ONE FC is one of the world’s largest mixed martial arts (MMA) promotions. They recently consummated an unprecedented ten-year deal with ESPN STAR Sports, the number one leader in sports content, which will bring ONE FC content to 500 million homes across 24 countries in Asia. Now, ONE FC and ASA have joined forces.

 CEO and Owner of ONE Fighting Championship Mr. Victor Cui said, “ONE Fighting Championship has completely changed the game for the sport of MMA in Asia, a region that has been the birthplace and home to martial arts for the last 5,000 years. This is a result of the synergistic efforts and outstanding support from our partners. We are the biggest and best MMA organization in Asia because we work with only the best fighters, promotions, gyms, sponsors, and media companies. I am happy to be working with another world-class agency in ASA as we expand our reach to work with new sponsors and partners.”

 “Though less than a year old, ONE FC has done some amazing things already in the sport of MMA,” explained ASA CEO Jason Chambers. “They have a huge reach…it’s unreal to see what they are accomplishing. With the growth they’re experiencing, it’s only natural that they want to expand their presence here in North America. ASA can help ONE FC achieve that, and that is our goal.”

ONE Fighting Championship is Asia’s largest mixed martial arts event. While ONE FC is dedicated to featuring the best Asian fighters in the world, the promotion also aims to reach the North American fight faithful as well. Events thus far have featured well-known fighters such as Phil Baroni, Tatsuya Kawajiri, Melvin Manhoef, Yoshiyuki Yoshida, Andy Wang, and Rolles Gracie, while also introducing talented combatants such as Zorobabel Moreira, Ole Laursen, Fabricio Monteiro, and rising star Eduard Folayang.

ASA has quickly garnered a strong reputation in the MMA world, working with stars on the rise such as UFC fighters Chris Clements, Clifford Starks, Carlo Prater, and Matt Lucas, as well as established fighters like Karo Parisyan, Lyle “Fancy Pants” Beerbohm, Drew Fickett, Jorge Gurgel, and Zoila Gurgel. However, ASA is more than just another management firm. The company offers a wide array of services, including brand-building. The partnership with ONE FC came about as a result, and proves that ASA is a company to keep an eye on.

Payout Perspective:

Though less than a year old, you have to be impressed with the moves One FC has made so far.  From signing a TV deal with ESPN STAR Sports to now slowly creeping into the North American market, it appears that all the right moves are being made.  The Japanese and Asian MMA scene has yet to recover to the levels of when PRIDE Fighting Championship ruled the region. Since the  purchase and dismantling of the Japanese promotion years ago by Zuffa, several promotions have tried to fill it’s void (Sengoku, DREAM, etc0 but none have been able to do so.

One FC took an interesting approach and focused on developing Asian talent and concentrating on the Asian market before further expanding.  The signing with ASA is just another step in the direction of growth for the budding promotion who is based out of Singapore.

In addition to the new beer sponsor, “AT&T, DeWalt, O’Reilly Auto Parts, History Channel and the Mexican state of Puebla the CEO of Golden Boy Promotions (Richard Schaefer) estimates the fight will bring in about $2 million in sponsor rights fees and a promotional value of at least $8.5 million,” according to the SBJ.

Among the various promotions, the sponsorship activation includes DeWalt promotions in Home Depots, O’Reilly promotions at its stores as well as $1.5 million in radio ad buys, AT&T advertising its GoPhone and NCM Fathom advertising showing of the fight in theatres.

The sponsor fees and promo values are the most ever for Golden Boy as it overshadows its previous top fight ever of Oscar de la Hoya vs. Mayweather.  Coincidentally, that fight occurred the first weekend of May as well.  In addition, the fight had the biggest PPV buys ever with 2.4 million.  This Saturday will likely not beat that record.

The ring layout for this Saturday’s fight.

Payout Perspective:

If the UFC wanted blue chip sponsors, maybe it should look to Golden Boy to find them.  We are kidding of course.  If your name is not Mayweather or Pacquiao, boxing would not see this amount of sponsorship money and promotional value. While we have debated whether boxing is dead, big name fights in boxing are still in the marketing budget for blue chip sponsors.

