UFC eyes next television deal

The Sports Business Journal (subscription required) features an interesting piece on the UFC and the importance of its next television deal. With all of its successes, the SBJ states that nothing will be more important than its next tv deal as its contract with Spike TV ends after this year.

The article brings up positive poll numbers which shows an uptick in the UFC (and MMA) fan base. Importantly, for the UFC is that males, especially young males, are overwhelming fans of the sport. This makes it attractive for mainstream companies to seek out partnerships with the UFC (e.g., Edge Shaving Gel). The article highlights that the UFC is pitching sponsors with an eye toward the belief that the UFC can help Fortune 100 companies sell products, and thus the UFC will cross over into mainstream consciousness.

 Here are few more takeaways from the article:

-The UFC made $400 million in revenue last year.

-Canada has the most fans, more than the US.

-Statistics find that almost 80% of the UFC fan base is male and half of those are in the 18-34 demo making it a prime target audience for mainstream sponsors.

-A typical PPV sale draws an average of 8.8 viewers per household.

-The UFC is in about 5,500 bars in North America.

Payout Perspective:

This is an interesting piece on the state of the UFC and the potential for more growth. While no potential landing spots are discussed regarding television deals, MMA Payout has gone through some of its scenarios here and here. Media rights fees are on the rise due in part to network competition to land sports to fill out its schedule and the UFC is growing in popularity as a sport. These two factors should make the UFC draw huge bids from multiple networks for the opportunity to air UFC programming.