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He has one hell of a line of bullshit. He could talk a dog off a meat wagon.
But he has a habit of fucking over the manufacturers he buys along with dealers while making the product cheaper in quality.
I think that the strategy seems to be to make the tickets a bit more ‘exclusive’ by using the lower capacity venues. A ‘full’ venue of 25K has a much better and more exciting feel than a 40K crowd in a venue that holds 60K. Empty seats are cancerous to any event like this.
It could also make for a better television presentation. Again, showing empty seats on the broadcast sends a pretty negative message, even if it’s subliminal. Showing a packed venue, even if it is actually a slightly smaller crowd than if you used a venue twice the size, implies that it’s an event that can’t/shouldn’t be missed.
The ‘playoff’ rounds are definitely focused on television ratings above actual live attendance, I believe. And that doesn’t imply anything negative, it’s just a little bit different than what us older folk grew up with.
Branson is a huge tourist destination with both entertainment and retail galore. What do you mean there won’t be much to entertain folks for the rest of the weekend? Look up big cedar lodge.
lol I lived in Missouri.... I know what Branson has to offer.... nobody who lives more than a few hours away or is under the age of 65 ever considers visiting
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The current TV deal was a 5 year deal through 2027 for SX/MX/SMX.
Thanks, so my bet is this format ends after 2027.
I don’t think the venues really play much into SMX’s existence as long as the TV product is good. Ultimately it’s up to NBC whether SMX continues to be a thing or not since they are the ones paying for it.
So you mean that Kooksey’s claims of the deal being worth almost a quarter billion dollars this year aren’t accurate? Whoulda thunk it?!?!?!
Are you serious? People more not openly talk about it where you live, but Branson is busier than ever. Since covid there is no “off season”. I live on the lake and it’s full of people of all ages all over town.
Agreed, Branson has always been the “Ozark’s Pigeon Forge” then you add the lake and now what Johnny Morris has done with BCL and it’s likely as big as it’s ever been. I live in western Kentucky and the only reason more people don’t go to Branson is because it’s about an hour difference between there and Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg and the Smokies are just a bit better overall IMO.
X2.... Branson = da fuk
I'm not knocking the place but look at what you just said and then imagine they were having the SMX finale in pigeon forge. They're both fine local tourist attractions but be real about what they are. There's somewhere similar in every other state that people from the region love that people outside the region have barely heard of. Nothing wrong with it but does not fit with super duper world finals image.
I get what you’re saying but I don’t think a lot of people understand the impact and pull Johnny Morris has. If he wants something it gets done his way to a T. Johnny wants it at his place, he gets it at his place.
Fair enough, I know nothing about the guy. Hope he opens up the checkbook and makes it great. Maybe I missed it, but if he's behind this, seems like there'd be some more sponsorship deals to go along with it and not just going all in on one event.
I think BPS is a sponsor of the entire 31-round series now. This quote is from the Thunder Ridge press release:
"The SMX League announced Friday that Thunder Ridge at Big Cedar Lodge near Branson, Mo., was selected to host the high-profile 2026 Monster Energy SMX World Championship Final on Saturday, Sept. 26. This comes as a part of a multi-year partnership agreement with Bass Pro Shops"
Yep started as a river before the dam was built, I got ya.
But there’s nothing local about pigeon forge. When we were at annakeesta in gatlinurg several years ago I looked around and saw more internationals than I did Americans. I can’t attest to Branson being the exact same but the attractions aside from GSMNP being similar I don’t see why it’s too different.
Bummer. I thought Charlotte had a multi year deal.
Pit Row
They did. They had a 3 year deal. Now it’s year 4.
Math checks out.
Interesting locations! I’m very curious to see how they work out.
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