Despite the fact that the Mayweather fight is secondary to the hype surrounding the fight, we still see sponsors willing to spend big money to be a part of it.  The activation involved is a sign that projections for buys in this fight should be robust.  It also shows that no matter how much people hate Mayweather, he is still the top draw in boxing (dare I say the Brock Lesnar of boxing).

With Corona taking the center of the ring, it means no $25 rebates for the PPV as Tecate has done in the past.  While Corona spends a lot on media buys but does not do a lot of activation surrounding events as Tecate has for promoting its fights.

Shawn Michaels deal with Eyeblack

Former WWE superstar Shawn Michaels has signed an endorsement deal with Eyeblack. The company produces under-eye eyeblack with phrases and logo.  Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch is also sponsored by Eyeblack.

The deal according to the press release allows Eyeblack to produce and sell product with Michaels’ trademark catchphrases which include Showstopper, Mr. HOF and Mr. Hall of Fame.  It will also produce custom designs on camouflauge eyeblack for Michaels’ Outdoor Channel show, “MacMillan River Adventures.”

Payout Take:  A nice quid pro quo for Michaels.  A portion of the deal was for use of Michaels trademarked phrases.  It is a nice product placement for Michaels’ hunting show.  But, in general,  just what real purpose do the eyeblack strips have?  Couldn’t you wear sunglasses to keep the sun out of your eyes?

A sample of the Shawn Michaels EyeBlack collection

TNA moves up an hour earlier on Spike TV

TNA will move up an hour to 8pm ET (5pm PT) starting May 31st.  According to the press release, it’s “predicated on the fact that there are more available viewers in the 8:00-10:00pm timeslot with less sports competition in the 8pm hour.”

TNA is not doing too bad in the ratings right now.  This past week it averaged 1.4 million viewers with a 0.99 rating which was up from the previous week.  Bear in mind, the ratings are much better than either Bellator or TUF Live.

Payout Take:  Acknowledging the competition and moving it to a slot where it may get move viewers is a good move by TNA and Spike TV.  The move likely is gearing up for this fall when the NFL will have more games on Thursday nights throughout the fall.  It could also mean sliding in Bellator at 10pm in 2013 with TNA as a solid lead-in and moving it off of Friday nights.

WWE to live stream PPV show on Facebook and YouTube Channel

Without its network, the WWE is utilizing its other social media to promote this Sunday’s PPV which features Brock Lesnar.  Earlier this year, the WWE used its YouTube channel to promote Wrestlemania this past year and returns to it to feature a match.   Cageside Seats reports that the live pre-show will appear on its Facebook, WWE.com and YouTube channel.  The additional free match should draw viewers to one of the outlets and perhaps draw additional buys.

Payout Take:  The move helps market Lesnar’s return to WWE PPV and serves as a monitor as to how well visited its social media, especially its YouTube channel is visited.  The WWE has produced original content for the channel and it may be a default place for the WWE while it waits for its Network to hit.

A-B recently released a press release which stated the following:

“We’ve communicated to the UFC our displeasure with certain remarks made by some of its fighters, and they have promised to address this. If the incidents continue, we will act”

In a statement to AdAge regarding the A-B situation, UFC issued the following response:

With over 425 athletes on our roster, there have unfortunately been instances where a couple athletes have made insensitive or inappropriate comments. We don’t condone this behavior, and in no way is it reflective of the company or its values

…. unlike most other sports leagues, we encourage our athletes to engage online. It is part of our company culture, and whenever you are at the forefront of a trend or initiative, it comes with its own pitfalls. We will continue to embrace social media while looking for better ways to stay in front of the issues. This includes a mandate for our athletes to attend sensitivity training and a seminar on proper use of social media.

AdAge also cited three recent incidents that were documented in a letter by the National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence.  One involves UFC fighter Quinton “Rampage” Jackson urging Japanese fans to say homophobic statements, another of UFC fighter Rashad Evans hyping his fight against Penn State alumni Phil Davis inappropriately stating “I’m going to put those hands on you worse than that dude did them other kids at Penn State”. The last is not a fighter, but UFC announcer Joe Rogan, who used sexist and misogynist language against Yahoo Sports blogger Maggie Hendricks after she pointed out Rampage Jackson’s inappropriate behavior towards female reporters.  Plenty of other instances regarding UFC president Dana White performing similar acts have also been reported within the last few years, but were not cited in the write-up.

