During Friday’s Inside MMA show, which was celebrating their three year anniversary on HDNet, Mark Cuban was live on set to announce the new HDNet-UFC deal which grants Inside MMA with full access to UFC events, which includes credentials to their events and highlights for preview and recap segments.
Payout Perspective:
HDNet Fights and the UFC have had their differences in the past, which resulted in HDNet not having any access to UFC content or events. Amazingly, HDNet Fights (headed by Mark Cuban, Andrew Simon, and Guy Mezger) and Inside MMA (hosted by Kenny Rice, Bas Rutten, and Ron Kruk) have been able to keep their shows and contents running since 2007 without any UFC access, and have been able to build a nice hardcore combat sport fanbase over to their channel. Their decision to air events from all around the world as well as learning and giving what their fanbase wants, which have led to airing events from Japan (DREAM, Sengoku, K-1) and hiring combat sport announcer great Mike “The Voice” Schiavello have really paid off dividends for the company.
The deal announced on Friday’s Inside MMA episode is really another great move on their part, which will now give HDNet and Inside MMA all-access to UFC events, which include press credentials, on site access (weigh-ins, workouts, events) and video clips and highlights which will all provide great content for preview and recap shows starting with the upcoming events.
It’s about time. Wish I could get HdNet though.
Jose,
Do you have any info on how MMA Live has been doing on ESPN? It’s still on ESPN2 as far as I know (at an ungodly hour), but I wonder about the ratings. Maybe this is just me being cynical, but Dana threw his weight fully behind MMA Live and completely ignored Inside MMA, that he’s suddenly decided to support Inside MMA surprises me. I can’t help thinking there’s more to it than we’re seeing – namely MMA Live may not be doing as well as Dana had hoped.
Machiel,
I used to get HDNet and the idiots at Time Warner decided to drop the channel. I send them a letter every week asking for them to put it back.
Diego,
MMA Live was doing “Okay numbers given the time slot” when they first started. Haven’t heard anything since the first few months, but they have probably stayed around the same range, maybe even dipped a little.
Diego,
The “more to it then we’re seeing” is just an ongoing love/hate business relationship between Dana White and Mark Cuban. People often forget that Cuban is a Zuffa bondholder, but the way he initially positioned HdNet Fights was somewhat in opposition to the UFC. His vision has changed, and he and Dana came to an agreement that this was a mutually beneficial move. At least that is what I think happened.