Tumultuous 2011 Impacts Yahoo! Sports, MMA Coverage
January 31, 2012
Earlier today, Yahoo producer Dave Doyle announced that this was his last day as MMA/Boxing editor over at Yahoo! Sports.
Doyle stated the following message via social media website Twitter:
Today is my last as MMA/boxing editor at Yahoo! Sports. It’s been an awesome ride working with great folks. Thanks for everything.
Sources tell MMAPayout.com that the cutting back on non-mainstream sports by Yahoo was due to their tumultuous 2011, which saw Yahoo’s stock dip under $17 and saw gross revenues decline by over 20%. Along with Doyle – who had been with Yahoo since 2007 – another key member of Yahoo’s MMA team is long-time MMA and Pro Wrestling reporter Dave Meltzer, who has also been a part of Yahoo since it ramped up it’s MMA coverage in 2007. His contract is also up this week. At this time, it is unsure whether Meltzer will be able to continue his affiliation with Yahoo Sports, as the struggling company tries to workout it’s budget for the new fiscal year. Longtime Boxing and MMA reporter Kevin Iole and Cagewrite Blog members Steve Cofield & Maggie Hendricks are reported to be staying with the team.
Yahoo will now shift their coverage to more mainstream sports ( NFL, NBA, and MLB) instead of those that are more niche such as combat sports (MMA/Boxing), Golf, and NASCAR. Rumors of a possible shakeup within Yahoo! Sports first began around the Summer last year. The dismal fiscal results in 2011 made sure those early rumblings came to fruition.
As for Yahoo’s 2011 fiscal results, Forbes stated the following:
“Even with gross revenues declining by over 20% in 2011, Yahoo’s Q4 2011 results were hardly a surprise, as the company completed a tumultuous year filled with leadership and investor squabbles. For now, CEO Scott Thompson has acknowledged that the company has to deliver more monetization on digital content in 2012, which is a must for Yahoo to stop its shrinking presence in the online ad space.”
Yahoo will now try to focus on it’s core business, which will include selling off foreign assets and letting non-performing Yahoo! properties go, as Yahoo’s CEO Thompson has stressed “effective allocation of capital” is a priority moving forward.
This isn’t the only mainstream sports media shake-up that has impacted MMA recently. In November of 2011, AOL’sMMAFigthing.com was sold to Vox Media – parent company to SB Nation- as AOL struggled to compete with media giants Google and Facebook in the last few years, a problem Yahoo has also been facing. A few days later, USA TODAY Sports Media Group (Gannett) made the announcement that they had acquired MMAJunkie.com, one of the biggest MMA media sites in the industry.
UFC left off of Businessweek’s Top 100 in Sports
January 27, 2012
The UFC was shutout for the 2nd straight year in Bloomberg Businessweek’s Top Power 100 Sports Ranking. Notably, boxers Manny Pacquiao (28) and Floyd Mayweather, Jr. (49) were on the list.
Drew Brees edged out Aaron Rodgers for the top spot this year. Brock Lesnar and Fedor made it on the list in 2010. The list is based on an athlete’s performance, popularity and marketability.
Last year’s top spot, Peyton Manning, fell to 51st on the list. Lance Armstrong, No. 8 on the list last year, fell off the list completely as he announced his retirement last February. Despite retiring, Shaquille O’Neal remained No. 7 on the list.
Payout Perspective:
Will there be a UFC fighter on this list next year? Certainly, Jon Jones and Georges St. Pierre would be the two names that would come to mind when it comes to the criteria. Jones would be more likely to make the mainstream jump this year consdering GSP’s injury. A combination of Jones’ personality, his athletic ability and the UFC’s visibility through the Fox deal should help land Jones on this list.
MTV MMA reality show set for January debut
December 3, 2011
Variety reports that MTV is set to debut “Caged,” a reality show featuring 4 Louisiana teenagers trying to make it in the world of MMA. MTV announced the debut of the show for January 9, 2012.
Via Variety:
[“Caged”] follows of a group of small-town Louisiana teens who engage in cage fighting to help them cope with the struggles in their lives. The amateur mixed martial arts bouts give the protagonists a sense of accomplishment both inside and outside the ring.
“We’re always looking for subcultures to explore and do a deep dive into their lives,” MTV programming topper David Janollari told Variety when the show was first announced earlier this year. “What I love about the show is that it’s not just about fighting but examining life in every-town America.”
Via MMA Junkie:
The series follows their lives in and out of the cage. As is typical with such programs, a small mix of personalities gets camera time, including the rich kid whose first love died in an accident, the college grad who’s handling life with his new girlfriend/fighter/nursing school student and son, and a fighter hoping to make his parents proud as a pro competitor.
The show is scheduled to air Monday nights with a 10 episode run.
Payout Perspective:
We’ll see how MMA is portrayed by the show and perceived by the teenagers. MMA is starting to build popularity and its interesting to see how it will grow. The perception of violence is definitely an obstacle that MMA must deal with in an attempt to appeal to the mainstream. Hopefully the show will humanize the people that fight rather than glorify the violence.
For those that recall, MTV did a “True Life” on MMA several years back. One of the guys it featured was a young Frankie Edgar. It was a good behind the scenes look at Edgar’s life before he made it big. Hopefully, “Caged,” will give the same behind the scenes look.
UFC on FOX Network Debut: Payout Perspective
November 18, 2011
Welcome to another edition of Payout Perspective! This week we’ll be taking a look at the UFC on FOX network debut headlined by the UFC Heavyweight Title bout between Cain Velasquez and Junior Dos Santos.