The letter that caused a lot of the recent commotion for A-B and the UFC was a letter from the group Alcohol Justice, who titled it “An Open Letter to Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABI) Shareholders – RE: Opposition to sponsorship of the Ultimae Fighting Championship (UFC).

The letter states the following:

Dear Shareholder:

As fellow shareholders and as public health advocates, Alcohol Justice (formerly Marin Institute) asks you to vigorously oppose ABI’s sponsorship of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), the world’s largest promoter of violent cage-fighting events.

We believe ABI’s sponsorship of UFC must come to an end as there is a very tangible risk to the bottom line of dividends and stock price value as well as long term bad press as the relationship of this patently brutal blood sport to predatory marketing of Bud Light to underage youth are played out on the global stage of public opinion. It’s already being called “Blood Light.” This cannot be good for business, sales, or long-term profitability.

Alcohol Justice, the alcohol industry watchdog, has served as a leading research and advocacy institution for over 24 years. We monitor and expose the alcohol industry’s targeting of youth and minority populations, as well as the industry’s adverse effect on public health and the environment globally.

There is compelling evidence that exposure to alcohol advertising and marketing increases the likelihood of underage drinking. Since 2001, at least seven peer-reviewed, federally funded, long-term studies have found that young people with greater exposure to alcohol marketing — including on television, in magazines, on the radio, on billboards or other outdoor signage, or via in-store beer displays, beer concessions, or ownership of beer promotional items or branded merchandise — are more likely to start drinking than their peers.

As the primary sponsor of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABI) is delivering harmful content to millions of underage youth. At center stage is the ever-present Bud Light logo, imbued throughout all of UFC’s violent events, including live fights, Pay-Per-View, and television broadcasts that reach 354 million homes worldwide. These homes are filled with children!

In addition, millions of UFC fans of all ages have access to live streaming of fights via Facebook, and limitless YouTube videos of bloody fights, promotions, and “pornohol” such as Bud Light Lime ads featuring UFC “Octagon Girl” Arianny Celeste topless, underwear-clad and rolling around in a bed of limes.

UFC President Dana White has been quoted as saying “our targeted audience is anywhere from age 17 to 35.”  He and a number of UFC athletes have recently come under fire for sexist, homophobic, violent and derogatory remarks, including jokes about rape and sexual assault. As A-B InBev shareholders we should be outraged by this behavior.

Given that alcohol is the number one drug of choice among America’s youth, and the U.S. Surgeon General estimates that approximately 5,000 people under age 21 die from alcohol-related injuries involving underage drinking each year, board members, shareholders, and consumers will become more aware of the ethical ramifications that continued sponsorship of UFC will have on ABI. Do we really want Bud Light ads to be condemned for irresponsibly delivering harmful content to millions of youth, exposing them to people beating one another to a bloody pulp?

We believe this will lead to mounting litigations, inevitable regulatory and legislative actions, and growing concerns about the safety of youth exposed to harmful content by viewing UFC promotions. All of this can only hurt ABI’s reputation as a corporate citizen and its robust revenue.

As shareholders we have an obligation to help protect stock value by holding the corporation to higher standards of responsibility, especially those related to underage consumption and harm.  We can insist that management address these ethical issues with more integrity by pulling its support of this graphic, violent, bloody sport.  While the world may still want to enjoy a Bud Light, it does not need “Blood Light.”

Respectfully,

Bruce Lee Livingston, MPP Executive Director/CEO

***

That very same day, Business Insider Advertising also wrote a write-up titled “Budweiser Threatened To Pull Its Ad Dollars From The UFC After Seeing This Guy’s Nazi Tattoos”.  They went to state that the statement released by A-B regarding the inappropriate language and behavior is “almost unheard of in sports sponsorship, where advertiser displeasure is usually delivered to media partners behind closed doors”. The website also stated “While the sport can’t be expected to be a bastion of Edwardian manners, it is not until you see a collection of the kinds of things said by UFC pros that you realize just how unprofessional the organization is. What follows is a slideshow of incidents in which offensive language and behavior is used in the UFC”.

