Do you think the UFC could drop ppv's altogether?

[neil_totally]

And if so, how could they do it?

I was thinking about it after seeing the talk of McGregor x Khabib, and that if they did that fight in the UK or Russia, it would have a great gate but probably lose a large number of ppv's due to time zones.

What if they moved all their ppv's to free tv, and got large sponsorship deals like PRIDE did? Certainly on a McGregor card, I'd imagine they could milk ALOT of money from sponsors, and whatever network it was on could ask insane amounts of money from advertisers (speaking if it were a "big" fight, like the one mentioned above).

Hypothetically, how do you think they could, should, or would, do it?

 

[Dogo1]

Yes, but not now. If & when they can command tv deal $$$ that relates (accounting for different business models) to the NFL, NBA, etc.

While we've all seen massive growth in Mma the last 25 years, the sports not at this point yet and may very well never be.

 

[machidafan99]

network tv studio heads won't tolerate last minute issues that void title fights

it takes the air out of big events to a large degree these days

 

[Northjayhawk]

They can drop PPV's as soon as TV and cable networks make it worth their while. They tried to drop from 12 down to 6, but no one was willing to pay them enough to make it worth it.

We either need to see the value of PPV's drop (fewer buys), the value of a UFC numbered event to a broadcaster to increase, or both. Right now, even a "bad" PPV that only has 100k buys would be worth at least $2MM to the UFC after they get their cut of the PPV fees. Someone needs to be willing to pay at least that much to buy out the "bad" PPV's, and they'll need to pay a whole lot more for the UFC to give up on the possibility of the UFC selling a 1MM+ PPV to get them all on free TV.

 

[RockstarChris]

UFC should start exclusively streaming on Sherdog with Tommy Toe Hold as the play by play guy. I would pay for that.

 

[beephin]

Man, the PPV buys for 224 and 225 were horrible. 226 should do well. 227 has the smaller divisions headlining so that’s not gonna sell well.

I remember the days where 1 out of every 2-3 PPV’s would do over 500K. Shiiiit. UFC has no stars.

 

[Dozer .]

The years of UFC PPVs conning fans are over

 

[Pliny Pete]

PPV in its current form wont exist in 10 years so yes they'll be dropping them relatively soon

 

[FrontNakedChoke]

Someone hasn't been following the ESPN deal.

 

[neil_totally]

Someone hasn't been following the ESPN deal.

I have, as best I can. It still includes ppv’s, and events on subscription-only networks. Not what I’m suggesting.

 

[kimocomplex]

it was a possibility during this negotiation

it will probably be a certainty in the next

 

[Elysianwing]

When PPV is phased out, the UFC will (I'd assume) either create their own premium subscription channel, or partner with an existing one like HBO/Showtime/etc.

Either way, it is the logical move to make.

 

[Mondo Freaks]

Hopefully they do b/c the PPVs are too expensive and the cards arent that great anymore.

Raise the monthly fee of Fight Pass and put them there.

 

[neil_totally]

Do we think there is still enough interest in the org itself to get enough people to pay for a ufc subscription?
I think it’s still fairly obvious that (either through fan interest or ufc promotion) events are pushed based on one or two fighters, so someone who’s interested in only a handful of fighters isn’t going to sign up for, say $25 a month, when the fighter they are interested in only fights maybe twice a year.

This I guess begs a couple of discussions about Dana and Co’s efforts to push THE UFC As it’s own brand compared to their promotion (and lack of) for certain fighters.

 

[CTYankee]

And if so, how could they do it?

I was thinking about it after seeing the talk of McGregor x Khabib, and that if they did that fight in the UK or Russia, it would have a great gate but probably lose a large number of ppv's due to time zones.

They wouldn't lose any PPVs due to the timezone because the fights would still be scheduled to cater to the US Time zones.