Why would anyone pay more for a TV deal?

egk

egk

Gold Belt
@Gold
Joined
Jun 16, 2006
Messages
18,442
Reaction score
3,551
The UFC's tv deal with FOX runs out this year and the UFC is reportedly asking for a lot more $$ this time around. I'm curious why they would think FOX or another network would pay more when they give fight-pass level cards to the big network? I'm not saying FOX 28 sucks or anything but it's a far cry from Cain vs JDS on FOX.

I never watch wrestling but FOX is apparently thinking about a deal with WWE or even buying it. They'd probably do as well or better than they will with the UFC.
http://awfulannouncing.com/fox/fox-wwe-rights-whole-company-ufc.html
 
Because the UFC is the fastest growing sport in the world lol everyone wants a piece of these quality events.
 
that Cain vs. JDS was bullshit anyways ..

lasted a blink of an eye and Cain didn't disclose his injury


IMO UFC would be dumb not to keep FOX.. they use a lot of NFL stuff for UFC and it seems to be working great .
 
LongDongSilver said:
that Cain vs. JDS was bullshit anyways ..

lasted a blink of an eye and Cain didn't disclose his injury


IMO UFC would be dumb not to keep FOX.. they use a lot of NFL stuff for UFC and it seems to be working great .
Click to expand...

The fight sucked but you never know how that's going to play out. The point is the UFC was using the big FOX network to showcase their HW championship fight against the #1 contender at the time. Now they get stuff like Fox 28 and Emmett vs Stephens headlining. Why would anyone pay more for that?
 
@egk , i highly suggest you search for @FrankieNYC and go down the rabbit hole of his posts. he has been explaining all aspects of this topic for over a year.

i wish the answers to your questions were short enough to respond in 100 words or less, but they're not. but it mostly boils down to "because live sports are valuable right now". 7 words.
  • Fox paid $160m this year, opened negotiations at $200m next year. UFC countered with $450m. Fox has already come up to $250m. like most negotiations they'll probably meet in the middle ($300m-$350m).
  • UFC is shopping to online streamers like youtube, facebook, amazon, hulu. Fox countered by publicly mentioning they might buy WWE. both are probably negotiating tactics.
  • live sports is at a high premium. and the next set of live sports coming up to bid is years away. so if any channels want more live sports now, this is their chance.
  • sherdoggers abilities to evaluate (and valuate) this topic is horrendous. it's exponentially more complex than "like OMG, PPV buys are low and FS1 views bombed last week".
ultimately the answer is "because that's what the market will bear". WME gambled that it was worth more than $300m/yr to Fox when they bought UFC last year, and apparently Fox knows it's worth more than $250m to them. odds are they come up more before negotiating is done.

go check out FrankieNYC's posts. he discusses all this at a very high level. cheers.
 
Last edited:
SeattleFightFan said:
@egk , i highly suggest you search for @FrankieNYC and go down the rabbit hole of his posts. he has been explaining all aspects of this topic for over a year.

i wish the answers to your questions were short enough to respond in 100 words or less, but they're not. but it mostly boils down to "because live sports are valuable right now". 7 words.
  • Fox paid $160m this year, opened negotiations at $200m next year. UFC countered with $450m. Fox has already come up to $250m. like most negotiations they'll probably meet in the middle ($300m-$350m).
  • UFC is shopping to online streamers like youtube, facebook, amazon, hulu. Fox countered by publicly mentioning they might buy WWE. both are probably negotiating tactics.
  • live sports is at a high premium. and the next set of live sports coming up to bid is years away. so if any channels want more live sports now, this is their chance.
  • sherdoggers abilities to evaluate (and valuate) this topic is horrendous. it's exponentially more complex than "like OMG, PPV buys are low and FS1 views bombed last week".
ultimately the answer is "because that's what the market will bear". WME gambled that it was worth more than $300m/yr to Fox when they bought UFC last year, and apparently Fox knows it's worth more than $250m to them. odds are they come up more before negotiating is done.

go check out FrankieNYC's posts. he discusses all this at a very high level. cheers.
Click to expand...


You did a killer job
Btw ... I browsed the article & they took a lot of what Dave said out of context & misreported it.
 
@SeattleFightFan
Easy to link to - http://www.bodyslam.net/2018/02/16/update-on-ufc-tv-negotiations

Q: With a decline in ratings for UFC, how are they getting an offer for more? That does not make any sense.

A: The reality is that live sports programming is considered DVR-proof. That makes content like UFC a premium for advertisers. With human nature as it is, people who do not watch live will fast forward through commercials and that has hurt the TV industry as well as cord-cutting. Also, TV networks use live sports programming to hype their other shows and that is very valuable to networks.
Certainly, UFC was hurt by the recent downturn in ratings regarding negotiations. Nobody can argue that point, but anybody that thought UFC would be offered less in 2019, is not versed on the subject.
 
Young guns like Jeffrey Stephens are gonna be big stars and will pull huge ratings.
 
FrankieNYC said:
@SeattleFightFan
Easy to link to - http://www.bodyslam.net/2018/02/16/update-on-ufc-tv-negotiations

Q: With a decline in ratings for UFC, how are they getting an offer for more? That does not make any sense.