This is not the first time A-B has reprimanded the UFC. If you recall back at UFC 100 – the biggest show in UFC history to date – Brock Lesnar stood on the Bud Light logo, pointed at it, and said he was looking forward to going home with his wife and “drinking a Coors Light because Bud Light won’t pay me anything”.  That problem was dealt with behind closed doors as both the UFC and Lesnar were reprimanded by A-B and during the post-fight press conference, Lesnar issued an apology for his post-fight behavior and continued to answer questions as a Bud Light bottle was strategically placed in front of him.

Courtesy of Bleacher Report

***

Regarding who is responsible for triggering most of this recent bad press for the UFC, look no further than the Culinary Workers Union Local 226, who has had ongoing labor dispute with Station Casinos and UFC owners Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta – who are both firmly against labor unions.  So far, the Culinary Union has been credited for keeping the UFC out of the state of New York for several years by backing anti-MMA legislators in the state, triggering a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigation, writing letters to UFC advertisers and TV partners (FOX) informing them of the inappropriate language and behavior of the organization and its fighters, the creation of http://www.unfitforchildren.org/ (a website illustrating many of these examples), and just recently, drafting up a version of MMA Bill of Rights and presenting it in front of the Nevada State Athletic Commission and recently in front of the California State Athletic Commission.

In terms of the labor union’s efforts against the UFC owners, this week has been a rewarding one. The letters to UFC sponsors and multiple  anti abuse and violence groups has increased the awareness of lack of  etiquette it has haunted the UFC in the past, when they just weren’t quite mainstream enough for anyone to care.  Landing the recent FOX deal and essentially putting all their main competitors out of business in recent years has caught the attention of mainstream groups in the last year.  Earlier this week, the proposed Bill of Rights hearing in Sacramento (AB2100) passed committee on a 5-3 vote. This bill would essential give fighters rights – many derived up from the Ali Act in boxing – which the UFC greatly apposes.  UFC representatives essentially told the committee that if the bill passed, it would essentially drive the UFC away from California, which would have a great economic impact on not only the fighters, but also on the state. It would also cause a heavy burden and expense on the CSAC, which they are not equipped to handle.

List of parties who are in favor and against AB2100 amendments:

Support: American Rights at Work, Arete Agency. California Conference Board of the Amalgamated Transit Union. California Conference of Machinists. California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO. California Police Activities League. California Teamsters Public Affairs Council. Engineers & Scientists of California, IFPTE Local 20. Fighters Online, International Longshore and Warehouse Union, Jockey’s Guild, Mixed Martial Arts Fighters Association, Patient Networks, Professional & Technical Engineers, IFPTE Local 21, United Food & Commercial, Workers Western States Council, UNITE-HERE, AFL-CIO, Utility Workers Union of America, Local 132, two private citizens (Eddie Goldman & Juanito Ibarra)

Opposition: Goossen Tutor Promotions, Honda Center, Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, HP Pavilion at San Jose, Ultimate Fighting Championship

…

Notice the opposition here.

- UFC is a given.

- Notice HP Pavilion in San Jose.  Last year, the UFC’s purchased Strikeforce, which at the time was it’s main competitor,  from the Silicon Valley Sports & Entertainment based out of San Jose, who also owns the San Jose Sharks and manages the HP Pavilion.  The problem with owning Strikeforce was that it kept UFC out of San Jose, a hotbed for MMA at the time, due to the nature of being competitors.  Part of the deal to sell Strikeforce to Zuffa was for the UFC to put on several shows at the HP Pavilion per year.  Since the purchase, Zuffa has visited San Jose for UFC 139 late last year and is currently scheduled for the Strikeforce HW GP finale on May 19th. Another date for a smaller UFC show was discussed for July and another big UFC numbered event is in talks before the end of the year.  A bill which would would drive the UFC away and it’s now close ties to the promotion would obviously be bad business for the San Jose based venue.