The event took place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California and featured the HW title fight between Cain Velasquez vs. Junior Dos Santos. This was the only fight scheduled to air on the FOX network (60 minute time slot reserved from 9:00 pm-10:00 pm ET). The prelims portion was headlined by Ben Henderson vs Clay Guida, which aired on Facebook, FOXSports.com, and on Fox Deportes in the USA. FOX Deportes aired Velasquez vs Dos Santos, Guida vs Henderson, and Garza vs Dustin Poirier. Facebook.com and FOXSports.com aired the rest of the prelims.
Fighter Disclosed Payouts
Note: that the money reported below is only the money required to be reported by the commission, which does not take into account undisclosed bonuses or “locker room” bonuses, as they are referred to in MMA.
Courtesy of MMAJunkie:
The total disclosed payroll for the event was $666,000.
Junior Dos Santos: $220,000 (includes $110,000 win bonus)
def. Cain Velasquez: $100,000
Ben Henderson: $60,000 (includes $30,000 win bonus)
def. Clay Guida: $40,000
Dustin Poirier: $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus)
def. Pablo Garza: $8,000
Ricardo Lamas: $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus)
def. Cub Swanson: $15,000
DaMarques Johnson: $28,000 (includes $14,000 win bonus)
def. Clay Harvison: $8,000
Darren Uyenoyama: $12,000 (includes $6,000 win bonus)
def. Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto: $15,000
Robert Peralta: $16,000 (includes $ win bonus)
def. Mackens Semerzier: $8,000
Alex Caceres: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus)
def. Cole Escovedo: $6,000
Mike Pierce: $36,000 (includes $18,000 win bonus)
def. Paul Bradley: $18,000
Aaron Rosa: $12,000 (includes $6,000 win bonus)
def. Matt Lucas: $6,000
Attendance and Gate
MMAJunkie reports that UFC on FOX held at the Honda Center in Anaheim officially drew 11,607 in attendance for a $1.07 million gate. 1,700 tickets were unsold and 1,743 were comps. The average paid ticket price was $108.70.
It was not a great event in terms of gate and attendance, but that was to be expected as the UFC purposely lowered the ticket prices to try and pack the event as much as they could to give the UFC on FOX event a great atmosphere. In terms of gate and average paid ticket price, it will probably be one of their lowest numbers for a domestic event with the caliber of fighters on the card. These numbers reflect what typical Ultimate Fight Night or UFC on Versus events would do, though those have a considerably lower payroll and don’t typically have title fights with much smaller venues. This event also had the benefit of being held in Southern California where Cain Velasquez won the HW title against Brock Lesnar and had the novelty of being the UFC’s first network TV event, so by those standards, not selling out has to be a bit of a disappointment. On the other hand, the main event was going to be televised for free on Network TV and all prelims were streaming for free on Facebook, so it may not be as bad of a number as it seems.
Ratings
MMAPayout reported this weekend that the UFC on FOX event on Saturday night averaged 5.7 million viewers (3.1 rating) and peaked at 8.8 million viewers. The demos were: M18-34: 4.3 (peak rating 7.19) and M18-49: 4.0. This was the largest audience ever to watch an MMA event in the United States, breaking the record of 5.3 million (3.7 rating) by The Ultimate Fighter episode on Spike TV which featured Kimbo Slice vs Roy Nelson back in 2009.
Other notable high rating MMA shows include Ken Shamrock vs Tito Ortiz on Spike TV in 2006 which averaged 4.3 million viewers (3.1 rating) and UFC 75: Henderson vs Rampage in 2007 on Spike TV did 4.7 million viewers (3.1 rating). The reason why the rating numbers don’t match the viewers is due to the increase of reach Spike TV has increased in the past few years.
On Network TV, the previous rating champ was the EliteXC Primetime event which featured Kimbo Slice vs James Thompson, which avaged 4.85 million viewers (3.0 rating).
FOX TV Rating Breakdown (Quarterly):
- UFC on FOX (9:00 pm-9:15 pm): 5.25 million viewers
-UFC on FOX (9:15 pm-9:30 pm): 5.48 million viewers
-UFC on FOX (9:30 pm-9:45 pm): 7.09 million viewers
-UFC on FOX (9:45 pm-10:00 pm): 4.88 million viewers
- Overall: Average of 5.7M viewers watched the fight live or via DVR playback within the same day. (Nielsen)
FOX TV Rating Notes:
- If you combine the FOX and FOX Deportes telecasts (one in Spanish, one in English), it would have received close to a 3.5 rating with 6.2 million viewers and a peak of 8.8 million and a M18-34 rating of 4.7. It is believed a peak close to 9 million was achieved combining both.
- The 4.3 rating in Males 18-34 beat every college football game this season except the LSU vs Alabama game on CBS.
- The 4.3 rating in Males 18-34 beat 65% of the playoff and World Series baseball games this season on FOX.
- The 4.3 rating in Males 18-34 was the third highest rated television show of the year for FOX Deportes.
- The show drew 1.7 million women over the age of 18.
- The median age of viewers for the telecast was 35 years old.
- The 5.7 million viewers was the most watched fight in broadcast on US television since HBO’s Lennox Lewis vs Vitali Klitschko back in 2003
- UFC programming delivered a total of 6.7 million impressions across all FSMG television networks.
- The peak of 8.8 million lasted as long as the fight did, which was 1 minute (fight started at 9:40 pm).
- By 9:45 pm, the viewership had dropped to 5.9 million. Kimbo Slice vs James Thompson peaked at 6.51 million and lasted for 10 minutes and 38 seconds. (Sports Illustrated) … about 25% of the audience had left at the end of the main event.
