UFC Becomes ExcLusive to ESPN

[Post 2 Decision]

So a cable network that has seen a steady ratings decline is better than a Network TV station? Lol ok bud. That automaticly takes away a huge audience. I live in Canada and we don’t even have espn but we Fox and the affiliates.

ESPN has a 20% stake in TSN

 

[Brit_Brawler]

Espn used to be the home of the ufc in the uk back in the day before bt sport.
This won’t change shit for uk fans. Still bt sport

 

[Marc A]

Spot on post. ESPN won't be happy with the watered down cards the UFC has been putting on lately. They're going to want good numbers, so the UFC is going to have to deliver.

I think we the fans win in the end. Yeah, we're going to have to shell out a few dollars to watch all the fights, but that few dollars a month is worth better cards in the end. If someone can't afford the $5-$10, then they have some personal issues to work out lol

Some people look at things (poor people) in terms of afford

Others(people of wealth) look at it in terms of worth the investment

If the cards give poor entertainment those measly $10 are not worth the investment


We will have to see how the cards look like

Production , announcement team, commercial interruption , entertainment

 

[leto1776]

Ugh...you're one of those people. If you like Smith then you'll love Jason Whitlock on FS1.

Actually, I indeed like Whitlock. His show with Colin Cowherd is pretty good.

 

[omegarte2]

The problem for fight fans with this deal is even more watered down fight cards.

UFC did 38 cards in 2017 with 12 of those being ppvs. Its on track to do about 38-39 cards in 2018. In my opinion, the fight cards in 2017 and 2018 have been pretty watered down (at least on paper).

If the UFC is still doing 12 ppvs under this ESPN deal, that is 42 fight cards a year. With injuries and USADA failed tests, UFC just doesn't have the star power or fighter availability to put together 42 decent cards a year (they barely can do it now with 38-39). The biggest stars and most intriguing fights are usually reserved for the ppv cards.

If I was ESPN, I would have negotiated for less ppvs a year before signing this TV rights deal.

 

[Brit_Brawler]

Some people look at things (poor people) in terms of afford

Others(people of wealth) look at it in terms of worth the investment

If the cards give poor entertainment those measly $10 are not worth the investment


We will have to see how the cards look like

Production , announcement team, commercial interruption , entertainment

 

[One MMA Fan]

Hope DC and the FS1 crew get hired at ESPN though.

They were never hired by Fox.

UFC hires / pays / chooses / brings what ever people they want they are included in the package they bring the fights and the 'coverage' Fox is just the studio, camera, station.

 

[chrisdiaz]

Thanks man

I think the biggest thing about the deal is the added importance of UFC/MMA coverage on Sportscenter, etc.
That is invaluable IMO

No idea about FP now.
they were still going to have FP cards a few weeks ago, but no idea if this changes anything.

Exactly right about sport center. The average guy now has a chance to make it to the top 10, not just mcgregor. I have slowly noticed more mma coverage on espn, I guess this is why. That is one thing I am excited about. You get randoms to see that the average fight card does have about 3 exciting fights (on average) You might get new fans to turn in. Or get the old men boxing fans that dont have much to watch anymore.

The only thing you have to worry about is under WME, its obvious the quality has gone down.Will that continue or plateau? The other thing is being owned by disney, I have a feeling were in for a lot more WMMA being SHOVED down our throats. They will request it thinking it is what fans want.

Interesting times.

 

[chrisdiaz]

per sports business journal.

So basically this is the fox deal with espn? I guess its okay...

 

[Senzo Tanaka]

I'm happy. One network, all shows and a streaming app. Easy and consistent.

It's still 100 million less than they wanted but this is good for the fans.

 

[Rea_ctor]

BT sport own espn in the UK.

It may move to BT sport espn just to look consistent I guess

Not sure if they will in that case as people like me buy BT simply for the UFC, they'd loose a major pulling factor imo.

 

[SoberAwakening]

Actually, I indeed like Whitlock. His show with Colin Cowherd is pretty good.

I can't stand Whitlock. He's absolutely horrible at his job and comes off like a black apologist. He's so bad that Colin Cowherd checks him from time to time. He'll say something completely degrading the black community and Colin has to tell him to professionally pump the brakes.

 

[Gigaton Punch]

ESPN?
WMMA about to go into overdrive now. Even more so now than before

 

[Bubba32]

i still cant wrap my mind around it. This is a huge day for mma.

 

[flairleguccijoints]

ESPN is amongst the highest in charging carriage fees for cable providers, and thus are helping to accelerate cord cutting. The viewership has dropped dramatically, having lost 13 million viewers the last six years, good luck WME.

 

[HUGHPHUG]

BT sport own espn in UK and Ireland. They bought the company which was independent to the US company. So they own the espn brand here.

They then have a content agreement with espn (us) which runs till like 2022 where they pay x amount and in return they can use like 5000 hours per year of espn programming

http://sport.bt.com/sport-football/news/bt-sport-and-espn-extend-deal-S11363956012885

OK thanks

 

[Frank23]

Does ESPN own Sherdog?

 

[brian]

Awesome news, we now have most UFC events under one platform.

 

[Adjutant]

Over 50 years.. sound good now?

its 5 years you fucking momo. So yeah, 300 Million a year sounds pretty fucking good

 

[LockardTheGOAT]

Why would you think they were conned?
They were worth $5b in 2017 before these deals

Because WME-IMG got conned themselves into paying 4/5 billion for them to begin with.... You know, like I said.