The Sports Business Journal reports on Fox’s promotion in anticipation of the big debut of the UFC on Fox Saturday night. Notably, Lorenzo Fertitta stated that Zuffa will lose money Saturday night as it is virtually giving away an estimated $10-15 million PPV payday.
The UFC hopes that Saturday night’s fight will create “100,000 new pay-per-view buyers.” Despite forgoing the short term monetary gain in hopes of future success, Fox promises a “brand bomb” for the UFC in promoting the fight on Saturday night. Aside from its promotion across all of its networks, Fox is producing a two-hour prefight show on Fuel which will include “red carpet arrivals and interviews with celebrities, fighters and (Dana) White.”
Fertitta indicated to the USA Today that Saturday night’s fight was “a huge commercial” for future UFC events. The SBJ indicates that the UFC is giving up an $10-15 million PPV payday by featuring JDS-Cain on free television. Fertitta believed that this fight would garner about 800,000 PPV buys although other estimates had it at 400,000 buys. Its likely that the estimates reflect optimistic and conservative viewpoints for this card. Even if you take the 400,000 buys, its estimated that Zuffa would take a $8-9 million cut.
The promotion of the UFC on Fox has been most visible during the MLB playoffs and the NFL on Fox. Last week’s UFC Primetime on Sunday did remarkably well considering it went up against NFL games. NFL announcers are still trying to get used to promoting the UFC. Notably, during the Cowboys-Seahawks game yesterday, Chris Myers talked about Cowboy RB DeMarco Murray’s MMA training as helping with his NFL conditioning. As you may recall, Murray stated he would wear a UFC logo on draft day if he was voted to be on the cover of EA Sport’s NCAA Football game.
Some notable takeaways from the article (subscription required):
-Fertitta stated that Spike TV was a “launching pad” and Fox as “a bigger and better platform that could elevate the brand.” A little jab at Spike TV which will have Bellator on its network in 2013.
-Fox typically gets $50,000 per 30-second spot for Saturday night programming according to Ad Age. By comparison, ABC, which airs college football Saturday night, receives $85,000 per 30-second spot. No word on how much Fox is charging for this Saturday night although Fox stated that it “exceed expectations.”
-Dodge will be on the mat as the primary sponsor. Anheuser-Busch and the U.S. Marines will also be sponsors. Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox also bought spots for ads during the broadcast. These will likely promote movies for the upcoming holiday season.
-New sponsor deals will start in 2012. So, its unlikely we’ll see new sponsors or “one-offs” Saturday night.
Payout Perspective:
To say that this week is a big week for the business of MMA (and the UFC) is not hyperbole. Saturday night’s fight is a major stepping stone for the UFC and could determine the future of the business. Fox has been in full force in promoting Saturday night and it would be a major disappointment if the viewership did not reflect the amount of effort and money it is taking to promote this fight.
The Fox deal is about two words:
Casual Fans
UFC (and by extension all MMA) needs to extend its reach from the hardcore fan to the casual fan to drive ad revenue, sponsorships, ancillary products, and additional content. I think the Fox deal is a great idea, but it may still be a little early in the product life-cycle to really drive ratings and fans.
I doubt Dana will see near term 100 thousand unit buy increases for PPV over and above normal levels. But millions, and I do mean millions of new eyeballs will see MMA for the first time and some will come over. However, the transition for most new sports is slow in adding new fans, especially those willing to shell out $50-$60 for a PPV card as opposed to watching it for free.
buncha sell outs.