What do you feel was UFC's best deal?

[Bear Faced Liar]

The Ultimate Fighter is up there among their best business decisions. It rode on the wave of reality TV popularity, and achieved the following:

1. Brought eyes around the world to their product.
2. Helped market their product as a sport and career for young hardworking people, rather than just a barbaric bloodsport.
3. Created a talent pipeline.
4. Created narrative structure for their events, which captured the interest of casuals and disillusioned WWE fans.

I think TUF is one of the reasons why UFC is a billion dollar company today.

 

[Eric Silva 2.0]

I don't really like this ESPN nodel since I have horrible streaming and I wouldn't waste money buying a subscription plus PPVs.

I think the FOX + PPV was good.

The best deal was Frank and Lorenzo paying 2 million for the UFC. The second best was selling the UFC for over 4 billion. Hard to top either one of those. Fertitta Brothers are business legends for those two.

 

[karatefoo]

Purchasing StrikeForce too. UFC got a lot of good fighters out of that deal. Some people don't realize StrikeForce was a profitable org and potentially a challenge to the UFC.

Strikeforxe was good for me because it was already included in my cable package with Showtime. Good champs came from them too.

 

[FIghtxIQ]

- Buying PRIDE
- Buying Srike Force, Elite XC, WEC
- Spike TV Deal/The Ultimate Fighter
- ESPN Deal. Brought legitimacy to mma with other mainstream sports and paid for x number of events instead of focusing on viewership for each event. On ESPN platform so ESPN funnels in viewership from other sports fans
- Fight Island in order to have fights during shutdowns and travel restrictions

* Worse is Reebok deal. Hopefully Venum is better, they need to be able to customize their fight kits.

 

[Kyler Ruxin]

Whoever the guy that originally started it, selling to the Fertittas was the best thing they've done hands down. Saved the sport.

 

[scorpipede]

Purchasing StrikeForce too. UFC got a lot of good fighters out of that deal. Some people don't realize StrikeForce was a profitable org and potentially a challenge to the UFC.

As far as fan enjoyment it was Pride. We got to see a lot of fights fans could only speculate on. I'm talking about hardcore fans. Fuck the casuals.

 

[Titan1980]

For really real? Hard to deny the effects of purchasing Pride akd Strikeforce. These two purcheses cemented UFC as the single greatest MMA production in the entire world bar non. There is no one that comes a close second in as far as ability to pay fighters or give them more world wide exposure

 

[Titan1980]

As far as fan enjoyment it was Pride. We got to see a lot of fights fans could only speculate on. I'm talking about hardcore fans. Fuck the casuals.

If it was not for the casuals where would we get our superiority complexes from?

 

[Jorge Luis Borges]

Fight Pass is the best thing they offer. They should do away with PPVs, dead business model in my opinion, way too expensive for the average young guy which should be their target demographic.

As bad a business model as PPV is, and it isn't dead but it surely is dying, it's been tricky to replace.

 

[Deleted member 110072]

Purchasing StrikeForce too. UFC got a lot of good fighters out of that deal. Some people don't realize StrikeForce was a profitable org and potentially a challenge to the UFC.

Very bad deal for the fans long term IMHO, the UFC and SF in competision would likely have resulted in alot more investment in talent.

As it is I think Bellator was much happier to be a smaller scale org until Coker was appointed and even then it doesnt have the same ambition as SF did.

 

[Mbowes]

I would say the UFC hot dog Brander at 14.99 is a real steal of a deal

 

[Cfpcommitteemember]

Fight Pass is the best thing they offer. They should do away with PPVs, dead business model in my opinion, way too expensive for the average young guy which should be their target demographic.

Fight Pass has to be redesigned, it's incredibly halfass. How about being able to watch a fight without knowing who won just by looking at the title. Or having a more streamlined way to search for specific fights/playlists for every fighter

 

[Deleted member 110072]

The best deal was Frank and Lorenzo paying 2 million for the UFC. The second best was selling the UFC for over 4 billion. Hard to top either one of those. Fertitta Brothers are business legends for those two.

Although too be fair the 2 million purchase price was a relatively small part of the investment, the company was run at a loss for a good 4 years before the breakthough in 2005.

 

[The Chosen]

Fight Pass has to be redesigned, it's incredibly halfass. How about being able to watch a fight without knowing who won just by looking at the title. Or having a more streamlined way to search for specific fights/playlists for every fighter

Yeah it’s kind of bad, they even got rid of a fighter’s history playlist so now you have to go on Sherdog fight finder to look at their fights to search it if you want to watch from the beginning of their career all the way through. It’s stupid as hell

 

[Cfpcommitteemember]

Yeah it’s kind of bad, they even got rid of a fighter’s history playlist so now you have to go on Sherdog fight finder to look at their fights to search it if you want to watch from the beginning of their career all the way through. It’s stupid as hell

And I just remembered the fact that if you watch an event from the beginning they don't even edit out the long wait times between early prelims/prelims/main card. It actually enrages me how lazy it is lol

 

[kellier]

Probably buying WEC. Gave them ready made 135 and 145 divisions and added considerable depth to 155 once they did the merger.

 

[Franklin U.]

Mark Hunt

They were willing to pay him a shitload for literally zero return. Instead they paid him a shitload and got one hell of a return, even considering his litigation against the company.

?
One of the highest paid fighters on the roster for an under .500 win rate .....yes, had a following but so did many. He whined about everything and everyone ( a good chunk he was right about but still.....).
In fact( forger about his after the fact talking about fighter pay and cheats), if they can go back and pay him a few hundred thousand less- they would
.....and hed take it.

 

[Franklin U.]

2012 .... the purchase of SFORCE. This led to the height of mma( through 15' - 16') and so much talent came over ( many championed in UFC).The middleweight division was insane - Bisping went from the 3rd best 185er to the 9th or 10th.
The SFORCE heavies, DC ( heavy-205), Lawler came back to be one of the biggest stories of sport, maz and all those middleweights......gegard started at 205 and went to middle .

 

[scorpipede]

If it was not for the casuals where would we get our superiority complexes from?

Costco

 

[Rear Naked Toke]

What ever deal they have with Buffalo Wild Wings that has them show UFC PPVs at there restaurants every month.

Fans get to watch PPVs for free while hanging out at the bar

That's almost every bar, major chain or not. Not really a deal either way, some just buy the PPV and show it as a way to draw people in and purchase menus items. Some require a minimum purchase. The major chains (BWW, Hooters, Dave & Buster's, etc.) do it a little differently, they usually pay a fee based on the max occupancy of their establishment.

Some of the chains fall in line with doing it to draw people in, hoping they spend money (showing it for free), others have minimum purchase (showing it for *free), and some even charge a fee just to walk through the door (once you've paid to get in, it's free).