- The Honda Center is the other California venue listed as opposition.  Interestingly enough, that’s the UFC’s preferred venue when visiting Southern California, where they can heavily push and market towards the Hispanic demographic as they did for Cain Velasquez against Brock Lesnar and most recently on their FOX debut against Junior Dos Santos.  UFC’s plan was to host another big event at the Honda Center by the end of the year.

- The other is Goossen Tutor Promotions, which is partly ran by Dan Goossen, a boxing promoter and the manager of ex-boxing champ James Toney, who previously fought for the the UFC back in 2010 against Randy Couture back in 2010. Goossen negotiated Toney’s contract to fight in the UFC at the time.  Goossen also wanted to do James Toney vs Tito Ortiz even further back in 2003-2004 and a previous Toney vs Couture bout about five years ago.

***

Looking at the Culinary Union’s efforts the past few years, it’s apparent that their efforts have focused on keeping the UFC out of New York, trying to do the same in California (one of their biggest current markets within the US), and impacting the relationship between their major blue chip sponsors is quite the strategic plan.  All would impact the UFC’s bottom line. I’m not sure the labor union can continue to be successful and continue to lobby against the UFC for years to come, but they are doing something most other groups have failed to do in a very long time, and that’s pose a challenge. If they weren’t taken seriously before, I can assure you no one from Zuffa is laughing at their efforts now. At the very least, it causes a few annoying and pesky headaches here and there for the Fertitta brothers in hopes that one day both sides can come to an agreement. Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear that a compromise will be reached anytime soon.

Jones outclasses Evans

Did the fight live up to its expectations?  Despite the hype, the outcome was never in doubt.  Jon Jones dominated Rashad Evans to win via decision.  Jones’ ability to utilize his reach and unique strikes did in Evans.

Both fighters received their share of boos from the crowd.  It’s interesting to witness that folks hate Jones.  Is it due to the perceived arrogance?

It appears that Jones is heading for a clash with Dan Henderson in a fight where most fans will be behind Henderson.

Next big thing?

Rory MacDonald may be the next dominant fighter in the sport.  He dominated Che Mills to continue his ascent up the welterweight ladder.  He is adamant that he’d never fight GSP if it came down to it. But, that scenario is down the line.  We will definitely see more of him and he’s still very young.

Rothwell ends Schaub quickly

Honestly, I went out of the room during introductions and I came back and this fight was over.  This was the second straight fight in which Schaub was knocked out. A good win for Rothwell who looked like he was in much better shape than his last fight against Mark Hunt.

Attendance and Gate

The UFC announced on Friday that 145 had sold out the Philips Arena.  We’ll update the numbers once we recieve them.  UPDATED:  MMA Junkie reports 145 drew 15,145 for a gate of $2.2 million.

Sponsorships

-  The big news for UFC 145 was that headliner Jon Jones would sport UFC branded gear.  As we noted, it appears that this will be a trend for the future.  Frank Mir, who will take Alistair Overeem’s place at UFC 146, will be the next fighter to wear UFC gear.

As it turns out, MicroTech and Xyience were secondary logos on Jones’ UFC gear.  Xyience had prominent space on the back side of Jones. In the end, is this new trend a conflict of interest?

Evans was sponsored by MMA clothing manufacturer Jaco.  But, he also was sponsored by Bony Acai, MusclePharm and Corn Nuts.  Three UFC Official Sponsors.  Coincidentally, MusclePharm was a prime sponsor of the main event.

Frankly, we do not know the relationship between Official UFC Sponsors and what opportunities each gets in terms of signage/visibility at each event.  So, it’s possible that the UFC placing its official sponsors on UFC branded fighters is a complementary piece to its existing partnership.  It could also charge its official sponsors for being secondary marks on the UFC branded fighters.  The UFC has indicated that branding fighters is a sign of the future.  As we hypothesized, the UFC could be inching out other MMA sponsors from the fighters in the Octagon.  As a result, there might be a time the UFC could entice more sponsors to become official UFC sponsors so that it could be on fight shorts or walkout shirts.

