League Concept

New MMA League to Take Sport to New Level

In an effort to bring together the growing mixed martial arts business….provide a structured way for up-and-coming young mixed martial arts fighters to compete and get noticed…. and to give anyone the chance to own a professional sports team, Southern California fight promoter Roy Englebrecht announced the launch of the Professional Mixed Martial Arts League, the PMMAL.

Set to begin play in February of 2010, the PMMAL will award charter team ownerships in eight specific areas in six Southern California counties and Las Vegas.

“The time has finally arrived for the PMMAL,” stated Englebrecht. “As a club promoter of MMA since it was approved in California in 2006, I know first hand the struggle young fighters have in trying to get fights, and the major struggle small mma promoters encounter just trying to promote a show and give the fighters and fans a good experience, and hopefully turn a small profit. Now with the Professional Mixed Martial Arts League some of the best young mma fighters can be part of a team, know when they will fight, and be paid and treated like the professional athletes they are,” continued Englebrecht.

As one of the founding owners of arguable one of the most successful minor league baseball franchises, the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, Englebrecht knows what it takes to make a professional team organization work and how owners can run a profitable team business. “I know the fun and profitability that an investment in a professional sports team can provide. I know about the dreams of most every sports fan to be just like Jerry Jones, Jerry Buss, Arte Moreno, or George Steinbrenner and own a pro sports team, as I realized that dream with the Quakes.  Now the dream of owning a professional sports team can become a reality with the purchase of a PMMAL team,” said Englebrecht. “Having the opportunity to get in on the ground floor of any business is worth its weight in gold, so buying in as a charter owner of a PMMAL team, involving the hottest pro sport today, is an unbelievable opportunity and one that should not be missed by anyone.”

The PMMAL concept will see eight qualified owners awarded teams and have exclusive territorial rights in seven regions; San Diego County, Orange County, Los Angeles County, Ventura County, Riverside County, San Bernardino County, and Las Vegas. The eight team league will be broken up into two Conferences, the Ocean Conference consisting of San Diego County, Orange County South, Los Angeles County and Ventura County, and the Desert Conference comprised of Riverside County, San Bernardino County, Las Vegas and Orange County North.

Each PMMAL team will play an eight event regular season schedule, once a month, beginning in February of 2010 with four home events and four away events, with the all eight teams qualifying for the PMMAL Championships starting in October with the Quarterfinals. Four teams will advance to the Semi Finals in November with two teams competing for the Inaugural PMMAL Championship in December.

Each PMMAL team will be allowed to select 14 fighters in a League Draft tentatively scheduled for early December of 2009. Teams will get to protect four fighters from their exclusive territory through the first four rounds of the draft, after which it becomes an open draft. Fighters interested in being eligible to be drafted must apply to the PMMAL, and must live and train in either California or Nevada, plus have no more than eight pro fights.

All the PMMAL events will be team vs team with the team scoring the most points at each event earning a $3,500 team win bonus. All PMMAL fighters will receive a guaranteed purse for each fight, and can earn additional bonus money based on fastest knockout, fastest submission, and of course the team win bonus.  PMMAL fighters could earn up to $25,000 a year, with the minimum compensation a PMMAL fighter can earn in a year being $10,000.
 
Owners who qualify to acquire a PMMAL team will be able to purchase one of the eight 2010 charter PMMAL teams for a membership fee of $50,000, with each team owner required to reside in the team territory that they have purchased. Each team will retains all revenue from their four home events and any playoff games. The PMMAL plans to expand to 16 teams in 2011, with the eight new 2011 teams coming from Arizona, Northern and Central California, Washington and Oregon, with further expansion to the Midwest and East Coast planned for 2012. Individual interested in obtaining a PMMAL Application and Membership Agreement can contact Roy Englebrecht at info@pmmal.com.

“I am extremely grateful to the UFC, Strikeforce, and M-1 Global for what they have done to grow mixed martial arts in America and the world over the past ten years", said Englebrecht. "And even to those organizations that have come and gone, they all have helped to make mixed martial arts the sports powerhouse it is today and the respect it finally has garnered with consumers, sponsors and regulatory bodies. I just felt over the past three years that entry level mma fighters and promoters just didn’t have the proper platform to perform on, or to make it a viable business. Now the PMMAL will provide a solid vehicle so that fighters who dream of one day competing in the UFC or Strikeforce can see their dreams come true, thanks to the Professional Mixed Martial Arts League.”

PMMAL GOALS

The projected goal of the Professional Mixed Martial Arts League is to take a relatively new pro sports concept, mixed martial arts, and move it into a legitimate team format, with a new level of credibility, excitement, and success.

Now, for the first time in combative sports, each fight will mean something to the fans in the seats.  It will not just be one fight after another fight after another fight, featuring fighters that very few customers even know or recognize.  Now it will be… “us” battling “them”!  It will be the “good guys” facing the “bad guys”!  It’s “my team” kicking “your team’s butt”.  Now combative sports fans will have a reason to stay till the end of each show as the last bout of the night could determine what team wins!

The Professional Mixed Martial Arts League will work diligently to capture and maintain the growing number of MMA fans throughout Southern California and the nation.  The League will work to expand  on the current success of MMA, allowing the “team” concept to draw new fans who never have attended a MMA show, or had an interest in rooting for MMA fighters or even MMA.

The Professional Mixed Martial Arts League will take the action and excitement that the UFC, Strikeforce, Dream and Pride have brought to the sport, and transplant it into a legitimate team concept, finally giving the sports fans the opportunity to enjoy “live” mixed martial arts action at affordable prices.

For the first time ever, the sport of mixed martial arts will have a 12 month season with the PMMAL!

PMMAL Philosophy

The Professional Mixed Martial Arts League will make every attempt to not merely be the world’s only legitimate mixed martial arts league, but will endeavor to assist and improve the sport of mixed martial arts wherever and however it can.

As the PMMAL continues to develop, it will commit to five guiding principles in all aspects of league business:

• Become the meeting place for USA mixed martial arts fans
• Reflect diversity and inclusiveness
• Stay youthful in attitude, style and fan profile
• Articulate and evoke passion for mixed martial arts
• Be the inspirational destination point for today’s amateur mixed martial arts fighters looking to move to the professional level