tyron Woodley in the fourth round. The action took place at the Rose Garden in Portland, Ore.
After having been placed between two significant UFC pay per view events (UFC 148 and UFC on FUEL TV 4), promoters feared that the stacked card for “Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Kennedy” would not receive good ratings. The the lack of buzz and media attention surrounding the fights furthered their doubts.
The average viewers for Strikeforce’s three previous events this year is 426,000. Mixing in this past weekends numbers, the new average is 425,000.
Strikeforce has yet to have a highly successful event in terms of ratings, unlike last year. Three 2011 events received over 570,000 viewers:
- “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
As part of a new deal reached earlier this year between Strikeforce and Showtime, eight more fights are scheduled for 2o12. Also, as part of the deal, the prospects-driven Strikeforce Challengers event series has been cut.
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Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Kennedy Averaged 420,000 Viewers