WEC 52 scores 2nd biggest draw of 2010: 570,000 viewers
November 17, 2010
WEC 52, held Nov. 11th, featuring Urijah Faber versus Takeya Mizugaki garnered a 0.57 household rating and an average audience of 570,000 viewers on Versus.
In addition to the household ratings and the average viewers, MMA Junkie reports that WEC 52 scored a 0.79 with men 18-49. Versus held pre and post fight shows in support of the second to the last WEC event.
Payout Perspective:
The numbers are impressive considering it was the same night as good NBA (Heat/Celtics) and NFL (Falcons/Ravens) games. If there is one thing that you could conclude when looking at the impressive rating is that Urijah Faber was the reason. He will be a big draw in the UFC and should headline events. Faber is marketable (e.g., his commercials, shown during WEC 52, with Kenny Powers are hilarious) and showed he is a good fighter. It will be interesting to see which weight division he decides to fight in with the UFC.
Versus to show WEC 52 pre/post-fight shows
November 11, 2010
With the UFC/WEC merger, Versus affirmed its commitment to MMA with a pre and post-fight show for Thursday’s WEC event. The success of the coverage will depend if the UFC continues with these shows.
Versus, the exclusive home for the WEC, featured WEC live events and WEC Wreckage. Although things will change in 2011, Versus will air four UFC cards next year.
The additional coverage rivals that of other sports as it features pre-fight and post-fight analysis.
Via Cagewriter:
“The Daily Line,” a nightly show covering all sports, was canceled because the show never really gained traction with viewers. The hope is that the pre- and post-show will entice MMA viewers with a mix of interviews, highlights and fight discussions. UFC president Dana White and heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez are scheduled to appear on Thursday’s pre-show. The success of Thursday’s show will determine the future of the show.
“The Daily Line” used to be the unofficial wrap-up for WEC events but is no longer after being cancelled. MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani, who appeared on “The Daily Line”, will host the WEC pre/post-fight coverage with Molly Qerim.
Payout Perspective:
Thursday’s pre and post fight coverage is a good measure as to how Versus will market its four UFC shows. The hope is that viewers will turn in to both as a way to get ready for the fights, watch the event and then listen to the winners, losers and analysis.
Although ESPN’s MMA Live already provides post-fight analysis for UFC PPVs, Versus could provide original content in its pre-fight and post-fight shows for December’s WEC event as well as the UFC events on Versus. I think it’s a good move by Versus to maintain its commitment to the UFC and remain an active partner. For its part, the UFC is helping this coverage succeed with appearances by White, Velasquez, Anthony Pettis and Benson Henderson. Also the anticipated backstage access it will have at the event. With the expanded roster, Versus can remain a major ally for the UFC.
Versus Cancels “The Daily Line” Due to Low Ratings
November 2, 2010
Sports Business Daily reports that Versus has canceled “The Daily Line”, which covers MMA content on the network, due to low viewership.
Versus has cancelled its daily news show “The Daily Line” after just seven months. A network spokesperson confirmed the move, citing the show’s anemic ratings. Since its April debut, “The Daily Line” has averaged just 53,000 viewers for each live show. On Sept. 27, when the show was going against the Packers-Bears “MNF” game, it drew just 8,000 viewers.
Payout Perspective:
The Daily Line was used for post-fight coverage of UFC and WEC events on Versus, typically using Ariel Helwani as the MMA expert on the panel to give his two cents. The cancellation of the show also brings the end of Jen Sterger’s affiliation with the network, who’s name has become well known recently due to the Brett Favre controversy dealing with inappropriate voice mails and photos.
In the past week, Versus has seen its MMA coverage and content drop significantly. Last week, the WEC and UFC announced a merger which included a new TV deal with Versus for 2011, but drops the amount of MMA events on the network from ten televised events in 2010 (8 WEC Shows + 2 UFC shows) to only 4 UFC events currently scheduled for 2011. The deal also puts Versus in a tough spot in terms of airing MMA content after 2011 if the UFC decides to jump to another platform in 2012.
Smooth on Ice: Henderson to appear at NHL game to promote last WEC bout
October 30, 2010
WEC lightweight champion Benson Henderson will make an appearance at Saturday night’s Tampa Bay Lightning versus Phoenix Coyotes NHL hockey game. According to a WEC press release (released prior to news of the UFC merger) he will drop the ceremonial pre-game puck as well as sign autographs.
Many MMA fighters have made appearances at other sporting events to promote the UFC. Most have thrown out first pitches at baseball games such as Tito Ortiz, Randy Couture, Rich Franklin and Jon Jones to name a few. Booking fighters to participate in pre-game festivities at mainstream sports is good for MMA. It creates visibility and credibility that MMA is a real sport. Henderson is an all-around nice guy and meeting with fans and signing autographs at an NHL game can change people’s perceptions of the sport and its fighters.
