Clark Kent
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02-18-2010 06:30 PM:The roar was loud and sometimes whiny from hardcore and casual fans of the UFC before UFC 108 and UFC 109. They tabbed the cards less than pay-per-view quality and lacking star power. In the lead up to the card, the main events -- Tito Ortiz versus Forrest Griffin and Randy Couture versus Mark Coleman -- were ripped to shreds. Lack of interest combined with the economy and the fact that fight fans are getting a bit spoiled all led to less than stellar numbers for PPV buys. Both cards appear to be in 300,000-425,000 range. That's not embarrassing but certainly a drop down from the 600,000-700,000 that became the average during the rest of 2009. The card in Australia features a meaningful fight, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira versus Cain Velasquez and a fan favorite in Wanderlei Silva at the top of the card.
So will 110 get the UFC back into their expected range? The fellas at ESPN.com's MMA Live were nice enough to have me on to address the issues of PPV sales in 2010 (starts at 19:55 mark).
It's difficult to see 110 doing any better than 108 and 109 in the United States. With efforts to expand internationally, the UFC sacrifices a bit on the media promotional end by holding cards in places like Sydney and Abu Dhabi. Few of the major blogs and Web sites - MMAWeekly, MMAJunkie, Cage Potato, AOL Fanhouse - could afford to send a staffer on the road. And certainly no major U.S. newspaper did so. So the volume of stories coming out of Australia makes it feel like UFC coverage circa 2004. That potentially eliminates a lot of casual fans from getting hooked. Is the trade worth it? Absolutely. Will the UFC make back the lost PPV revenue down the road? Of course; imagine when pay-for-play expands to India and China?
As far as hardcore fans, it looks like some are picking and choosing which PPVs to buy. Maybe they were also put off by someone like Tito Ortiz in the main event at 108. When you're told by UFC management that Tito sucks and can't compete as a top 10 light heavy for the better part of 12 months, it's tough to convince those same fans that now it's time to plunk down your bucks to watch him in a main event. Bottomline is great fights with title implications or belts on the line guarantee a certain audience size and the numbers go to the next level when there's a great storyline. UFC 111, 112, 113, 114 and 115 should all peform well and that's before Brock Lesnar returns to the Octagon during the summer.
More...
Yahoo! Sports.
Cagewriter is an MMA blog edited by Steve Cofield.
So will 110 get the UFC back into their expected range? The fellas at ESPN.com's MMA Live were nice enough to have me on to address the issues of PPV sales in 2010 (starts at 19:55 mark).
It's difficult to see 110 doing any better than 108 and 109 in the United States. With efforts to expand internationally, the UFC sacrifices a bit on the media promotional end by holding cards in places like Sydney and Abu Dhabi. Few of the major blogs and Web sites - MMAWeekly, MMAJunkie, Cage Potato, AOL Fanhouse - could afford to send a staffer on the road. And certainly no major U.S. newspaper did so. So the volume of stories coming out of Australia makes it feel like UFC coverage circa 2004. That potentially eliminates a lot of casual fans from getting hooked. Is the trade worth it? Absolutely. Will the UFC make back the lost PPV revenue down the road? Of course; imagine when pay-for-play expands to India and China?
As far as hardcore fans, it looks like some are picking and choosing which PPVs to buy. Maybe they were also put off by someone like Tito Ortiz in the main event at 108. When you're told by UFC management that Tito sucks and can't compete as a top 10 light heavy for the better part of 12 months, it's tough to convince those same fans that now it's time to plunk down your bucks to watch him in a main event. Bottomline is great fights with title implications or belts on the line guarantee a certain audience size and the numbers go to the next level when there's a great storyline. UFC 111, 112, 113, 114 and 115 should all peform well and that's before Brock Lesnar returns to the Octagon during the summer.
More...
Yahoo! Sports.
Cagewriter is an MMA blog edited by Steve Cofield.
