Sakakibara told the media earlier this week that Dream Stage Entertainment will have some big announcements in the coming weeks regarding their sponsorship, and a potential television deal for PRIDE's Otoko Matsuri on New Year's Eve at the Saitama Super Arena. The potential announcement of a television deal in Japan is considerably pertinent news, given how the story of Fuji Television canceling their deal with Dream Stage Entertainment has dominated MMA headlines this year.
Talks of a new potential television deal have intensified over the past few weeks as DSE revealed their partnership with former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson. While Tyson's status in many markets, especially North America, has taken a significant hit over the last few years with repeated embarrassments in the boxing ring, he has long been a very popular figure in Japan since his dominance of the heavyweight division in the mid- to late-1980s. As a result, Tyson's presence as part of PRIDE's New Year's Eve plans has ignited interest in the Japanese broadcasting community.
According to Sakakibara, DSE is in talks with three networks about working out a television deal, beginning with the broadcast of Otoko Matsuri on New Year's Eve. Japanese television insiders previously speculated that two networks, Nippon TV and tv asahi, were in talks with Dream Stage Entertainment about a TV deal, however when DSE officially announced that Tyson would compete in a boxing match in the Macau Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China as part of Otoko Matsuri, it was speculated that more networks would join the race to acquire PRIDE's broadcasting rights.
Sakakibara also said that while there were three main sponsors for October 21 “The Real Deal” card, likely referring to Dwango, Don Quijote and Cykan Entertainment, he is now entertaining sponsorship from 10 different companies.
DSE and Sakakibara himself are no strangers to promotional bluster, and thus veracity of these claims is open to debate. However, Sakakibara told the media that he would make an announcement regarding the matters on November 10, lending a greater credence to the claims of the DSE boss.
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