- UFC on FOX began with 5.2 million viewers and dipped as low as 4.4 million before viewership started to climb around 9:36 pm, as the fighters were starting to make their way to the Octogon. (Sports Illustrated)
Fuel TV Ratings:
- Two Hour UFC Pre-Fight Show (4:00 pm-6:00 pm ET) averaged 77,000 viewers (0.21 rating) making it Fuel TV’s highest rated program of the year. The prefight show also drew an average of 58,000 viewers in the M18-49 demo, the largest since the network become nationally rated.
-The UFC prefight show ranked as a top 20 show in the time period for Men 18-34 (.29), performing about as well or better than widely distributed networks like History Channel (.31), USA (.25), SyFy (.19) and AMC (.13). FUEL TV also performed well in the Men 18-49 demo (.31), close to or matching ubiquitous networks like Discovery (.36), Comedy Central (.35) and MTV (.31).
- The One-Hour UFC postfight show (7:00 pm – 8:00 pm ET) drew 37,000 viewers.
FOX Deportes Ratings:
- Nearly 500,000 average viewers watched the event on FOX Deportes.
- The quarter-hour from 9:30 to 9:45 did about 900,000 viewers on Fox Deportes in Spanish.
- The Velasquez-dos Santos fight delivered a 3.9 coverage area HH rating, 487,000 viewers, and 352,000 A18-49 making it the highest-rated fight of any kind in Spanish language cable history.
- Saturday’s undercard coverage ranks as the second highest-rated fight-event in FOX Deportes history with a 3.4 HH rating, 365,000 viewers, and 237,000 A18-49 viewers.
- Saturday’s fight ranks as FOX Deportes’ highest-rated program since the Manchester United vs. Chelsea Premier League soccer match (5.0) on Sept. 18.
Spike TV Counter Programming Ratings:
- Spike TV’s Saturday night telecast of “Dos Santos vs. Velasquez: Unleashed for the Heavyweight Title” between 9:00-10:00 pm ET drew 719,000 viewers and a 0.6 rating with Men 18-34. List of ratings for “Unleashed” episodes pre and post UFC on FOX are listed below:
- At 8:00 pm: Before UFC on FOX went live, “Unleashed” drew 923,000 viewers .
- At 10:00 pm: After the UFC on FOX had gone off air, “Unleashed” drew 787,000.
Brazil Ratings on TV Globo:
- The event peaked at 22M viewers in Brazil, and during the fight (1 minute), it reached a 20 rating and a 52% share (percentage of homes with TV’s). The ratings were above average for a Sunday morning. (Globo)
FOXSports.com:
- Tallied 257,000 total live streams for the nine undercard matches, while all the UFC content during and around the event generated over 1 million streams.
- Other than Super Bowl related content, this was the biggest video event in FOXSports.com history.
Top Rated MMA Shows (Average Viewers):
- 5.7M viewers (8.8M peak), “UFC on FOX: Velasquez vs Dos Santos”, FOX (11/12/2011)
- 5.3M viewers (6.1M peak), “The Ultimate Fighter: Kimbo Slive vs Roy Nelson”, SPIKE TV (09/30/2009)
- 4.9M viewers (6.5M peak), “EliteXC Primetime: Kimbo Slice vs James Thompson”, CBS (05/31/2008)
- 4.7M viewers (5.9M peak), “UFC 75: Dan Henderson vs Rampage Jackson”, SPIKE TV (09/08/2007)
- 4.2M viewers (5.7M peak), “UFC: Ken Shamrock vs Tito Ortiz 3″, SPIKE TV (10/10/2006)
Top Rated MMA Shows (Ratings):
- 3.7 Rating, M18-34: 6.9, “The Ultimate Fighter: Kimbo Slive vs Roy Nelson”, SPIKE TV (09/30/2009)
- 3.1 Rating, M18-34: 6.0, “UFC: Ken Shamrock vs Tito Ortiz 3″, SPIKE TV (10/10/2006)
- 3.1 Rating, M18-34: 5.7, “UFC 75: Dan Henderson vs Rampage Jackson”, SPIKE TV (09/08/2007)
- 3.1 Rating, M18-34: 4.3, “UFC on FOX: Velasquez vs Dos Santos”, FOX (11/12/2011)
- 3.0 Rating, M18-34: 3.2, “EliteXC Primetime: Kimbo Slice vs James Thompson”, CBS (05/31/2008)
- What we can take from these numbers is how impressive Spike TV has performed over the last several years with UFC content. The 3.7 rating with a 6.9 M18-34 rating is almost unheard of at the moment, and even the UFC on FOX couldn’t top that, although FOX has a bigger reach than Spike TV, which is the reason why viewership is higher for FOX with the same or lesser ratings.
General Rating Notes:
- FOX scheduled the Velasquez vs Dos Santos bout to start at 9:40 PM, which was exactly when Stanford vs Oregon – a top 10 college football game – was going into halftime in order to acquire some extra viewers who may have been flipping channels.
- By starting at 9:40 p.m., if the fight went passed 3 rounds, it would go well past 10 p.m., when the local news was scheduled to start for FOX affiliate stations. At that point, a ton of new viewers would be watching the final rounds of what on paper expected to be an exciting fight a bump the ratings. A five round fight would have ended past 10:10, not accounting for reading the decision, nterviews, and wrap up, which would take you closer to 10:20.
- FOX was selling ads based on predictions of 4.5 million viewers, which means they easily met their goal (5.7 million). (Yahoo Sports)
- The strongest markets for the show were Las Vegas, Dallas, Phoenix, San Antonio, Tulsa, San Diego, Greensboro, New Orleans and Los Angeles. It aired in Las Vegas, San Diego and Los Angeles out of prime time.