Payout Perspective:
Henderson’s appearance at the Coyote’s game makes sense since he trains in Glendale and the fight will take place at the Jobing.com Arena. The fact that Saturday may see an increase in attendance due to special Halloween activities prior to the game is also helpful in promoting the December 16thmatchup.
The appearance is bolstered even more by the news that Henderson will be appearing in the last WEC ever and winning his match against Pettis vaults him into a spot into a UFC championship match (and likely main event of a PPV).
MMAPayout.com on Toronto Fan 590′s “The Showdown”
October 29, 2010
MMAPayout.com’s Kelsey Philpott sat down with Toronto Fan 590 Radio’s Showdown Joe Ferraro on Thursday, October 28 to discuss the UFC-WEC merger and UFC 121. Be sure to give it a listen and also stay on to hear from the UFC’s latest Canadian signing, Sean Pierson.
UFC and WEC Set to Merge
October 28, 2010
Ariel Helwani of MMAFighting.com has just posted an interview with Dana White in which the UFC President has announced the UFC and WEC will be merging effective January 2011.
Payout Perspective:
This is a topic that I’ve covered almost ad nauseam over the last two years with articles like Exploring a Possible Merger and interviews with WEC GM Reed Harris (Part 1 and Part 2), because I felt it was truly important for the continued growth and development of MMA as a sport and the UFC in particular.
Below, I’ve done my best to distill exactly how the UFC will benefit from the merger and why it needed to happen:
1.) Return on Assets: The company is moving assets like Urijah Faber and Jose Aldo from the WEC platform that is maybe generating 2x to the UFC platform that is capable of generating 10x. I understand that the WEC was profitable, but the UFC will be more profitable using the WEC’s fighters and title belts than the WEC ever could have been.
2.) Title Belts: The UFC uses title fights as PPV anchors and a means to map out their event planning strategy 3-6 months ahead of time. It now has two additional belts to use which should help the company to better withstand injury streaks like those that hit its title holders in the Fall of 2009. And if you still question how much title fights mean to the UFC, I’ll simply say this: The UFC does nearly twice the number of PPV buys with an event featuring a title fight than it does without a title fight.
3.) More Fighters, More Growth. If the UFC plans to continue increasing the number of events it hosts in a calendar year, it will need the added depth of two new divisions to avoid fight cards like UFC 122 that are more or less unremarkable in the mind of the casual consumer. It’s not just the title belts that count here, but also the two sets of highly skilled fighters and serious contenders that will be used to help better fill out every fight card that are also of material interest.
4.) Television Appeal. The new found depth may also prove valuable if/when the UFC signs a new television deal and agrees to further event commitments on any one of the big four networks.
5.) Attention for the Lighter Weights. This deal finally brings some much needed attention to the fast and furious fighters in the lower weight classes that are every bit as good as the men fighting in weight classes above them. The UFC will now give these guys like Faber and Aldo the mainstream attention they deserve. Moreover, the mainstream now has a better platform to discover just how exciting these guys really are and the UFC is surely to benefit from increased product quality as the result of this integration.
6.) No More Confusion. This merger presents an opportunity for Zuffa to present a single and consistent brand message to the consumer. There is no more confusion or double taking on account of an event that looks, feels, and sounds like something from the UFC but really isn’t (but maybe kind of is). It’s all called UFC from here on out. That consistent message will also help Zuffa to focus internally; there are no more divergent or competing goals between two different brands striving to use the limited resources of the same company.
Please excuse me for what you might believe to be hyperbole for this is not: today will prove to be a watershed moment for not only the UFC but MMA in general. That’s how big of a deal this is.
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Edit: I imagine I might have several more thoughts on this today:
- In thinking about the sponsorship situation I have to wonder what now happens with MusclePharm and AMP Energy. The UFC already has official sponsors in those categories; BSN doesn’t have exclusivity but I believe Xyience does (at least the latest GOOD4U ban would intimate that they do). Interesting. Keep an eye on this.
WEC 51 official gate draws less than 3,800 fans
October 12, 2010
MMA Junkie reports the release of the official numbers from the Colorado State Boxing Commission for WEC 51 held September 30th. 3,791 fans attended with a live gate or $191,620.
The average revenue per ticket issued was $50.55. The event was the first-ever in Colorado.
Payout Perspective:
The numbers are better than WEC 50, but it seems a little disappointing since the card included some notable fighters (Aldo) and fights (Cerrone v. Varner). Aldo is one of the most exciting fighters out there but fought a tough opponent in front of a half empty arena. According to its web site, 1STBank Center in Broomfield, Colorado holds up to 6,500 fans.