- Metro PCS, Dodge, RYU, US Marines and Corn Nuts all sponsored different portions of the night.  Metro PCS sponsored the weigh-ins on Friday.  MusclePharm sponsored the main event.

- Some new fight sponsors I noticed last night:

Kalapaki Joe’s – Its is a sports bar in Hawaii.  Interesting that a sports bar with locations in the islands decided to sponsor UFC fighters.  The good news is that one of its sponsored fighters was Rory MacDonald.

Square – Full disclosure.  I actually use this device.  It allows businesses to swipe credit cards remotely.

Majors Pharmacy – Mark Bocek’s sponsor on the back of his trunks.  It was easy to see and it helped that Bocek had top position most of the fight.

Husky – Rashad Evans was sponsored by this company although after an internet search I could not find them.  Always have your website with your logo folks.  I seem to think that this is an industrial-type company but if any reader can help, I’d appreciate it.  UPDATED:  According to a commenter, Husky is a tool and construction accessory company.

-  The UFC didn’t have its usual walkouts as the main and co-main events were the only walkouts shown.  This is a new trend that may hurt sponsors in the end.  As it turned out, with the KOs, there was some filler time between fights which could have been done with walkouts.

Bonuses

MMA Junkie reports that the bonuses for the night were $65,000 each.

Submission of the Night:  Great ji-jitsu by Travis Browne to submit Chad Griggs.

KO of the Night:  As I stated earlier, I missed the Rothwell-Schaub fight because it was so quick.  But after rewinding, it was an impressive KO.

Fight of the Night:  Eddie Yagin and Mark Hominick – Hominick included his customary pushups after the final bell rang.  In return, Yagin did some situps.  It was like they were completing a workout or something.

Pre-Fight Hype

The UFC Primetimes were pretty interesting but were hidden away on Friday night and with TUF Live as a lead-in.  For all the efforts in promoting the fight, there were not enough opportunities to see a pretty good Primetime lead-in for the fight.

UFC Primetime Episode 1: 462,000 viewers
UFC Primetime Episode 2: 573,000 viewers

There was a lot of mainstream promotion for Jones-Evans.  The two traded verbal jabs on ESPN, UFC 145 sponsored a segment of Sportscenter (and I thought Dana White said the network hated MMA and the UFC?), they made an appearance on the NBA on TNT’s post-game show featuring Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal and Jones was featured in the Wall Street Journal.  The TNT appearance probably was due to the fact that the event was in Atlanta where TNT studios are located.

Mashable also had an article which featured the UFC’s social media strategy. In the article, it reports the UFC purchasing Promoted Tweets for UFC 145 which should increase trending visibility for the event. Despite paying for tweets, many UFC Fighters were trending topics last night on twitter organically.

The UFC is also starting to use Pinterest – which I still am not clear on how it works.

A criticism about the promotion of this card is the fact that not enough was done to promote the undercard.  There was little time spent on MacDonald-Mills, Rothwell-Schaub or any of the other fights.

Post-UFC 145 Headline

- Henderson next for Jones:  The only one real headline after the PPV.  The young lion versus the old vet.  Will Henderson have a chance against Jones?  Can he pull a Randy Couture?  Henderson packs more of a punch than Evans but will face the same reach disadvantages as Evans.  Also, Jones’ conditioning is phenomenal and one need only look to the Rua slugfest at 139 to see that Henderson may be in trouble.

Odds and Ends

- If the UFC is coaching certain fighters in interviews, it must have talked to Michael McDonald when he said he was going to party after his fight, “But not with alcohol, with the sweets.”  Ben Rothwell is another for thanking strangers, who he revealed were the fans of the UFC. Of course, I am joking about this.  I was chastised on twitter about making light of McDonald.  Now I know how Cage Potato feels.  Ok, not exactly.

-  Che Mills had the best walkout music of the night.  Too bad he faced Rory MacDonald.

-  I had hoped that Rashad Evans would have come out with his Bill Gates Mug Shot T-Shirt (FighterXFashion has the backstory).  The same one he wore after his knockout of Chuck Liddell at UFC 88 in Atlanta.  Evans did walkout to the same music at 88.