Storylines
- FOX Flexes Promotional Muscle for UFC
Sports Business Daily did a great story on the FOX’s promotional efforts heading into the UFC on FOX event.
The early returns have been strong, Fertitta said. The “UFC Primetime” preview show that Fox aired after its NFL telecasts two Sundays ago drew a 1.3 rating, which equates to about 2 million viewers. That about doubled the audience for similar UFC preview shows on Spike. Saturday night’s prime-time debut was close to sold out shortly after it hit the street, Fertitta said. Fox typically gets about $50,000 for a 30-second spot during its Saturday night programming, according to survey results published by Ad Age. ABC gets about $85,000 for spots on Saturday night college football.
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While Fox Sports co-President Eric Shanks would not discuss specific rates for the one-hour, one-fight show, he said they exceeded expectations.
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“The first fight out of the gate, there is tremendous interest,” Shanks said. “We had no problem selling at a good rate. And we haven’t even started the seven-year clock yet.”
- Not Airing Guida vs Henderson Proves Costly for the UFC. Did they Have A Choice?
Guida vs Henderson was exactly the type of fight that would have drawn plenty of viewers for the UFC before the big HW Title matchup. It had all the ingredients needed to build up a viewing fanbase and could have possibly served as their new version of Griffin vs Bonner, which propelled their popularity over on Spike TV. It was an exciting and technical fight, which breath-taking back and forth between the two which resulted in a Fight of the Year candidate. It also lasted 3 rounds, which is exactly what was the dynamic needed to show to the new MMA spectators tuning in: a fight can last all 3 rounds or 1 minute, but it will be exciting either way.
The question is who’s call was this and did they have a choice? According to Ben Grossman from Broadcasting and Cable, “For those wondering, Fox did not have the rights to show the rest of the fights Saturday night on air, as Spike TV technically still owns those rights until the end of the year, so what turned out to be the best fight of the night – the one before the main event — was only available online.” I believe this is the reason why prelims, including the Guida vs Henderson fights were only shown to international viewers and on FOX Deportes, a Spanish broadcast.
- Culinary Workers Union Picketing UFC Headquarters During Weekend
Over the weekend, the Culinary Workers Union was picketing UFC headquarters in Las Vegas and trying to mobilize people to send messages to FOX to cancel its TV contract with the UFC. They have already made their voice clear sending a letter to the FTC regarding the UFC’s practices and also creating multiple websites highlighting Dan White’s past rants and vulgar language as well as “Unfit for Children” propaganda. The has also been activity by the union to back the anti-MMA legislators in New York as well as sending letters to major UFC sponsors encouraging them to drop the MMA promotion.
- Critiquing UFC on FOX Broadcast
Luke Thomas of MMA Nation had a great article on some of the things UFC and FOX can tweak in order to improve future broadcasts (10 Steps To Improving UFC On Fox Broadcasts) … Loretta Hunt gives her own opinions and suggestions on SI.com (Three thoughts on UFC on Fox 1). Having Dana White as an analyst in the post-fight wrap-up provided some cringe-worthy moments for fans, as both Thomas and Hunt mentioned. It has been a common complain heard from within the MMA media circle, how Dana White criticized Valasquez plan and questioned Dos Santos stamina, as he appeared nervous and angry at the outcome.
- Social Media Activity Backfires on the UFC
FightOpinion has done a great job documenting the Penn State sex scandal and how Forrest Griffin’s jokes on Twitter were not taken very kindly by various media outlets and anti- sex and child abuse organizations. The Culinary Workers Union was also quick to point the controversy out on their anti-UFC website. Loretta Hunt was invited to NPR to talk about the matter. The segment’s title was “Misogyny in the UFC” (45 minute mark).
Odds and Ends
- The UFC painted over the blood on the Octogon before going live on FOX, per FOX’s request. Dana White said they wanted to go on air with a nice clean presentation package and that it had nothing to do with FOX reacting negatively towards blood on the mat.
- For a brief moment at the beginning of the UFC on FOX broadcast, FOX flashed the following message: “The following might be the most exciting live sporting event in the history of television, and it’s our duty to say: VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED”
- Bellator purchased some ad spots during the UFC on FOX broadcast in the Florida market in order to promote an upcoming event.
- The next UFC on FOX event has been scheduled for January 28th, 2012 being held in the United Center in Chicago.
- The first UFC on FX event will take place on January 20th and will be headlined by Jim Miller vs Melvin Guillard. Sydney, Australia and Nashville Tennessee have both been rumored as potential sites to host the event.
- FOX Sports Media Group Chairman David Hill stated that FOX specials would be 90 minutes, airing from 8:30 to 10 p.m. on Saturday nights with two or three fights. The UFC on FX live cards will take place on Fridays and would be 2 hour shows. Fuel TV events will be 3 hours in length and will also air all prelims.
- UFC 2012 Target Schedule: 14 PPV events, 4 UFC on FOX events, 6 UFC on FX events, and a minimum of 6 UFC on FUEL TV events. The Ultimate Fighter will also have around 24 live events on FX, Friday nights.
Mainstream Thoughts on UFC on FOX
- Notes And Thoughts About UFC On Fox (Broadcasting & Cable)
UFC on Fox could have gone better but it definitely could have gone much worse. The fact of the matter is Saturday night showed that Fox is exactly what UFC needed, and UFC can be a major player for Fox, FX and whatever Fuel ends up being down the road, for a long, long time.
