The MMA event scheduled for January 16th at the Woodruff Arts Center Symphony Hall has been cancelled. Georgiafighters.com caught up with William “Soco” McCalister to get the details.
Rumors regarding your show at the Symphony Hall have been circulating. What’s going on?
“The show is officially cancelled. Unfortunately the management at Woodruff Arts Center had a change of heart and decided they did not want to uphold our signed contract. Their reason was they did not like our advertising and their patrons had been calling them all day in disgust with the idea of MMA being held at Symphony Hall.”
After having such success at Center Stage why were you considering moving the show anyway?
“It is time we grow. We have sold out all of our shows there and I think MMA fans in Atlanta deserve a high level show and something new. Not only that, I knew it would get some press attention which would draw eyes to the event and to our sport and hopefully create some new fans.”
Is the show cancelled or are you looking for another venue?
“The show is definitely cancelled. It’s unfortunate that with only 4 weeks to fight night, it is too short of a notice to find a venue, with an available night, reprint all the tickets, fliers and posters, change all the event sites and such. Just too much is at risk and I would much rather cut my losses now, then to take an unfavorable chance of that magnitude.”
During your meetings with the people at the Symphony Hall, did you sense any hesitation on their end?
“None whatsoever. They were very excited about the whole thing. They loved the name “Brawl at Symphony Hall”.
Are you pursing any legal action against them?
“We are currently discussing it with our lawyers. So it is possible, but we will definitely be issuing further press releases to inform everyone of their actions against not only a legal, government sanctioned sporting event, but also against an entrepreneur who creates jobs and generates revenue for the city in a down economy.”
What are your goals from here?
“March will be the finals of the REDLINE Grand Prix. Douglas Lima’s hand is healing nicely and Cortez Coleman is training hard. That is a fight everyone is excited about and we are going to really make it special with a great card and great production. This cancellation might be the best thing that happened to our company at this point because it has only ignited a fire in me to drive SportFight X to the top, and that is exactly what Im going to do.”
Georgiafighters.com has contacted a representative from the Symphony Hall to get their side of the story. If we hear back we will be sure to post the information.
Symphony Hall should be ashamed of themselves. A contract is a contract. If the fight night date was not interrupting an orchestral production, what was the problem?
Has anyone looked into the Warehouse in Doraville? That is a decent-sized venue and really was undersold for the Big Rock Out event. Maybe we could look into this venue for a future event?
I look forward to more MMA, UFC, and Boxing matches in the ‘A’
when are you guys going to refund people the money they spent on the tickets???
so far you haven’t responded to a single email off your website…
WTF
I have been seeking a refund since the event was canceled. Spent days trying to call for a refund with out getting an answer or a call back. My E-mails have been ignored until I finally received a response that pretty much told me to “F”off because “Soco and his company lost money so there is no way they are going to refund 1 penny in ticket sales.”
That’s why promoters in this state have such a bad reputation. As we all know there are a few guys who do it the right way, but for the most part the promoters in GA are snakes. False advertising, over charging, not treating fans or fighters right. From the Sin City group in question to “undisputed productions” the slime on these promoters will leave you feeling sticky and like you need a shower.
As a fight community let’s stop supporting the promoters who have been pretty much using us fans over the past couple years. Let’s check out smaller fight cards and see how some of the smaller promoters and events treat us as fans. If we find they are not scum, we should support them and try to kick these other snakes out of controlling the fight scene.
I would love to hear what some of you other guys think.
LMAO.
Ryan why don’t you tell us exactly WHO we should support then?? Hmmm someone who hates undisputed and is fake to Soco. Jeez I wonder…who i should spend my ticket dollars on???
“Let me know what you guys think?”
The beauty of the internet and it’s propaganda abilities, go back to sherdog.
Ryan and Submission, why don’t you call Soco. I happen to know he answers his phone directly, look him up on facebook it has his # listed right on there, or email him Soco at sincityfightclub.com. I work with them on web and ticketing and this actually insults me more than it would him since it was my job to take care of customers, WHICH I DID.
It is really funny that no one is answering your emails, I’m looking at the folder now and there was only one email asking for a refund, a guy in the military not you. Want to know why?
Sin City works with a company called Ticket Biscuit or Battlepass, which happens to hold ALL MONEY collected from internet sales until a week after the show, in case the event was cancelled or something catastrophic happens. Which in turn it was canceled so EVERY credit card used to purchase tickets has been refunded AUTOMATICALLY! Therefore all the real buyers did not need to send emails. LMAO.
So that should tell you something about the previous 2 posts. FAKE!
Post your real name and contact info if you really need something. Until then, put on a quality enough show that you can sell enough tickets and don’t need to get on the internet and LIE!
Ryan,
This is what I think. I think what you’ve got to say is complete BS and a pathetic attempt to discredit two solid organizations. I’ve had personal dealings with both Sin City/Soco and Undisputed/Oblas and know for certain that both of these promotions do what they do for the FANS… if you’ve got a small show to promote, be a real person, ask real questions, maybe try and learn something.
I’m with TY, Dave and Soco are solid promoters, and more importantly, good people.