Who here thinks the fox deal was a mistake?

[CorkscrewPunch]

Prelims on Spike averaged 1.3 million viewers from 2009-2011. FS1 prelims have averaged 800k.

 

[lilianjie]

Since i'm not a business executive with insider knowledge about the contracts and cost benefits of being with FOX, as opposed to Spike, I can't really speak on it.

Pretty much this. Dana and co seem happy enough at the moment, so I guess all things financially at least make sense.

 

[abracadordosaco**]

Anyone know the numbers on how many viewers Spike and FSN have comparatively?

 

[1neomonkey]

Its obvious FOX is paying them a shit load of more money. After all, why would the UFC leave Spike for less money?

I think its pretty clear that going more mainstream was definitely the way to go.

 

[TKJ]

I think spike was a much better platform for the ufc. Remember when they had fights on tv more than once every six months? huge business mistake

So many things wrong with this thread...

There was a free card on TV last weekend. There is going to be a free card on TV this weekend. In the next two months there is five (FIVE!!!) free UFC cards scheduled. I have no clue how you got "once every six months" out of that.

You have no clue how much FOX paid the UFC and it is undeniable that the four cards a year that actually land on the main FOX channel are a far better platform than Spike ever was or ever could be.

The only criticism I have about the deal is that I believe there should be more cards on the main FOX channel (I'd say eight per year) and that the fight pass cards should be aired on FS2.

 

[orangecuse]

I think spike was a much better platform for the ufc. Remember when they had fights on tv more than once every six months? huge business mistake

Uh Spike had like 8 fight nights a year. Even more watered down than cards now. For like 5 years straight they showed the same 25 UFC unleashed episodes. There was no UFC tonight news program, all access or any type of original/news programming. They didn't show replays of full PPV's. Spike may have had a bigger audience than the new FS-1 has now but it clearly was a dumber, more childish, non sports audience with a terrible memory.

The casual 1000 ways to die Spike audience was confused when it changed channels...WTF? I remember reading here & on other sites the kids who watched spike had no clue what FX was when the UFC first moved there. FX is way more popular than Spike ever was and ever will be. A critically acclaimed award winning channel for adults. Known for smart programming and shows that get nominated and winning emmys/golden globes. I guess no surprise the spike TV casual UFC audience had no clue what FX was and their brain hurt trying to find the channel.

 

[Mattitude V1]

Anyone know the numbers on how many viewers Spike and FSN have comparatively?

It doesn't matter how many viewers they have. Less people watch FS1 on the whole.

The UFC was paid a ton of money to basically help BUILD this network, build what is now FS2 etc.

And they are. It's great for Fox, it sucks for the UFC.

 

[The Judas Pig]

Why yes, as a matter of fact it does. (I dunno about the cars)

And if you dont like you must be a bigot or an islamaphobe or some shyt.

LOL it's the same here, if you even voice an opinion on immigration or the Muslim communities barbaric acts then you are immediately labeled a racist.

The tide is changing in the UK though, people have had enough.

 

[LilMountain]

I think spike was a much better platform for the ufc. Remember when they had fights on tv more than once every six months? huge business mistake

There's been like two events per month on tv lately

Coming up in June

May

April

 

[pclanadmin2]

i don't care what channel it's on

 

[Jorge Luis Borges]

LOL, apart from the rain and the millions of extremist Muslims trying to turn it into Islamabad it's not a bad place to live.

English bars > American bars.

I like to think we are closing that gap, but it will take more time yet.

 

[LitMatch]

The problem is that they added two new methods of distribution (Fox and Fightpass) but still expect us to pay for 12-14 PPV's a year which are now more diluted thanks to all the extra cards. A more realistic approach would have been to reduce the number of PPV's according to how many shows that are on the FOX network proper (not FS1 but the actual broadcast channel).



....

 

[MCS]

spike isn't big enough to show internationally without extra charge. Fox was the right call, as it's big on sports.

 

[Godzilla3232]

Since the deal has resulted in pay channels and fight pass being the secondary outlet instead of basic cable, I think this deal has sucked pretty hard for the fans. Still, I'm sure FOX is paying a lot more for the license than Spike was, so FOX was probably the best move financially for the UFC. We'll just have to see how long bleeding the fans like this is sustainable for them.

 

[MsMiniSkirts]

In Korea we get it all on once channel, plus the PPV are free.

 

[mikekoz68]

Being on Fox Sports vs Spike?? Is this a joke? Fox is one of the major 4 networks, there is absolutely no comparison, ABC, NBC, CBS or FOX is where you wanna be seen

 

[DarthChen731]

I think you're a goddamned fool is what I think.

 

[MDoza]

It has its ups and downs.

Even though its technically higher quality, FOX forced the UFC into a weird faux-NFL-broadcast complete with dancing robot, which is weird.

There are a lot more fights being promoted and broadcast, but there is huge variety in the quality of matchups, which makes it hard to commit to watching an entire card.

In the end though, the UFC had to jump to a bigger platform if they expect to keep growing. MMA is still a very young sport. Other organized sports have been around for nearly a hundred years, whereas MMA has only been well recognized for thirty.

 

[MDoza]

There's been like two events per month on tv lately

Coming up in June

Henderson vs Khabilov Fight Night on June 7th

UFC 174: Mighty Mouse vs Bagautinov on June 14th

Isn't the Te Huna vs. Marquardt Fight Night also on June 28th, same day as the Swanson vs. Stephens Fight Night?

I love the idea of having more fights, but I'd prefer to watch two cards that are solid from top to bottom, rather than four cards that are half rate.

 

[Hypersky]

For me the problem is the minimum of 80$+ a month if I want to watch all their fights. Mainstream sports do not cost that much to watch.