- Quick KO good or bad for UFC on Fox? (ESPN)
Fox Sports chief executive David Hill admitted he and president Dana White discussed the “tactics” of booking a single, heavyweight fight in hindsight, but added he was overwhelmingly satisfied with the product.
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“It absolutely delivered everything I hoped it would,” Hill told ESPN.com. “I spoke to Dana and maybe, tactically, Dana didn’t play it the right way. But this is what you get in this sport. This is world heavyweight champion action.”
- UFC’s Fox debut neither home run nor strikeout (Yahoo)
Saturday night was a similar step, just on a larger scale. Instead of Spike TV, it was the Fox network. Instead of two unknown scrappers, it was the two best heavyweights in the sport..
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Unfortunately, MMA is unpredictable. As president Dana White said over-and-over in promoting the Cain Velasquez vs. Junior dos Santos heavyweight title match, the company’s live network TV debut on Fox, it could end in 30 seconds, or it could go five rounds.
- UFC’s network TV debut a success, despite lasting all of 64 seconds (Sports Illustrated)
That doesn’t go just for the Fox telecast, either. While the early undercard was playing out to a smallish crowd of diehards inside the arena, there was a brightly lit red carpet set up outside, where celebrities from MMA to the TV B-list — most from Fox programs, naturally — passed through a gauntlet of cameras, asked the same questions by every microphone wielder, smiling the same smiles for every lens. Inside, once the preliminaries were out of the way, the building had filled with a deafening roar, the octagon mat was cleaned of undercard blood stains. Don’t want to make a bad first impression with squeamish new viewers.
- UFC on Fox: What the Media Is Saying (Hollywood Reporter)
The bout lasted a little over a minute, with Dos Santos knocking Velasquez to the ground with a punch to the temple and a beat down that followed until the referee stopped the fight.
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Reaction to the broadcast ranged from the humorous to the general consensus that Fox has a winner with the franchise.
- A few thoughts about tonight’s UFC fight … (San Francisco Chronicle)
No mercy, indeed. The heavyweight Junior Dos Santos/Cain Velasquez fight ends with Dos Santos knocking out Velasquez after just over a minute in the first round. I would say that was the second-worst case scenario with UFC’s historic first fight on network TV. (Worst case scenario by far was a gruesome injury.)
- Fight Night in America (Esquire)
The hype on Fox was nothing short of lunatic. Dana White, the bald genius UFC president and probably the smartest sports executive in the country, wore a black suit. So did Brock Lesner, and so did Alistair Overeem when they cut to him octagon-side, which doesn’t sound so good, as if we were going to look back in thirty years on them as the new Ali and Frazier, which doesn’t either. Junior Dos Santos made his ring walk to “Gonna Fly Now,” which is the theme from Rocky. Cain Velasquez walked into the cage, petrified, and they stared at each other and they kicked some little kicks and then, a minute into the kicking and the staring, Dos Santos sent a loopy and rather laughably slow right hook to Velasquez’s left ear. Velasquez dropped to the canvas and then Dos Santos went and hit the shit out of him eleven times. The referee took his sweet time to stop it. It was over. There was no blood. It wasn’t very exciting.
- Ultimate fighting is too brutal to be considered a sport, even if it’s on TV (Washington Post)
Excuse me, but ultimate fighting is not safer than cheerleading. I’ve watched some ultimate fighting. It’s a brutal sport. In fact, I don’t think ultimate fighting is a sport at all. It’s violence presented as entertainment..
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By showing fights on Fox, UFC is trying to turn ultimate fighting into a regular sport and to make kicking someone in the face as normal as shooting a free throw. Close to 6 million people watched the Saturday night fight. Fox plans to show more ultimate fighting in the next few months.
- Ultimate fighting is too brutal to be considered a sport, even if it’s on TV (Deadspin)
I’d planned to write something about the Cain Velasquez vs. Junior dos Santos fight today. But the fight lasted all of 64 seconds. Gotta feel for anyone who sat through eons of buildup only to make for the suds and miss the action. The UFC’s debut on Fox was a flop. A disappointment on a grand scale. A few leg kicks from Velasquez, one overhand right from Dos Santos and that was the end of it. Dunzo. The card in its entirety.
- UFC proves it’s here to stay (The Globe and Mail – Canada)
Rarely sticklers for journalistic purity, Fox used White himself as an analyst (Imagine Gary Bettman as the star of Coach’s Corner). Even as the main card tanked with headliner Cain Velasquez succumbing in just 64 seconds to challenger Junior Dos Santos, White and co-analyst Brock Lesnar kept pitching the gospel. White savaged Velasquez’s passivity. “I don’t understand why Cain wouldn’t go in for the shot, pressure him and not stay in his range. But what the hell am I? I’m not anybody’s coach or trainer.”
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Right. Resistance is futile. UFC is here to stay. Or, as our mother used to say, until somebody loses an eye.
- UFC Was Never Meant For Network Television (IBTimes – New York)
It’s not the management of the UFC that will prohibit the sport from moving forward. The UFC will continue to expand its brand name recognition, and people will continue to tune in and watch the big fights. Mixed-martial arts isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, and, therefore, UFC won’t be going anywhere either. But as for UFC being part of a dinner conversation in most American homes, that will never, ever happen. The sport is too volatile on too many levels.
- Dos Santos claims Velasquez’s UFC belt in Fox show (Chron)
The brief fight was the only event on a one-hour broadcast on Fox, which signed the UFC to a seven-year broadcast deal earlier this year. Any newcomers to the sport who tuned in got a taste of MMA’s violence, but not much else — particularly if they returned late from a commercial break.
