Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports points out that the UFC’s new television deal with FIVE in the U.K. could have implications for the UFC on television in the United States:
The deal is good news for fight fans not only in the U.K., but in the U.S. and around the world. You can be assured that network television executives will be paying close attention to the ratings and the reception “UFC Main Event” receives from sponsors.
High ratings and strong advertiser acceptance will make it more likely that a U.S. network will give the UFC an opportunity.
It’s a boon for the UFC in the U.K., where it has long tried to establish a foothold. Unlike in the U.S., where there is a strong penetration of cable, Zelaznik said digital cable reaches only about half of the television households in the U.K.
“We have a very loyal, hardcore fan base over here,” Zelaznik said. “This allows us to reach people who haven’t been willing to buy on Setanta or ESPN and who haven’t found [The Ultimate Fighter]. Anyone who has a television in the U.K. will be able to see this and they’ll see the best presentation of the UFC. It’s only going to help us to add to our fan base here.”
But a successful launch will have far-reaching implications. A successful run could help open doors to countries where the television and sports establishment still keep MMA at arm’s length. And in the U.S., it will unquestionably be an impetus for a broadcast network to reach a deal with the UFC if things go well.
Payout Perspective:
Many of you might remember that Strikeforce’s deal with NBC had been doing very well in its midnight time slot prior to the whole CBS-EliteXC shake-up. It was thought at the time that the programming was beginning to turn heads inside television circles. The UFC’s deal with FIVE in the UK essentially has the potential to do the same thing.
However, I will caution that there remains a distinct element of xenophobia within the American television landscape; the attitude being that what works elsewhere doesn’t necessarily work in the U.S. The UFC’s success on FIVE in the UK would provide another piece of support for the UFC to point to in its negotiations with the big four American networks, but it’s unlikely to be the impetus for any deal.
Rather, any impetus for a UFC-US major network deal is likely to come from some combination of UFC concessions on the rights fees and a willingness to meet UFC demands on the network side (ostenisbly due to current upfront market advertising issues the networks are experiencing and MMA programming’s relative cost effectiveness in a down trodden economy).
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Assist to Bloodyelbow.com:
While I check Kevin Iole’s website daily (in addition to about 15-20 others) it can be difficult to stay on top of the news as it hits.
Whereas you may check MMAPayout.com to get a business or “payout” perspective and MMAWeekly or MMAJunkie for the latest news, Bloodyelbow.com is quickly becoming the best aggregator of MMA news on the web. If it happened, it’s likely to be posted by one of BE’s 10-15 different writers. I’d encourage everyone to add BE to their “must-read” morning list.
Just understand that you may read about it elsewhere, but you’re always going to get the unique business perspective at MMAPayout.com.
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