With less than two months to go until its first show, there’s now some question as to where fans will be able to watch Hulk Hogan’s Real American Freestyle promotion.
As noted by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter’s Dave Meltzer, the promotion’s co-founder, Izzy Martinez, stated in an interview last week that Real American Freestyle had agreed to a broadcasting deal with Fox. Meltzer emphasized that Martinez appeared to be referring to the network’s national broadcast channel – not FS1, a cable or streaming deal.
Regardless of the financial terms, that would be a major coup for a freestyle wrestling promotion that has no proven track record or mainstream star power beyond its affiliation with Hogan. And if that seems too good to be true, it very well could be, with Meltzer adding that combat sports insider Brian McMahon has indicated that the deal isn’t with Fox’s national broadcast channel, but rather Fox Nation – Fox News’ streaming service.
“That’s obviously a gigantic difference,” Meltzer wrote. “It’s also far easier to believe.”
That it would be, especially when considering that Hogan, Martinez and fellow co-founder Eric Bischoff have already done promotional hits with Fox News, which was also one of the few mainstream outlets to publish a story on the promotion’s formation in April. Even in an era where live sports rights are all the rage, the idea of Fox’s national broadcast channel airing an unproven freestyle wrestling product seemed like a bridge too far, especially when factoring in that the company’s first show on Saturday, Aug. 30 coincides with Week 1 of the college football season.
Yet despite the decrease in exposure, Meltzer also pointed out that there could be some benefits for the company when it comes to airing on a smaller platform. Most notably, it will have less expectations from a ratings standpoint, which could prove beneficial if RAF’s early attendance numbers are any indication of the interest in its shows.
“It would need a large number of viewers or it wouldn’t be able to survive on network TV,” Meltzer wrote. “FS1 would be far less significant as far as exposure and in this day and age, being on that station, would not have the same pressures to do ratings but also won’t have nearly the same exposure.
“Just getting on television without the media rights deal paying enough to cover overhead, it’s not long-term viable as a business. Nobody can make something work on just live gate money, especially given how few tickets the first show has sold.”
As Meltzer alluded to, Real American Freestyle will need to eventually land a major media rights deal if it’s going to have a chance at proving successful long-term. A streaming deal with Fox Nation might not be that, but at least it’s a start. And it will be worth monitoring what other potential opportunities arise as its first show approaches.