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Or even if they blinked.
- All Up in the Videos (The Classical)
And that’s how a typical display of MMA’s chaotic nature and dos Santos’ signature power were recast as a bad, stupid thing—the natural result of Velasquez fighting foolishly against a one-dimensional foe—which in turn recast a heavyweight title fight as an anti-climactic scuffle pitting an idiot against some non-athlete. At the risk of belaboring things, the person doing this was the president of the UFC, whose job is supposed to be spinning any result into a story that makes the viewers care. I’ve followed the sport for over a decade, and even I was starting to wonder if I should keep caring.
Social Media – Sports Business Circle Reactions After KO
- Michele Steele: “Huge night for UFC debut on Fox — hard to believe that UFC started w $2M investment 10 years ago, now $2 BILLION brand”
- John Ourand: “Wow. A knockout in the first minute?? Bad news for Fox. … What’s Fox’s filler programming now?”
- Bill Simmons: “UFC loses its network virginity to Fox and it’s over in under 90 seconds. Just like real life!”
- Darren Rovell: “UFC had the same problem years ago when ESPN put Chuck Liddell on SportsCenter & ESPN Mag. Then he lost in minutes.” … “If you’re a UFC newcomer, how do you feel after tonight? 46.2% less likely to watch, 32.4% more likely to watch, 21.4% have to see more.”
Twitter and Google Trends
Social Media on that Saturday was quite peculiar. There were literally no sporting events trending on that day (usually some of the hottest trends occur during sporting events). “Bendo” and “Clay Guida” were all trend topics for the night. In fact, airing all of the prelims on Facebook seemed to have hurt the buzz for the show as these were the only two topics to trend before the UFC on FOX broadcast. During the event, #UFCONFOX, “Cain Velasquez“, and “Dos Santos” were all trending along with “Pacquiao” and “Marquez“.
In Google under the “Hot Searches” section, “Cain Velasquez vs Dos Santos” (#17) and “UFC on FOX” (#20) were the only two items in the top 20 relating to the event on November 12 while “Manny Pacquiao” and “Marquez” were 4th, 8th, 10th, 11th, and 14th on the list. College Football’s “Oregon vs Stanford” was #16.
From looking at some of these social media trends, it can be speculated that having no fights on a TV platform in addition to the Pacquiao fight and the head-to-head college football game affected some of the UFC’s buzz going into the event. It can also be assumed that although the ratings were good for Fuel TV’s standards, it did not help build up and carry momentum into the UFC on FOX event. Facebook fights still appear to have very little effect on getting more viewers to order or watch the fights at this point.
Airing the fights on FX and carrying the audience over to FOX on their next event should pay dividends for them and create more social media buzz that could bring more eyeballs into their next broadcast. Social Media was heavily underutilized for this event.
Sponsor, Promotion and Marketing Watch
- UFC on FOX Sponsors in the Cage: Uncharted 3 (PS3 Video Game), Muscle Pharm (Supplements), Xyience (Sports Drinks), SafeAuto (Insurance), Marines, G’zOne (Casio Phone), Bud Light (Anheuser-Busch), UFC Undisputed 3 (Video Game- THQ), and the main sponsor of the event was Dodge (US Automobile).
UFC on FOX TV Spots: Assassin’s Creed: Revelations (video game), Tapout (with kids practicing MMA inside a cage, which was an interesting choice of a spot to expose to the mainstream audience considering recent debates on that subject), Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (movie), UFC 139 promo, Jack in the Box, AMPM, & a GOOD number of local spots.
Cain Velasquez Sponsors: Dethrone (apparel), Milwaukee Tools, MicroTech, Oak Grove Technologies, Lugz (footwear), BSN (supplements), California Wheels, and AKA (gym).
Junior Dos Santos Sponsors: TOTVS, Gillette, Renato Saraiva, Analise, Team Nogueira (gym), Pretorian (apparel), Siciliano, Bony Acai (sport drink), and his own brand Cigano… all were Brazilian based sponsors.
UFC on FOX 11/12 Network Coverage and Schedule
November 12, 2011
FOX Sports Media Group Chairman David Hill, FOX Sports Co-President Eric Shanks & FUELTV General Manager George Greenberg joined forces with UFC President Dana White and CEO Lorenzo Fertitta earlier today to preview coverage of the first ever UFC heavyweight title bout on network television between defending champion Cain Velasquez and No. 1 contender Junior dos Santos.
This historic bout airs LIVE exclusively on FOX Saturday, November, 12 (9:00 PM ET). FUELTV airs the LIVE weigh-in on Friday, November 11 (7:00 PM ET) and a two-hour special prefight show Saturday, November 12 (7:00 PM ET) featuring analysis from a champions’ roundtable and exclusive interviews from the red carpet arrivals of celebrities and athletes attending the historic fight.
Saturday, Nov. 12:
3:00 p.m. ET — Cain Velasquez: Brown Pride, episodes 1-3 on FOX Deportes
4:45 p.m. ET — UFC on FOX prelims live on Facebook and FOXSports.com
5:30 p.m. ET — Weigh-ins re-air on FUEL TV
6:00 p.m. ET — UFC Primetime re-air on FUEL TV
6:00 p.m. ET — Re-air of Cain Velasquez vs. Brock Lesnar on FOX Deportes
7:00 p.m. ET — UFC prelims live on FOX Deportes
7:00 p.m. ET — Pre-fight show on FUEL TV, hosted by Glazer, along w/ Kenny Florian & Stephan Bonnar
9:00 p.m. ET — UFC on FOX broadcast, hosted by Curt Menefee, along with Dana White, Brock Lesnar & Joe Rogan. Mike Goldberg and Rogan will call the heavyweight title fight.