-  Anyone else think that the “Jones vs. Evans” lettering on the poster for UFC 145 was an odd choice?

Conclusion

In the end, the success of this PPV will hinge on the main event as the UFC put all of its marketing and promotional force behind the one fight.  It received some good mainstream acknowledgment which should help.  Also, Jones and Evans are great ambassadors for the sport.  This was the first PPV in which you could see some tweeks which could be influenced by Fox.  This included the elimination of walkout entrances of most fights except the main and co-main events. Venturing a guess as to the PPV buys, I would speculate we see somewhere in the 500K neighborhood.

WWE stock plummets to 52 week low Thursday

Despite breaking records with its PPV buys for Wrestlemania 28, the WWE’s stock hit a 52 week low on Thursday.  The depression in stock comes a couple weeks before it announces its first quarter results.  WWE reports first quarter results May 3rd.  The company is spending a lot of money right now as it attempts to build its WWE Network.

Payout Take:  The 52 week low may be attributed to the high aspirations for its PPV buys.  The WWE Network and its Film Division are the two culprits in the WWE empire that are losing money for the company.  While the WWE is addressing the issues with its film unit, it is the expenses for the WWE Network that may be a ray of hope for the company in the future.  Although it missed its original target date for its debut, if it can find distribution deals and a fan base and advertisers that will be willing to pay, the WWE may be onto something.  But, that’s a big “if”.

Lesnar allowed to wear his sponsors in the WWE

Despite jumping to the WWE, Brock Lesnar is keeping his sponsors.  According to Wrestling-Online.com, one of the clauses in his contract was that he could still wear his sponsors while in the WWE.  Currently, the WWE characters are sponsorless.  Jimmy Johns is one of the bigger sponsors Lesnar will be wearing to the ring.  I don’t believe the WWE has an official sandwich maker for the company so there were no conflicts.  It will be odd to see Lesnar in the ring wearing gear that he wore in the Octagon.

Payout Take:  Not only does Lesnar get a $5 million contract from the WWE, he will still be paid by his UFC sponsors for wearing the gear.  This is a bonus for his sponsors considering that he will be in front of a much bigger audience.

TNA to work with Bellator when it heads to SpikeTV

Despite renewing its contract with Spike TV, TNA wrestling is still retooling its product.  News has surfaced that TNA heads Dixie Carter and Eric Bischoff have met with Spike TV execs to discuss the direction of the product.  TNA has contacted Bellator about ways that each company can help one another once Bellator comes aboard to Spike in 2013.

Payout Take: This can benefit both companies…or, it could hurt each company.  While both cater to the network’s target demographics, involving Bellator in TNA angles may disturb the Bellator product and blur the lines of real and sports entertainment.  Spike execs, TNA and Bellator will have to be creative in collaborating on cross-promotion.

Via Xyience press release details the importance of the visibility:

To gain perspective on what this means in terms of reach for XYIENCE Xenergy, the November 12, 2011 UFC debut on the network, UFC on FOX Velasquez vs. Dos Santos was ranked No. 1 among men aged 18–34. It also delivered more viewers of a younger age (35), and a higher concentration of males, than other live sports on broadcast television. The XYIENCE Xenergy logo could be found on the perimeter of the mat during that broadcast.

In support of the announcement, Xyience is staging local appearances by Matt Serra on May 4th and 5th.  Details can be found here.

Payout Perspective:

A good boost for the visibility of the Xyience brand for the event.  Similar to the November 12th event, UFC on Fox 3 will have to compete with a big boxing PPV the same night as Floyd Mayweather fights Miguel Cotto.  It’s likely that the two events will not directly cross paths that night as the Mayweather fight will likely occur later on in the evening after UFC’s event on Fox.

It’s interesting that we are seeing more brands having an opportunity to take the center of the Octagon for events.  As an example, Affliction was the center for UFC on Fuel 2.  We will see who will be next.

