John Morgan of MMAJunkie recently caught up with WEC General Manager Reed Harris to discuss the up-coming WEC card and talk DVD sales.
“The first step was doing the show, and the WEC pay-per-view in Sacramento was an absolute success,” Harris said. “The DVD has been selling really, really well. It’s got some behind-the-scenes stuff, which is interesting, but also it’s got obviously the (Urijah) Faber and (Jose) Aldo fight.
“The whole event, it put WEC on the map. We were on the map before, but a lot of new eyeballs came to the show.”
Payout Perspective:
The WEC is entering a critical phase in its development. Its first PPV was a roaring success, but it needs to prove that it can sustain and build upon the interest it generated in the Spring. The company received a pass for the television performance of WEC 49, because it was largely expected that stacking Aldo-Faber for the PPV would leave it without many strong draws for an immediate follow-up. Varner vs. Shalorus was a less than compelling, especially in comparison to what fans got at 48.
However, the grace period is now over. The performances of WEC 50 and WEC 51 will be fairly critiqued to gauge how much the PPV accomplished on behalf of the brand in the short term. In other words, these cards should give us an idea of whether or not the WEC is capable of making a significant jump up in popularity or whether it still needs some time to develop its brand and fighters.
Regardless of this immediate outcome, one thing is certain: the boys at the WEC have put together two very strong cards in attempt to sustain the company’s momentum. WEC 50 is a solid card that features a title fight (Cruz and Benavidez) in addition to a host of intriguing match-ups – it could very well be Chad Mendes’ coming out party. WEC 51 is an even more impressive offering that features Aldo vs. Gamburyan and Varner vs. Cerrone, plus the additions of Miguel Torres, Leonard Garcia and Chan Sung Jung.
WEC 50 and 51 are the types of events that should sell. I just hope we see a marketing effort from Zuffa commensurate with the quality of the cards. That means digital promo videos, numerous articles and PR releases, social media promotion through Twitter and Facebook, and even some ad placement on Spike and Versus.
Not sure why WEC 50 should sell all that well… there is a title fight, but Cruz vs Benavidez isn’t going to pique the interest of any casual fans. Just not a lot of name value on that card.
Agree about 51 though, it should do strong ratings and is a good measuring stick of the popularity of Jose Aldo (not the WEC brand though). The brand has become synonymous with quality, exciting MMA for the hardcore fans, but Zuffa just hasn’t seemed to put muscle into establishing the WEC brand and associating it with almost guaranteed excitement and action, the way it has associated the UFC with top quality MMA fights. This is unfortunate, because the WEC often trumps the UFC in terms of quality events and the brand should communicate this to the consumer in a much clearer way.
With the DVD it’s good there’s finally a stream of ancillary income related to the WEC, but with the brand absent, all this will do is promote the star power of Aldo and reinforce the popularity of Faber. Notice a pattern here?
Sorry, didn’t mean “sell” for WEC 50, just don’t think it will do a good rating.
Regarding the WEC DVD:
I did a full review for Crimespree magazine, but my only complaint is this:
With the exception of the main event, all of the post-fight interviews were cut. The BTS stuff is all footage from before the fight, some of which has been used elsewhere. No real footage backstage after the fights.
This was a chance for WEC to introduce these guys to new fans and interviews would have helped folks get a feel for who they are.