The real problem with RAF sustainabilty?

[BruceyB]

11 hours ago, 1032004 said:

there are tons of top tier guys not in college and we see most of the college guys enough anyway.

Tons? Look at the domestic rankings.. 

57kg: #3 Liam Cronin, #4 Daniel Deshazer, #7 Austin Assad, #8 Brady Roark

65kg: #1 Real Woods, #2 Joey McKenna.. no one else in the top 8

74kg: #3 Jerrett Jacques, #4 Quincy Monday, #6 Terrell Barraclough #7 Peyton Hall, #8 Ed Scott

79kg: #6 Ethan Riddle, #7 Kennedy Monday, #8 Muhamed McBryde

86kg: #7 Marcus Coleman, #8 Chris Moore

92kg: #5 Eric Schultz #6 Dustin Plott #7 Hayden Walters, #8 Patrick Brophy

97kg: #4 Ethan Laird, #5 Eric Schultz, #6 Zane Lanham, #7 Gavin Hoffman

125kg: #5 Jordan Wood, #6 Christian Lance, #7 Lucas Stoddard, #8 Alex Semenenko

How many of the guys I listed above are you really interested in watching compete? I'd say most weight classes are lucky if they have 5 interesting guys that are post-grad, and 5 guys per weight doesn't exactly scream longevity when it comes to interesting match-ups. Foreigners is the only long term solution. Make it an "US vs them" kind of event where every little kid and unknowing observer has a built in guy to root for, whether the know his backstory or not.

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

10 minutes ago, BruceyB said:

Tons? Look at the domestic rankings.. 

57kg: #3 Liam Cronin, #4 Daniel Deshazer, #7 Austin Assad, #8 Brady Roark

65kg: #1 Real Woods, #2 Joey McKenna.. no one else in the top 8

74kg: #3 Jerrett Jacques, #4 Quincy Monday, #6 Terrell Barraclough #7 Peyton Hall, #8 Ed Scott

79kg: #6 Ethan Riddle, #7 Kennedy Monday, #8 Muhamed McBryde

86kg: #7 Marcus Coleman, #8 Chris Moore

92kg: #5 Eric Schultz #6 Dustin Plott #7 Hayden Walters, #8 Patrick Brophy

97kg: #4 Ethan Laird, #5 Eric Schultz, #6 Zane Lanham, #7 Gavin Hoffman

125kg: #5 Jordan Wood, #6 Christian Lance, #7 Lucas Stoddard, #8 Alex Semenenko

How many of the guys I listed above are you really interested in watching compete? I'd say most weight classes are lucky if they have 5 interesting guys that are post-grad, and 5 guys per weight doesn't exactly scream longevity when it comes to interesting match-ups. Foreigners is the only long term solution. Make it an "US vs them" kind of event where every little kid and unknowing observer has a built in guy to root for, whether the know his backstory or not.

It feels like you're missing a lot of guys there.  #1,2,3 at heavy are out of college.  Who is #4?  

Plenty of others missing.

Or are you trying to compile a list of wrestlers you find boring?  I admit to being a bit confused.

Edited 13 hours ago by Interviewed_at_Weehawken

[boconnell]

4 hours ago, BruceyB said:

I was incorrect overall. Especially in the upper weights (86kg+) that is very well dominated by post-grad wrestlers. And even at the lighter weights, I shouldn't have said "majority." But from 57kg-79kg in flo's domestic rankings, 47% of the top 5 in those weights are still in college. So if you consider essentially half of the talent pool in 6 different weight classes is still in college, it's not the majority but a large portion, and that's just according to the rankings, which doesn't even include college guys that would almost certainly be in the top 5 if they competed in the open division.

 

Almost half is significant for sure.   That means they have about 3 real guys per weight without college guys.  That's a couple of shows and then they're out of guys.  So they definitely need the college guys or a lot more international guys.

[Lucho]

The problem with the US hosting these tournaments is that its very difficult for Iranian and Russian guys to come and compete. It is also very unlikely that Iranian guys will come over because we already have our own league in place with top Russian guys also competing there as well. RAF will only be a good draw for maybe Japanese and Cuban guys everyone else will be competing in Russia (PWL) or Iran. 

[Gene Mills Fan]

25 minutes ago, Lucho said:

The problem with the US hosting these tournaments is that its very difficult for Iranian and Russian guys to come and compete. It is also very unlikely that Iranian guys will come over because we already have our own league in place with top Russian guys also competing there as well. RAF will only be a good draw for maybe Japanese and Cuban guys everyone else will be competing in Russia (PWL) or Iran. 

Maybe some of that is put aside if the prize money gets up there.  Plus the viewership if they are looking to be a global character in MMA