Today’s MMAterial Facts illustrates the impact of social networks and media on MMA.
- Notes: UFC branding machine marches on
- Break Media Launches Social Game and Opens Game Studio
- From Motivational Thoughts to Bar Fights, MMA Turns to Twitter
- MMA Pro Fighter Tops the Facebook MMA Rankings
- Fight Biz: Fighters capitalize on social media to take stories directly to fans
- Midwest MMA Expo Exceeds Expectations
Notes: UFC branding machine marches on
The UFC Gym idea came from a series of meetings about 18 months ago between UFC president Dana White, CEO Lorenzo Fertitta, and Mark Mastrov and Jim Rowley, the founder and former division president respectively for 24 Hour Fitness, who had both left the company and to start their own new ventures, opening gyms like YogaWorks, Crunch and Steve Nash Fitness World.
The result is a merger of the 24 Hour Fitness-type of gym with a traditional martial arts gym. The gym features the traditional assortment of weights, treadmills, exercise bikes and other aerobic equipment, along with television monitors and blaring music. But the major differences are the obvious UFC trappings. An Octagon in the center of gym is used for martial arts classes. Huge wall photos of UFC Hall of Famers and life-sized cardboard cutouts of current stars decorate the interiors…
By the end of the day Saturday, which featured autograph sessions with the fighters and martial arts demonstrations by the kids classes, approximately 10,000 people had come through the doors. Many were the type of adult males you’d expect to see at a live UFC event, but there were a number of adults bringing young children. Mastrov noted it was the highest turnout for any gym grand opening in his 26 years in the industry.
UFC lines up Versus debut
“With the UFC viewers watching, we can push WEC events and our other products,” Fein said.
Fein said an advantage of Versus when it comes to live programming of both WEC and UFC is that they aren’t going to be as strict on the time slot.
For example, when Strikeforce had its debut event on CBS, there was a panic backstage because the network affiliates wanted to show to end at 11 p.m. ET because of the scheduled local newscasts. For Spike, the live UFC specials are usually there to build an audience for Spike to debut a series, so they want the new show being showcased to start as close to its advertised time as possible. Fein said if there is a great match on the undercard, they won’t have qualms about the show going well past the scheduled time slot to fit it in. (Yahoo! Sports)
Break Media Launches Social Game and Opens Game Studio
Break Media, the Internet’s premier entertainment community for men, today announced the formation of a game studio to drive its expansion into social gaming. The studio, located in Shanghai, China, will launch its first game on February 1: MMA FightPicker, a mixed-martial-arts-themed social game that will be featured on Break’s MMA property, CagePotato.com.
“Break’s success as a media company is predicated on a deep understanding of our audience and an ability to deliver the content they want,” said Keith Richman, CEO of Break Media. “Gaming is a natural extension of that strategy, enabling us to build on our existing strengths as a publisher to bring even more value to our users and open new revenue opportunities for Break and its advertising partners.”
The new game studio, which has been operating since Q4’09, is currently working on a half a dozen original titles for Break Media, all slated for release in 2010. The studio is expected to grow rapidly throughout the year, staffing up to more than three-dozen employees by mid year. Alex Lien, formerly COO of Chinese game development company Winking Entertainment, has been hired as General Manager, Greater China for Break Media and will manage the game studio and all other Break operations in the region…
MMA FightPicker, the first title from the Break game studio, combines elements of social gaming and fantasy sports games to provide players a unique way to interact with each other and the sport of mixed martial arts. In the game, players join pools and make predictions on upcoming MMA matches; the player who scores the most points wins the pool and status as a top MMA expert, as well as other potential prizes. Players will be able to purchase in-game currency called “potato chips” to join more pools and take advantage of offers from Break partners to earn free chips. (Business Wire)
From Motivational Thoughts to Bar Fights, MMA Turns to Twitter
Thanks to Twitter, Facebook and other social networking sites, a day — and night — in the life of a mixed martial arts fighter is now clearer than ever. Especially since many fighters treat their smartphone like a body appendage…
Following fighters on the Internet can involve taking things with a grain of salt, however. Former WEC featherweight champion Mike Brown had his Facebook account hacked while UFC light-heavyweight Keith Jardine found someone else masquerading as the Dean of Mean on Facebook.
Penn, one of the savviest fighters around when it comes to social networking, uses Twitter to link to www.bjpenn.com for a video offering commentary on his next title fight against Edgar…
Penn did his video in Las Vegas, where he was meeting with Dana White. The UFC president was also on Twitter, showing off a picture of him enjoying a small tub of Pinkberry yogurt.
Belcher, a middleweight, links via Twitter to video of him signing his new four-fight deal with the UFC.
…Loiseau, a Montreal-born middleweight with roots in Haiti, and others use Twitter for a more serious topic: “Praying for HAITI… Praying for all my family and friends.”
Former champion Frank Shamrock and UFC ring girl Arianny Celeste use tweets to urge donations to Haiti. (TSN)
MMA Pro Fighter Tops the Facebook MMA Rankings
Digital Chocolate, a quality leader in original and high quality games on all platforms, today announced that its recently launched game MMA Pro Fighter™ is already the #1 mixed martial arts application of any kind on Facebook. This top ranking includes MMA games, news apps, fan apps, video apps, quizzes, and trivia apps on the leading social networking site. The app can be played at: http://apps.facebook.com/mmaprofighter/
“The depth and quality of MMA Pro Fighter has already made it the favorite of mixed martial arts fans on Facebook,” said Trip Hawkins, CEO of Digital Chocolate. “We’re glad to bring MMA followers a whole new level of experience as they throwdown with their Facebook friends.”
