STRIKEFORCE CHALLENGERS VII gate, ratings and payroll.

On Friday night, Strikeforce ran their seventh Challengers card. Here are the numbers for it:

Attendance: 4,963 overall. No data has been released as to how many are paid and how many are comps.
Gate: $109,222.
These numbers are a notable improvement from the previous couple of Challengers shows. The gate was up 26% from the previous show.

Ratings: a 1.0 with 316,000 viewers. This show took place on free Showtime weekend this show certainly benefited from it. These numbers are up 111% from the previous challengers show.

Official payouts:
Lavar Johnson: $16,000 ($8,000 win bonus)
def. Lolohea Mahe: $3,000
Ron "Abongo" Humphrey: $7,000 ($3,500 win bonus)
def. George Bush III: $5,000
Andre Galvao: $10,000 (no win bonus)
def. Luke Stewart: $5,000
Miesha Tate: $5,000 ($2,000 win bonus)
def. Zoila Frausto: $3,000
Justin Wilcox: $12,000 ($6,000 win bonus)
def Shamar Bailey: $4,000
Daniel Cormier: $500 (no win bonus)
def. John Devine: $2,500
Total disclosed payroll was $73,000.

Note: Obviously Daniel Cormier made more than $500. The To Fight and To Win pay has to be reported to the SAC, but any and all other income does not. Signing bonuses for overall contracts or even for the fight agreement as well as gate or ppv percentages are not uncommon in MMA at the bigger levels. While none of the other guys on this card are likely to get any of those things, Daniel certainly did. Odds are good he gets a signing bonus that makes this worth his while.

The reason for constructing the contract this way could be a number of things. The simplest of which is Cormier and/or Strikeforce not wanting folks to know exactly how much was paid to this new fighter. His background certainly increases his worth and I would not be surprised if they feel he could be a legit draw both in terms of ratings and gate, but also in terms of mainstream media attention.

Final thoughts:
Overall, these numbers are very positive. If the next SF Challengers show can maintain these, it would suggest that Strikeforce is making some progress in terms of brand recognition. The increased ratings can be attributed to Showtime being free from another 50 million homes, but that does not account for the increase in attendance and gate. The attendance could be nothing since we don't know how many comps were handed out, but a 26% gate increase is impressive in any situation.