Jones’s former sponsor, Form Athletics, went under, leaving Jones available to any sponsor.  While there was speculation that Nike may be a sponsor (and still may in the future), Jones will sport UFC-branded gear which is already for sale on the UFC.com web site.

via FighterXFashion

Lorenzo Fertitta spoke to  USA Today (via MMA Junkie):

To give you a little bit of background, I was going through the process of renegotiating with Jon and his management team on his fight contract. One of the things they brought up was that Jon was at a point where he didn’t necessarily want to sign contracts with some of these smaller, what I’ll call, T-shirt companies that you historically see in UFC, whether it be Tapout or MMA Elite or any of these other guys.

His aspirations (were) that he wanted to be signed by a Nike or an Adidas or an Under Armour, somebody like that. The reality is, those opportunities don’t present themselves to Jon right now, and that’s why I suggested, “Hey look, we’ve got this performance line of gear. Let us send it to you. You can test it. You can try it out. If you like it, then you can wear it in your next couple of fights.”

Fertitta added that the deal with Jones is non-exclusive so he’d be able to sign with another company if the opportunity presented itself.

Payout Perspective:

This is an interesting development for the UFC as no fighter this high profile has worn UFC profile gear.  In recent memory, Gilbert Yvel (in his last UFC fight before being let go) and Tiequan Zhang wore UFC apparel in their fights.  The article indicates Urijah Faber, Clay Guida and Phil Davis among others that have worn UFC gear but not necessarily during fights.

From another perspective, what becomes of the UFC sponsorship fee?  It would seem that the UFC sponsored clothing deals would negate any gains from the fees.  Is the UFC inching out sponsors to own the clothing business? Or, will a Nike or Under Armour partner with the UFC to become an official sponsor?  Thus, we may see something like the NFL or NBA with an official clothing sponsor.  Or, does this seem like a move to the WWE merchandise model–will we see no other fighter sponsors aside from the UFC?  It could mean that all sponsorship opportunities would be filtered through the UFC.

As for the Jones deal, was it smart for him to take the deal with the UFC rather than with another apparel company/sponsor?  It’s likely that Jones may have left money on the table to perhaps appease the UFC.  While his aspirations are Nike or Adidas, it wasn’t in the cards this time around.  But, he may have made more money with a “one-off” deal with other sponsors.

As an aside, the media gets another “uneducated” shout out as the UFC tries to clarify for us that despite only one of the two fighters is represented by the UFC in the main event, it does not show favoritism to the UFC sponsored fighter.  This is in response to those claiming that the UFC is favoring Jones in the fight due to this new deal.

The UFC will only cover 3 of the next 28 Saturday night events for Fox on Saturday nights.  But, the overall strategy for Fox to air sports in prime time will boost ad sales and attract advertisers that would not usually purchase time during sports programming.

At this point, there has been no pushback from local affiliates that may have its own time cut into due to sports overrun.

Payout Perspective:

While the UFC will play a small part in the Saturday night prime time strategy, it’s the possibility of drawing advertisers that do not traditionally buy into sports that could be intriguing for the UFC.  It is the intent of Zuffa and Fox to attract more mainstream sponsors for its programming and the ownership of Saturday night programming by Fox Sports should help.  With the further exposure into prime time for the UFC, it can only mean a better possibility of attracting mainstream sponsors.

Via press release:

TapouT’s 2012 ‘#MYFIGHTMATTERS’ campaign has been trending recently with supporters Tweeting why their unique struggles are important. In the case of Jim Miller, this notion hits particularly close to home. “My 2 year old nephew, Daniel, suffers from recessive polycystic kidney disease (PKD). I fight everyday to raise money and be there for Daniel so that he has the care and support that he needs. That’s why my fight matters.”

For his May battle against Nate Diaz, TapouT is creating a limited edition ‘MY FIGHT MATTERS’ shirt and will donate a percentage of the proceeds to the Daniel James Miller Foundation. The shirt will be sold exclusively on TapouT.com.

In the video clip below, Miller discusses the foundation set up for his nephew:

Payout Perspective:

You may recall Miller recently signed a deal with Bass Pro Shops.  The TapouT sponsorship is another good deal for both fighter and sponsor.  Not only is it another sponsorship for Miller, it also is tailored to bring awareness to a cause close to Miller.  For TapouT, it is able to tie in its current #MyFightMatters campaign while assisting a charitable cause.