10 p.m. ET — UFC on FOX post-fight show on FUEL TV, hosted by Glazer, along with Florian and Bonnar
***
Saturday’s UFC on FOX Red Carpet Celebrity List:
FOX
Michael Strahan (FOX NFL SUNDAY)
Howie Long (FOX NFL SUNDAY)
Odette Annable (House)
Harry Shum, Jr. (Glee)
Matthew Morrison (Glee)
Howie Mandel (Mobbed)
Max Greenfield (New Girl)
Jake Johnson (New Girl)
Lamorne Morris (New Girl)
Hannah Simone (New Girl – pictured)
Jesse Spencer (House)
FX
Joelle Carter (Justified)
Walton Goggins (Justified)
Nick Searcy (Justified)
Nick Kroll (The League)
Dayton Callie (Sons of Anarchy)
Ron Perlman (Sons of Anarchy)
Dorian Brown (Wilfred)
Jason Gann (Wilfred)
Fiona Gubelmann (Wilfred)
FUELTV
Danny Kass (Adventures of Danny & The Dingo)
Luke Trembath (Adventures of Danny & The Dingo)
Bas Rutten (Punk Payback with Bas Rutten)
Mike “Rooftop” Escamilla (Strangers in Danger)
Zack “Catfish” Yankush (Strangers in Danger)
Charlie Andrews (Knights of Mayhem)
SPORTS
Jim Brown (NFL Legend – pictured)
Brad Penny (MLB pitcher)
Kelly Slater (Professional Surfer)
FILM, MUSIC & TELEVISION
Dave Annable (Brothers & Sisters)
David Arquette
Travis Barker
Gina Carano (Haywire)
Claire Coffee (Grimm)
Ryan Guzman (Step Up)
Gilles Marini (Brothers & Sisters)
Nicole Murphy (Model)
Ronnie Mund (The Howard Stern Show)
Amanda Righetti (The Mentalist)
Mickey Rourke (Immortals)
Matt Sanders (Avenged Sevenfold)
Karina Smirnoff (Dancing with the Stars)
Eric Stonestreet (Modern Family)
Nick Swardson (Jack and Jill)
Kenny Wormald (Footloose)
Neon Trees
UFC
Michael Bisping
Carlos Condit
Dominick Cruz
Chuck Liddell
Gilbert Melendez
George St. Pierre
Brian Stann
Link: Yahoo Sports
Fox promoting UFC in preparation for Saturday night
November 7, 2011
The Sports Business Journal reports on Fox’s promotion in anticipation of the big debut of the UFC on Fox Saturday night. Notably, Lorenzo Fertitta stated that Zuffa will lose money Saturday night as it is virtually giving away an estimated $10-15 million PPV payday.
The UFC hopes that Saturday night’s fight will create “100,000 new pay-per-view buyers.” Despite forgoing the short term monetary gain in hopes of future success, Fox promises a “brand bomb” for the UFC in promoting the fight on Saturday night. Aside from its promotion across all of its networks, Fox is producing a two-hour prefight show on Fuel which will include “red carpet arrivals and interviews with celebrities, fighters and (Dana) White.”
Fertitta indicated to the USA Today that Saturday night’s fight was “a huge commercial” for future UFC events. The SBJ indicates that the UFC is giving up an $10-15 million PPV payday by featuring JDS-Cain on free television. Fertitta believed that this fight would garner about 800,000 PPV buys although other estimates had it at 400,000 buys. Its likely that the estimates reflect optimistic and conservative viewpoints for this card. Even if you take the 400,000 buys, its estimated that Zuffa would take a $8-9 million cut.
The promotion of the UFC on Fox has been most visible during the MLB playoffs and the NFL on Fox. Last week’s UFC Primetime on Sunday did remarkably well considering it went up against NFL games. NFL announcers are still trying to get used to promoting the UFC. Notably, during the Cowboys-Seahawks game yesterday, Chris Myers talked about Cowboy RB DeMarco Murray’s MMA training as helping with his NFL conditioning. As you may recall, Murray stated he would wear a UFC logo on draft day if he was voted to be on the cover of EA Sport’s NCAA Football game.
Some notable takeaways from the article (subscription required):
-Fertitta stated that Spike TV was a “launching pad” and Fox as “a bigger and better platform that could elevate the brand.” A little jab at Spike TV which will have Bellator on its network in 2013.
-Fox typically gets $50,000 per 30-second spot for Saturday night programming according to Ad Age. By comparison, ABC, which airs college football Saturday night, receives $85,000 per 30-second spot. No word on how much Fox is charging for this Saturday night although Fox stated that it “exceed expectations.”
-Dodge will be on the mat as the primary sponsor. Anheuser-Busch and the U.S. Marines will also be sponsors. Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox also bought spots for ads during the broadcast. These will likely promote movies for the upcoming holiday season.
-New sponsor deals will start in 2012. So, its unlikely we’ll see new sponsors or “one-offs” Saturday night.
Payout Perspective:
To say that this week is a big week for the business of MMA (and the UFC) is not hyperbole. Saturday night’s fight is a major stepping stone for the UFC and could determine the future of the business. Fox has been in full force in promoting Saturday night and it would be a major disappointment if the viewership did not reflect the amount of effort and money it is taking to promote this fight.
Edgar visits Jets for 2nd straight year
October 17, 2011
MMA Fighting reports that UFC lightweight champ Frankie Edgar visited the NY Jets to inspire the NFL team for tonight’s Monday Night Football matchup. Coach Rex Ryan invited Edgar back after he visited the team last year.
