The inaugural Craig Jones Invitational (CJI) has apparently encountered copyright issues and as a result, the promotion has lost all of the revenue from day 1 of their live broadcast. It would be a huge blow for anyone to lose the revenue from half of the event, but even more so in this case where there is literally millions of dollars at stake. The first night was also the most-watched out of the two, as the viewership figures confirmed that it attracted over 1.8 million viewers. That would mean that it actually accounts for a little over 58% of the total revenue from the live broadcast.
Obviously the Craig Jones Invitational has also produced a ton of clips and uploaded single matches too, all of which will provide additional revenue to help compensate for the money lost on the first day. It’s clearly been a success regardless, as they ended up covering their initial costs and raising half a million dollars for Tap Cancer Out. Not only was CJI a financial success but it also made a lasting impact on the sport by breaking new ground in terms of prize money and creating a whole new format. It was enough for the promotion to put together a second event as well, and they’re currently getting ready for CJI 2 in 2025 now.
Craig Jones himself confirmed that CJI lost the revenue from day 1, and it was all down to copyright issues from the music used. It clearly hasn’t turned Jones off the idea of continuing his career as a grappling promoter and in fairness, the first event was always going to be a proof of concept anyway. It was undoubtedly an expensive lesson, but it’s something that’s easily fixed and the viewership figures still showed how profitable a grappling event can be. Jones revealed the copyright issues that caused CJI to lose advertising income on the first day in a recent comment on Reddit:
