One of the storylines for UFC 120 is the burgeoning success of the UFC in the UK. UFC UK president Marshall Zelzanik spoke earlier this week about the possibility of UFC Championship fights being held across the pond.
“Obviously, championship fights for the most part are elevated to the pay-per-view cards,” Zelaznik told MMA Junkie, “The pay-per-view cards over here, because of the time change, make it a bit of a challenge in the U.S. to see the impact you’re hoping to see from the championship fights.
“It’s a bit of a business decision, but that’s not to say we’ll never have a pay-per-view here or we’ll never have a championship fight here.”
The UFC expects huge numbers for UFC 120 and Zelzanik remains optimistic about bigger events coming while keeping expectations tempered.
“You can look at TV ratings, but to have people actually reach into their pocket and buy a ticket, whether it’s to the expo or to the fight itself, is really sort of confirmation that we are having an impact here, that the sport is growing here,” Zelaznik said. “Interestingly, I didn’t announce it, but we have about 25 percent of our tickets coming within London, which means 75 percent are coming from areas to the North, coming from Europe, so people are traveling from all over to spend a weekend with the UFC. I think it says a lot about the growth of the sport.”
However, the fact remains that the UFC generates much of its PPV dollars from the US.
With the massive revenues generated from U.S.-based PPV events, European fans still may have a significant wait before they witness a five-round fight on their native soil. But with the success of UFC 120 and the accompanying UFC Fan Expo London 2010, Zelaznik believes the day may be coming sooner rather than later.
(h/t MMA Junkie)
Payout Perspective:
The anticipated success of UFC 120 means a lot for global expansion for the UFC. The travel statistics Zelaznik quotes is another leveraging point for the UFC. Not only is UFC popular in the UK, people are traveling to see it. Thus, local tourism and hospitality should receive a bump in revenue.
Zelaznik provides UK fans a carrot in giving it some hope that a big UFC championship may be held abroad. Basically, telling fans that they may see the likes of Lesnar, Rua, Silva, St. Pierre or Edgar fight live. I think that the definite issue with a title bout being held abroad is the time difference from the states. There would be a definite dent in PPV buys if the casual fan got on the internet and found out the results before the PPV was offered on its cable system.
The dent in the PPV is huge not only from Zuffa’s POV, but also from some of the big fighters who have PPV bonuses in their contract. Even if it’s something Zuffa is willing to do to possibly get a bigger gate at an event, they would likely have to work something out with a fighter or two where they are guaranteed a certain amount of money in lieu of the potential bigger PPV bonus.