A: The reality is that live sports programming is considered DVR-proof. That makes content like UFC a premium for advertisers. With human nature as it is, people who do not watch live will fast forward through commercials and that has hurt the TV industry as well as cord-cutting. Also, TV networks use live sports programming to hype their other shows and that is very valuable to networks.
Certainly, UFC was hurt by the recent downturn in ratings regarding negotiations. Nobody can argue that point, but anybody that thought UFC would be offered less in 2019, is not versed on the subject.
Click to expand...
thanks :)
 
egk said:
The UFC's tv deal with FOX runs out this year and the UFC is reportedly asking for a lot more $$ this time around. I'm curious why they would think FOX or another network would pay more when they give fight-pass level cards to the big network? I'm not saying FOX 28 sucks or anything but it's a far cry from Cain vs JDS on FOX.

I never watch wrestling but FOX is apparently thinking about a deal with WWE or even buying it. They'd probably do as well or better than they will with the UFC.
http://awfulannouncing.com/fox/fox-wwe-rights-whole-company-ufc.html
Click to expand...
Because they are the cheapest form of live advertising around.
 
FrankieNYC said:
@SeattleFightFan
Easy to link to - http://www.bodyslam.net/2018/02/16/update-on-ufc-tv-negotiations

Q: With a decline in ratings for UFC, how are they getting an offer for more? That does not make any sense.

A: The reality is that live sports programming is considered DVR-proof. That makes content like UFC a premium for advertisers. With human nature as it is, people who do not watch live will fast forward through commercials and that has hurt the TV industry as well as cord-cutting. Also, TV networks use live sports programming to hype their other shows and that is very valuable to networks.
Certainly, UFC was hurt by the recent downturn in ratings regarding negotiations. Nobody can argue that point, but anybody that thought UFC would be offered less in 2019, is not versed on the subject.
Click to expand...
Oh, that makes sense. I always wondered why live sports are so valuable. Thanks for the info
 
TV is dying they will spend big money to keep what they've got, pro wrestling is probably the best bang for their money
 
Fatal Catro said:
Asking is one thing, what they will receive is another.
Click to expand...
this is something i've been chuckling about lately.

Fox offered $200m and UFC asked for $450m. let's say they negotiate to $325m.

most sherdoggers would mock UFC for "not getting what they asked for", but no one would mock Fox for "paying more than they offered".

question: why is that?

answer: because sherdoggers are dumb.

real answer: the $450m first offer was a negotiating tactic, and they never expected to actually get it. just like Fox's $200m offer.
 
Country said:
TV is dying they will spend big money to keep what they've got, pro wrestling is probably the best bang for their money
Click to expand...

Actually WWE has far more viewers but gets about 1/5 the commercial money
 
MastiffMike said:
As Frankie said, but also bear in mind that WME represents both the UFC and WWE, and that WWE negotiations won't start until AFTER the UFC deal is finalized. I wonder though if Fox were to come to good terms for the UFC deal, if that actually might help them when it comes to the WWE deal?

Either way, UFC deal first then WWE (potentially helped by bidders who don't get the UFC making a bigger effort to get WWE rather than wait years for the next sports deal to expire).
Click to expand...

I don't see Fox doing both
Now if UFC splits programming from Fox to NBC to Turner?
maybe

but bet the house WWE stays on USA
Unless they get bought outright
 
Also re: WWE
WWE on FS1 would not be worth anywhere near the value they are now.
USA is the #1 rated cable station most years
FS-1 is not even close to top 20
 
SeattleFightFan said:
@egk , i highly suggest you search for @FrankieNYC and go down the rabbit hole of his posts. he has been explaining all aspects of this topic for over a year.

i wish the answers to your questions were short enough to respond in 100 words or less, but they're not. but it mostly boils down to "because live sports are valuable right now". 7 words.
  • Fox paid $160m this year, opened negotiations at $200m next year. UFC countered with $450m. Fox has already come up to $250m. like most negotiations they'll probably meet in the middle ($300m-$350m).
  • UFC is shopping to online streamers like youtube, facebook, amazon, hulu. Fox countered by publicly mentioning they might buy WWE. both are probably negotiating tactics.
  • live sports is at a high premium. and the next set of live sports coming up to bid is years away. so if any channels want more live sports now, this is their chance.
  • sherdoggers abilities to evaluate (and valuate) this topic is horrendous. it's exponentially more complex than "like OMG, PPV buys are low and FS1 views bombed last week".
ultimately the answer is "because that's what the market will bear". WME gambled that it was worth more than $300m/yr to Fox when they bought UFC last year, and apparently Fox knows it's worth more than $250m to them. odds are they come up more before negotiating is done.

go check out FrankieNYC's posts. he discusses all this at a very high level. cheers.
Click to expand...

It isn't that complex. Nobody really knows what is going on inside the company. And Frankie uses sources like Dave Meltzer and other speculation. Don't listen to him.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
1,236,718
Messages
55,437,159
Members
174,774
Latest member
Ruckus245

Share this page

Back
Top