This quote pretty much sums up what’s wrong with the IFL:
But instead of focusing on personalities, as the well-known Ultimate Fighting Championship circuit has done with athletes like Tito Ortiz and Randy Couture, Shamus based his league on teams, hoping that would appeal to mainstream sports fans and TV executives. He also courted the mass market by outlawing elbow shots to the face, a leading cause of bloodletting in mixed martial arts.
Pop quiz: someone name a professional sports team that doesn’t focus major attention on its star players? Ready for the answer? There isn’t one. No matter if its baseball, football, basketball, soccer, or even cricket, even leagues with teams highlight their star players and use their presence and playing time as a recruiting tool for live attendance, merchandise sales, and every other marketing effort.
In a sport as individualized as MMA, to not do this is a surefire recipe for failure. The IFL needs to fix this immediately.
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