Created specifically to take full advantage of Facebook, players can build and develop their fighter and compete with friends to reach the top of the ranks. Players can also customize their character’s look, gear, fighting styles and more, as well as meet the MMA Pro Fighter Ring Girls.
MMA Pro Fighter features an in-depth fighting engine that realistically simulates fights, blow by blow, using actual MMA moves and attributes. The game offers the opportunity to have your fighter learn up to 300 different bone-crushing fighting moves as you level-up in the game. MMA Pro Fighter provides stunning 3D graphics and high production values to deliver the best executed fighting game on Facebook. (Business Wire)
Fight Biz: Fighters capitalize on social media to take stories directly to fans
Welcome to the age of do-it-yourself reporting.
The social media revolution has given anyone with a keyboard and an Internet connection the means to communicate to the masses. Mixed martial artists are among the most passionate adopters of this type of self-generated media, which gives them the ability to connect with fans on their terms.
“Fighters are celebrities,” Darren Shuster, founder of Pop Culture PR, told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “They realize that they are their own brand and that their brand value can be increased in pretty measurable ways. For example, Twitter, with the number of followers.”
Fighters are turning to Twitter in droves. Chuck Liddell has amassed 43,000 followers. Some 28,000 fans are following UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre while lightweight king B.J. Penn boasts nearly 31,000 followers. Posts to the social networking site give fans intimate access to the lives of fighters like never before, and no detail seems insignificant.
“Because of the nature of the MMA industry, it’s highly personal. Twitter is built as a personal medium, and fans have an insatiable demand for the very latest moves, rumors or how many times a fighter went to the gym that day,” Shuster said. “Details like that are very interesting to the real fan.”
No other fighter has capitalized on the emergence of social media and Web 2.0 quite like Penn, who never misses a chance to plug his Web site in the obligatory post-fight octagon interview. Penn has established a massive following on his popular membership-driven site, which gives fans a look into his life through video blogs. More than 110,000 members have registered for Penn’s site. Further demonstrating just how plugged in he is to social networking strategy, his official Twitter page isn’t listed under his name. Instead, it’s bjpenndotcom.
Penn’s use of social media was fueled in large part by how he felt he was being treated by the MMA media. (MMAJunkie)
Midwest MMA Expo Exceeds Expectations
To say that the first annual Wisconsin Combat Sports Midwest MMA Expo was a success would be a vast understatement; the unforgettable event was filled with energetic seminars and ultra-personal meet and greets that led to an unbelievably enjoyable weekend.
Hosted at the Lake of the Torches Resort and Casino in Lac du Flambeau, the weekend getaway was certainly a trek for many of the participants. However, a great atmosphere and some huge stars made it all worthwhile…
Michael Broderick, the Director of Marketing for the LOTC, was extremely excited with how the entire event unfolded.
“I think the event was fantastic,” said Broderick. “It was phenomenal for the fans, it was phenomenal for the fighters and participants, and it was phenomenal for the Lake of the Torches and Wisconsin Combat Sports. I couldn’t be happier with how the event ultimately unfolded.”
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While increasing the length of the individual seminars may be on the agenda for next year’s event, one thing for certain is that the inaugural expo was undoubtedly a success…
The area’s first ever attraction of this kind allowed fighters and fans the opportunity to meet and even learn from some of the world’s best mixed martial artists. And best of all, it was free to every single person that attended. (Wisconsin Combat Sports)
QUICK HITS
- Hieron-Riggs to Air Live on EASports.com (Sherdog)
- Despite age, Walker no gimmick (Yahoo! Sports)
- The Making of Herschel Walker (MMAFighting)
- Bobby Lashley vs. Wes Sims official for “Strikeforce: Miami,” Jan. 30 card finalized (MMAJunkie)
- Machida Healed, Ready For Shogun Rematch (MMAWeekly)
- Mousasi Joins St. Pierre’s Camp, Eyes ‘King Mo’ Next (Sherdog)
- Andre Galvao vs. Luke Stewart targeted for “Strikeforce Challengers VII” in Fresno, Calif. (MMAJunkie)
- Ortiz taps McCullough, Soliz and Luciano “The Ultimate Fighter 11” assistant coaches (MMAJunkie)
- Liddell selects Hackleman, Davis, Epstein, Shields as “The Ultimate Fighter 11” coaches (MMAJunkie)
- Bibiano Fernandes vs. Joachim Hansen title fight in the works for DREAM.13 (MMAJunkie)
- Jorgensen Draws George at WEC in Columbus (MMAWeekly)
- Denis Kang Signs With Canada’s W-1 MMA (MMAFighting)
- Melvin Manhoef looks ahead to Strikeforce debut against Lawler (USA Today)
- Shooto titlist Inoue calls out Top-5 featherweight Hioki (USA Today)
- Gina Carano’s ‘Knockout’ film to start shooting Feb. 2 in Ireland (USA Today)
- N4G.com : UFC Undisputed 2010 gets May 28 release in UK (N4G.com)
- UFC Undisputed 2010 Trailer (VIDEO) (5OzsOfPain)
TV LISTINGS
- HDNet Fights Presents K-1 Classics (Musashi Tribute) at 8 PM ET on HDNet (01/29/10)
- InsideMMA (Gegard Mousasi, Gilbert Melendez, & Tony Lopez) at 9 PM ET on HDNet (01/29/10)
- HDNet Fights Presents Best of DREAM Super Hulk GP at 10 PM ET on HDNet (01/29/10)
- Best of Pride FC at 10 PM ET/PT on Spike (01/29/10)
- Strikeforce Miami: Diaz vs Zaromskis at 10 PM ET/PT on Showtime (01/30/10)
- Countdown to UFC 109 at 12:30 AM ET/PT on Spike (01/30/10)
UPCOMING EVENTS
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