An interesting end of the year prediction came out of the Sports Business Daily (h/t Sports Business Daily and John Ourand) earlier this week.
From the Sports Business Journal:
Versus will change its name to something that incorporates the NBC Sports brand.
Versus is going to become the NBC Sports Channel or the NBC Sports Network or maybe even SNBC. It’s going to start carrying some of the properties that are on NBC, like one or two of Notre Dame’s non-marquee games.
Payout Perspective:
If this prediction would come to fruition, it would mean that the UFC would be aired on an NBC affiliated channel. The UFC is scheduled to have four events on Versus in 2011. This move could lead the UFC closer to an inevitable spot on NBC. Also, more mainstream viewing by the casual viewer. Even though this is speculation, it is an interesting issue to keep an eye on for the new year.
I think this is a good bet. Every time Dana talked about the WEC/UFC merger he talked about needing more fighters in the UFC for more shows. As it stands now with the current deals they aren’t scheduled to run more shows. Plus he keeps saying more news/deals are to come early in the new year. A new network deal on NBC after the merger of Comcast/NBC at the beginning of the new year would satisfy both of those statements.
I think Dana spouts a solid nugget of truth whenever this subject comes up in interviews every 3 months. That is, a network will never pay him what he can make off of a ppv. And a network deal would by nature demand bigger fights.
That said, I’d love to see a network deal, but I’ll go with Dana’s judgement that it is not neccessary to grow the brand.
I’ve criticized Zuffa’s decision to be on Versus in the past, but this changes things. If NBC is going to throw some muscle behind it and turn Versus into a real sports channel it will be good exposure for the UFC.
Correct me if I am wrong but what is being contemplated here is to just turn Spike into a sports cable channel. I don’t see any thing network being proposed here. In the US this could be some what of a help to the UFC as a sports channel once it gets established would seem to be a better home than Spike. But then you might have the problem of not being able to run on Satuday nights due to bigger sports hogging the spot.
Up in Canada pretty well all MMA runs on dedicated sports channels already so it would make no difference up here.
Sorry not Spike but Versus.
The question is, if the channel falls under the NBC umbrella will the network still allow Zuffa the level of control over the production that they were given in their deal with Versus? That has always been the sticking point…
The question is, if the channel falls under the NBC umbrella will the network still allow Zuffa the level of control over the production that they were given in their deal with Versus? That has always been the sticking point…
haha…doublemint gum at the end…what gives!!