MMA Junkie reports that UFC head Dana White predicts that the new UFC.tv technology launched with UFC 126 is the future of UFC events.
Dana White told MMA Junkie:
“I’ve been saying it for 10 years. Everything is going Internet. I believe that everybody is going to be watching TV and be on the Internet.” While the UFC has long offered its pay-per-view broadcasts via online streams, the partnership with NeuLion includes options for fans to choose multiple camera angles from which to view the fight, as well as the option to listen to a variety of audio feeds, including direct feeds from each fighter’s corners.
Payout Perspective:
While White believes the future of PPV may be the internet, many people that purchased the new, online technology were dissatisfied with their experience. Several people in the forum section of MMA Underground complained of technical issues and poor picture quality with UFC.tv. (h/t MMA Supremacy). As with new technology, there will be bugs and hopefully the UFC will do something to address the complaints. But these problems may make other leery of purchasing online.
Its hard to foresee UFC events going online exclusively. This would foreclose a portion of the fan base that are not online savvy, not willing to purchase an event via the internet and not willing to sit in front of a computer for 3 hours to watch a UFC event. I think the success of UFC.tv will depend on the ease of use and the picture quality. Two things that were an issue with the UFC 126 broadcast.
The future will be internet, but on your TV. Think AppleTV, Cable set-tops, Xbox 360, etc, etc.
Simple scenario in 2015. You are sitting on your couch, watching TV and fiddling with your iPad 5. You are reading some news about tonight’s UFC 225 fight which features the 3rd fight between Anderson Silva and GSP — both of whom still draw even though neither aging star can contend for the championship any longer. An increasingly bloated Silva has come out of retirement for one last fight, while GSP is still holding on to his dream of returning to championship form despite his slowed reflexes and increasingly fragile chin after several rough head hits in 2014.
You pop over to the UFC website and decide to order the fight. Your iPad 5 already has your payment and account info — it uses the camera to do a quick retina scan to verify your identity and the transaction is complete. Your iPad 5 was previously synced with your set-top box and it wireless communicates the purchase.
During the fight you can watch it on your TV, on your iPad 5, on your HyperDroid 7 phone, or on your Windows 9 laptop. Each device will know who you are and know you bought the right to view the fight live and for the next 48 hours.
Most people watch in streaming 1080p on the HDTV. But more than a few carry their iPad 5 with them around the house and for bathroom break so they don’t miss anything. And your phone can even stream the fight to your in-car entertainment system in case you have to drive anywhere during the fight.
I purchased the PPV online TWICE with UFC. I have a great internet connection just so this is clear, I have a 55in LG LED HGTV flat screen with wi-fi built in and a hardline for web streaming.
The PPVS lagged, they cut out, the picture quality was pure crap, I couldn’t get a response from ZUFFA/UFC or Yahoo on this so I decided I will NEVER buy another PPV from them again, and I haven’t, you can get BETTER quality streaming it for free from what my friend said, although I don’t do that.
I just go to the local Buffalo Wild Wings and order food and watch there with my buddies now.. $14 and I can eat AND watch on a big screen.. screw buying the ppv if they wont give the best darn quality out there, heck $50 is rich for my wallet and I was EMBARRASED, (dana, ufc, zuffa I know your out there) in front of my guy pals because it went down DURING THE MAIN EVENT. oh.. and no refunds.
Like MMAKansas said, there are others who feel the same:
http://www.mixedmartialarts.com/mma.cfm?go=forum.posts&forum=1&thread=1769264&page=1
I think this has a long way to go still, and imagine the bandwidth that would be needed if lets say 1 million users are all watching the feed in HD, it’s a tough task on the tech side. Imagine that type of volume when there are already issues with just a few hundred or even thousand are buying it online right now.
However, unlike MMAKansas said,
If you had really tried to get a hold of the UFC in regards to the issue you would’ve found that they are notoriously good at issuing timely refunds for poor online viewing experiences. I had to do this once, and I’ve read a lot of posts by people who have done the same. I recommend trying again.
I recently ordered UFC 126 on my Roku player (for those that don’t know Roku is a small streaming online content set top box), and I have to admit I was very skeptical based on my prior online UFC viewing experience as well as the piss poor user reviews the service had gotten. They must have fixed a lot of the issues for the Roku service because except for the first five minutes of the PPV, the broadcast worked great, and I certainly plan on doing it again. The nice thing I noticed about the Roku player was that I didn’t have to pay the PPV franchise fee or other taxes that I did when ordering from cable or satellite TV companies. It was just a straight $44.95. It wasn’t quite HD quality but it was darn close. There was no premium priced HD option. I’ll probably order more UFC PPVs now that I’m not spending $60 after taxes for the HDTV broadcast. 25% savings FTW!
Jose is absolutely correct. They have a long way to go before it becomes an all internet broadcast. I’m thinking Dana just really wants this to be true sooner because it will allow people to buy from Zuffa directly and they won’t have to pay out so much to TV companies and PPV partners. I know that’s why my broadcast was cheaper for that reason and I’m assuming more money went to Zuffa. Any thoughts?
In coming years the internet will just get faster and more reliable. The long term trend is clear. A huge % of net traffic now is NetFlix streaming movies. And people watch these NetFlix streams on their HDTV through their xbox or roku or other set-top box. The trend is clear.
Right now cable/satellite PPV dominate because they have that set-top box in your living room and they have an established billing relationship with you. You can just click with your remote and have the PPV added to your monthly bill.
Of course the tax man will not sit idly by if people bypass the current system to go for tax-free internet PPVs. The tax man will just go after Zuffa directly just like many states now are going after Amazon. The tax man always gets his cut — gotta get those ObamaBucks from somewhere!
We are definitely moving towards internet streaming for most of the media content. Just recently in Canada there was a huge uproar when the leading internet provider won a ruling with the CRTC to force all internet companies to charge by bandwidth usage. The uproar caused the government to force the CRTC to overturn the ruling. The battle is still not over in Canada, but I suspect the government will be pressured by the people to not allow the ruling to stand. Most people realize that as the months go by, more and more content will be streamed on the net which will make bandwidth usage rates charges a dangerous thing.
MV: I think you are dead on with your 2nd comment.
“Dana just really wants this to be true sooner because it will allow people to buy from Zuffa directly and they won’t have to pay out so much to TV companies and PPV partners.”
Someone needs to put Jim (1st comment) in charge of the UFC technology department ASAP.
It’s a good option for those that can’t get the PPV. But given a choice I would take the PPV every time. I really despise streams with every fiber of my being.
jim:
You are correct, that is the vision and the plan, but the expense of getting the internet to the state we need it to be to accomplish this and how long a transition like this will take, IMO, doesn’t seem like it will happen in the next 5 years. I hope that it will, but I see a lot of barriers and networks fighting such a movement until they can figure out how to profit. Plenty of obstacles, that’s for sure.
If they really want to get the streaming right UFC needs the right partner for the job. I think Netflix would be a great fit here… I’ve never had a problem with their Instant Play other than selection and they already have deals with Nintendo and Sony.
In addition to having global distribution, they could also charge by bandwidth usage, bitrate/price pre-determined before the order 480p – 1080p.
As more people move toward home theater PCs and streaming instant view, this will be a great way to cut out the cable companies if they do this right.