Coach Ryan is a fan of MMA and has used the term “Ground and Pound” to describe his team’s run game. Jets QB Mark Sanchez credited Edgar’s speech last year as motivation for the team’s win that week.
Payout Perspective:
Edgar’s return visit to the Jets is good for his personal brand and shows that the UFC is becoming more mainstream among NFL players. With people from the NFL becoming fans of the sport, personalities like Edgar become more visible and widely known among a greater group of sports fans. It doesn’t necessarily mean that NFL fans will convert to the UFC but it adds a level of credibility. But, with the new Fox deal, UFC fighters like Edgar will become more recognizable when the network plays promos.
MMA Promotion ProElite & UFC Hall of Famer Featured on CBS’ Hawaii Five-0
September 15, 2011
It looks like CBS is not completely done with MMA just quite yet. Los Angeles based MMA promotion ProElite and CBS top rated show “Hawaii Five-0” have teamed up to create an episode based around the sport of Mixed Martial Arts and UFC & MMA Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell.
ProElite’s Head of Fight Operations T.Jay Thompson stated the following on Twitter:
“#1 rated show Hawaii 5-0 shooting an episode based around a Pro Elite MMA event today. @Rich_Chou and I on set at Blaisdell Arena.I think there may be some raised eyebrows when you find out who is playing the role of ProElite fighter opposite McGarret on H50.”
The episode (Episode 6, Season 2) will air this fall and will feature no other than UFC and MMA Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell playing the role of ProElite MMA fighter who takes on Hawaii 5-0 star Alex O’Loughlin (Steve McGarrett).
Hawaii Five-0 Season 2 Preview on CBS:
Payout Perspective:
ProElite held it’s first event last month (8/27) in Hawaii under new Stratus Media ownership. The event took place at the Blaisdell Arena, which interestingly enough is the same location where the Hawaii Five-0 MMA episode is filming. The episode is set to air this fall on CBS, which is around the same time ProElite is rumored to host it’s second event from New Jersey.
Thompson informed MMAPayout back in July that the goal was to have a TV deal in place by the second event targeted for early November. The exposure that ProElite will gain from being featured on a top rated CBS show is another step in the right direction for the promotion in achieving that goal. For it’s first event, ProElite was able to sign-on high profile sponsors such as Monster Energy Drink and PayPal without a TV deal and only a stream on Sherdog.com in place. For the second event, the goal will be to land a TV deal that is suitable for a company who is scheduling only their second event under new management and personnel.
Chuck Liddell retired from MMA in late 2010 and was appointed as Executive Vice President of Business Development for the UFC shortly after. At the time, he still wanted to fight but agreed to retire from MMA to take a job with the UFC. At press time, it is not known whether this project is part of his job with the UFC or independent work, and if so, if he had UFC’s blessing to jump inside the cage promoting a non-Zuffa owned MMA brand.
UFC-Harley Davidson announce multi-year partnership and “Hometown Throwdown” promotion
August 16, 2011
The UFC announced that it has entered into a multi-year partnership with longtime UFC sponsor Harley Davidson. The motorcycle maker became a core UFC sponsor in 2008.
Harley Davidson will be featured across multiple UFC platforms including PPV, tv broadcasts, online and in the octagon. It will also be a partner in a newly announced promotion called “Hometown Throwdown.”
Via UFC:
On the heels of this major announcement, the companies also jointly announced the launch of a new promotion that gives fans the opportunity to bring a UFC event to their city in late 2012. Beginning next month, fans can visit http://www.ufc.com/hometownthrowdown and vote for their city to win the Hometown Throwdown event. The fully-interactive site will include all of the latest information on the promotion, as well as unique offerings from Harley-Davidson. The city finalists will be announced in early 2012, with the winner being crowned in the spring. The event is expected to be held next summer.
In honor of the UFC’s visit to Harley Davidson’s headquarters, it gave away a Harley Davidson Blackline to Chris Lytle, the winner of the UFC on Versus 5’s main event.
Payout Perspective:
With the news of the UFC-Fox deal today, the UFC-Harley Davidson news has taken a backseat. Harley Davidson’s renewal is good for both parties as the UFC now has its network deal. Looking at its partnerships with mainstream brands, we see that the UFC is starting to enter into partnerships with sponsors for specific events. We’ve seen this with Bud Light and the Battle on the Bayou promotion. The Hometown Throwdown promo appears to be a good bit of brand activation for Harley Davidson and we will see what ways it will promote this.
GSP featured in Under Armour “Footsteps” campaign
August 9, 2011
Georges St. Pierre is featured in a commercial with Ray Lewis, Tom Brady, Cam Newton and other athletes for the newest Under Armour ad campaign. The campaign entitled “Footsteps” launched in support of this year’s fall line of clothes.
A link to the commercial is here.
Payout Perspective:
In this extended version of the UA commercial, GSP is prominently featured. The numerous Primetime and Countdown shows have served as good placement for UA as much of the time viewers watch GSP engaged in some form of workout with Under Armour attire. The new UA commercial is a positive step for GSP as it shows he is on par with the likes of NFL elites like Ray Lewis and Tom Brady when it comes to athlete endorsements. It will be interesting to see if more athletic brands sponsor MMA fighters. Last week, we saw that Anderson Silva will be sponsored by Nike at UFC 134. Jon Jones will have a K-Swiss shoe. We will see if other brands pursue the likes of Cain Velasquez, Jose Aldo, Frankie Edgar or Dominick Cruz. All champions and all marketable figures.
