|
|
  - THE HUMAN SIDE OF THE ELITEXC COLLAPSE
Saturday, October 25, 2008 - by Tom Hamlin - MMAWeekly.com
JT Steele started his career at ProElite, Inc. as an intern when the company was first formed in November of 2006. Hungry to get into the MMA business, he worked for free during the day while completing a law degree at Southwestern University by night.
In a short time, Steele became a paid employee of the company, a beneficiary of the rapid growth the company experienced in 2007. Steele worked in talent acquisition, fighter contracts, and regulatory affairs under Head of Fight Operations Jeremy Lappen, eventually gaining the title of Senior Manager of Fight Operations. Steele had met Lappen while interning for the World Fighting Alliance in its short-lived comeback.
Steele was at ground zero when EliteXC’s deal with CBS fell through, and says the fallout shocked rank and file employees.
“It happened so fast,” he said. “Literally, faster than any of us could have ever anticipated it. We were forced to shut down almost immediately. I think a lot of people didn’t anticipate that.”
On Monday, notices went out to all employees informing them that the company was permanently closing its doors. In 24 hours, most of the office had cleared out. Steele did his exit interview on Tuesday, and could only speculate who was remaining.
“What’s left is probably our general counsel, and maybe our accounting staff that’s just winding up the company,” Steele said. “Chuck (Champion) probably needs to stay around until the company formally files for bankruptcy.”
Steele says the state of the economy was a deciding factor in the quick demise of ProElite. The company’s cash reserves had drifted below $550,000, triggering a notice of default from one of its biggest investors, Showtime Networks.
“We didn’t have other avenues of financing that were available,” he said. “If you remember last week, the economy dropped in numbers that people haven’t seen since the Depression. Not a lot of people are willing to make quick decisions in finance right now, because cash is king and it’s hard to get. So the door shut almost instantly.”
Since the collapse, Steele has found himself in a place of introspection. He worked long hours to ensure the company’s success. It’s hard for him to hide his disappointment.
“It’s hard to know where to start,” he said. “It’s really difficult to formulate what you want to say when something that you’ve worked so hard for the last two years…there’s a lot of emotion involved.”
Steele was particularly hurt by EliteXC colleague T.Jay Thompson’s comments in the media. In an interview with MMAWeekly.com, Thompson said he was confident that EliteXC fighter Seth Petruzelli was paid to stand with “Heat” headliner Kimbo Slice.
“There was no fixing fights involved,” Steele said of the Slice/Petruzelli fight. “We were there, the commission was there, and we made our statement pretty clear. And anything contrary, without any type of evidence other than a suspicion is really worthless. Those type of comments are very damaging to everyone around it. I think it’s completely inappropriate to base something off of your opinion.”
Steele says he has tried to contact Thompson for clarification on the comments, to no avail.
In the final six months of its operation, Steele said ProElite had begun to function at its best. A strong sense of teamwork overrode the office infighting that characterized its early days. But as it turns out, it was too little, too late.
“We definitely didn’t see eye to eye on everything, but we like to hope that we made great fights when we went to the trenches and had to make decisions,” Steele said.
Steele does not know the fate of EliteXC’s fighter contracts, but concurs with Thompson that they will likely end up as assets in bankruptcy court. Between their fight library and talent, Steele believes the company is very valuable.
As for his future, Steele hasn’t thought about it too much. He still wants to be in the industry.
“This is where I want to stay,” he said. “I’m going to see how things shake out, and see where my services can be used. I love this sport, and whatever I can do to help it grow, I’m in it to win it.”
The moral of Steele’s story is clear. Whatever you think about EliteXC’s legacy in the MMA world, there has been a human cost to its demise. Many people that worked with good intentions are now out of a job in a bad economy.
BACK TO THE NEWS
Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday
Related Articles :
- - ELITEXC INVESTIGATION CLOSED, SUSPICIONS LINGER (Thursday, October 23, 2008)
Though many suspicions and outright accusations have been voiced, the Florida State Boxing Commission on Thursday closed it's investigation into the Kimbo Slice vs. Seth Petruzelli fight, finding no wrongdoing...
- - VILLASENOR TALKS ELITEXC AND WHAT COMES NEXT (Wednesday, October 22, 2008)
For the second time in three months Joey Villasenor had a fight pulled from under him, except this time it's left him with no promotion to fight for and he's ready to move on...
- - CAGE RAGE'S DAVE O'DONNELL TO FORGE AHEAD (Tuesday, October 21, 2008)
Despite the downfall of ProElite, Inc., the parent company of Britain's Cage Rage promotion, co-founder Dave O'Donnell vows that the promotion he started will move forward in one form or another...
- - ELITEXC CHAMP JAKE SHIELDS EYES FUTURE AND UFC (Tuesday, October 21, 2008)
Top welterweight Jake Shields spoke exclusively to MMAWeekly.com about the shutdown of EliteXC and his hopes of landing with the UFC for his next fight...
- - ELITEXC INSIDER DETAILS COMPANY'S DOWNFALL (Tuesday, October 21, 2008)
In an interview with MMAWeekly.com Monday evening, Icon Sport founder T.J. Thompson said crisis management, or lack thereof, brought Pro Elite down.
- - CBS RATINGS NOT ENOUGH, ELITEXC CLOSING UP SHOP (Monday, October 20, 2008)
Various industry sources have confirmed to MMAWeekly.com that ProElite, Inc., the parent company of EliteXC, King of the Cage, Cage Rage, and others, is set to cease operations this week...
Copyright 2009 MMA Weekly LLC. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of MMA Weekly content is expressly prohibited without expressed written consent of MMA Weekly. MMA Weekly will not be liable for any errors in content or any action taken in reliance thereof.
|
|
|
|