I thought about whether having the event on a Thursday night, as opposed to a weekend night, hurt attendance. But, I believe that if the event were held on a weekend, it would compete with college or professional football. Still, there should be more fans out there willing to make it to see an entertaining card on a weeknight.
The information provided did not include how many complimentary tickets were given out, but it would be interesting to see the number of paid versus comped.
WEC 51 ratings up more than 50 percent
October 6, 2010
MMA Junkie reports that ratings for WEC 51 were up 54 percent from WEC 50. Last Thursday’s show out of Broomfield, Colorado garnered 486,000 viewers. The event featuring Jose Aldo versus Manny Gamburyan received a 0.49 household rating.
The numbers should please the WEC as the past two events drew disappointing numbers.
Payout Perspective:
Hypothetically speaking, if you were a fighter, which would be worse to see when receiving final instructions from Herb Dean: Brock Lesnar staring you down or Jose Aldo staring down at the stare down.
Jose Aldo is a fighter worthy of PPV status. His performance last Thursday was impressive and the WEC might be concerned that he is cleaning out the 145 pound division in a dominating fashion.
Overall, I thought the card was entertaining. The Varner/Cerrone match-up brought all the animosity and fire the pre-match hype promised. Wouldn’t have been cool if the Korean Zombie got right back up after George Roop hit him with that clean head kick? It would have totally played up to his nickname. Also, the WEC debuted Chinese fighter Tiequan Zhang in a solid performance. Expect more from Zhang in the future as the WEC (and Zuffa) attempt to gain more interest in China.
Are fans tuning in to see Jose Aldo? Or was WEC 51 a card stacked with interesting matchups? The next two WEC events should maintain solid ratings as WEC 52 features Urijah Faber and WEC 53 features two championships on the line with Benson Henderson versus Anthony Pettis and Dominick Cruz versus Scott Jorgenson.
Welcome to Brocktober…or Rocktober
October 5, 2010
As UFC fans know, it is heavily promoting UFC 121’s Brock Lesnar’s match against Cain Velasquez with television programming-directed to Lesnarand proclaiming the month of October as “Brocktober”. Someone did not tell the WWE (or they did) as WWE Classics On Demand is promoting classic Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson matches and calling this month “Rocktober” – an obvious nod, or perhaps “People’s Eyebrow” at the UFC.
SpikeTV will carry a special three part series focusing on Lesnar and Velasquez in leading up to the October 23 Showdown. This programming is in addition to new episodes of the The Ultimate Fighter and UFC 120 on October 16. Additionally, UFC Unleashed will feature Brock Lesnar matchups.
The WWE is running commercials on its weekly shows promoting its On Demand classic channel featuring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson matches and interviews.
Payout Perspective:
Although many WWE fans are UFC fans, the WWE does a great job in picking up on obvious trends in promoting its product. Recognizing that Lesnar, a former WWE star, is fighting this month, they are promoting one of its past superstars in its On Demand programming. Ironically, The Rock was present at UFC 119 (H/T Cagewriter). Johnson, along with Steve Austin and Paul Heyman were notable attendees in support of Brock at Lesnar’s last matchup in July. Call it counterprogramming, but the WWE is picking up on the Brocktober promotion and using it to its advantage.
SpikeTV is loading up on UFC content this fall. If you include WEC 51, Zuffa will run 4 live events within 30 days.
With the Brocktober promotion, the UFC is banking on the appeal of Lesnar and hope that the run up on SpikeTV to UFC 121 will increase ticket sales and PPV buys.
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Showtime on MTV: WEC star on MTV’s “The World of Jenks”
September 27, 2010
WEC lightweight contender Anthony “Showtime” Pettis appearedon the new MTV reality/documentary show “The World of Jenks” on Monday night. This is good timing as it was recently announcedthat Pettis will face Benson Henderson for the WEC lightweight championship on December 16th.
The episode focuses on Pettis’ life and training leading up to his fight in March with Danny Castillo at WEC’s event in Columbus, Ohio last March.
Pettis has an interesting and tragic backstory. His father was murdered in 2003, when Anthony was just 15 years old. Martial arts served as a refuge for him, and kept him focused when he could have easily gone down the path to drugs and gangs, as some of his family did. (via Cagewriter)
Payout Perspective:
I enjoy the sports reality shows where you get to hear about the behind the scenes back story of an athlete. I recall watching an episode of MTV’s True Life which featured mixed martial artists. One of those fighters happened to be Frankie Edgar. Ironically, it was shot in lead up to his matchup with Gray Maynard. Can Pettis be the next success story?
For Pettis, this is great exposure for the casual fan to get to know him and his story. It is also a great way to promote the WEC and its card later this week and Pettis’ fight in December.
This is yet another great example of MMA moving into mainstream consciousness.
