Would going free benefit the UFC in the long run?

James Edwart

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I mean, look at soccer, for example, it's not exactly free in some countries, but it's so cheap it's essentially free. Here in Brazil i can pretty much watch the entire UEFA Champions League paying only a few cents (in US currency that is)
 
Would be to much bs commercials between fights imo.
Like the free cards now. Takes to long to watch a few minutes of fighting.
 
I mean, look at soccer, for example, it's not exactly free in some countries, but it's so cheap it's essentially free. Here in Brazil i can pretty much watch the entire UEFA Champions League paying only a few cents (in US currency that is)

soccer is a girl's sport
i aint looking at it unless it is the womens usa team

shiyat
 
It worked for the NFL, but I don't think the UFC (or MMA in general) has the right model for it. Most sports have an offseason, allowing interest to ramp up appropriately. Seasonal play also allows for specific times for sports.

The UFC doesn't have an offseason. Combine that with the fact that it switches days and times in order to stay out of competition with other sports and to accommodate certain times and you lack the consistency to host free events. Don't get me wrong, I think they could bring in a lot more viewers with free events, but they have a lot to figure out before they can successfully implement it.
 
Different sports, different business models.
 
I never fu*king knew that UFC PPV events were free in almost every country but the damn USA......So fu*ked up!

In USA, you gotta have Fight Pass, cable TV to get FS1 and, PPV. All to watch 1 event.
 
I never fu*king knew that UFC PPV events were free in almost every country but the damn USA......So fu*ked up!

In USA, you gotta have Fight Pass, cable TV to get FS1 and, PPV. All to watch 1 event.
If Brazil had ppv the same way the USA does for UFC Aldo would shatter Conor ppv numbers
 
no. they can never makeup the amount of money they make from PPVs.

they need to do more free tv events but keep the same amount of PPVs.
 
I mean, look at soccer, for example, it's not exactly free in some countries, but it's so cheap it's essentially free. Here in Brazil i can pretty much watch the entire UEFA Champions League paying only a few cents (in US currency that is)

Did you seriously just compare UFC to soccer?

You goof?
 
I never fu*king knew that UFC PPV events were free in almost every country but the damn USA......So fu*ked up!

In USA, you gotta have Fight Pass, cable TV to get FS1 and, PPV. All to watch 1 event.
It's not so strange considering the time difference between the U.S. and Europe. There is no way the UFC would be able to sell PPV's in Europe when the event starts in the middle of the night.
 
Long term, Cable and Network TV are both dying. Streaming is the future. More and more people cut the cord every year.

Shifting to streaming will allow them to cut the cable/satellite providers out of the deal. Right now, cable providers get 50% of the revenue for every ppv they sell. I think they should use those savings to drop the prices on ppvs to make the sport more accessible, and get viewership closer to the critical mass it takes to get interest to go viral. They should also give discounts to people who buy a package of all the PPVs for say, the next 6 months, using Fight Pass.

In the meantime, I do think they need more major events on regular TV, on ESPN/ABC in particular. ESPN promotes the fuck out of any sport they own the rights to by covering those sports more extensively on Sportscenter and airing shoulder programming. Right now, any coverage they give to MMA just drives viewership to their competitor FS1.
 
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