Will the UFC be as successful as compared today if it was sold to Dalian Wanda instead of WME-IMG?

[strongstylekarate]

I think the Ferttitas made the wrong move of selling the UFC to the wrong people,

The UFC is pummeling right now and most of the cards are lackluster.

Fighters are unhappy with their contract,

And most of the people running the company made some monstrous mistakes.

WME-IMG can't handle the UFC properly.

 

[Jibsta69]

No. Zuffa saw that ufc/MMA popularity was declining and that their few top stars will either just fade away or look at other ways to make money. They sold while it still had some value and fucking ripped off WME-IMG

 

[DaWrassler007]

NO, never never

 

[Apollo33]

Endeavors seems to have a lot of good connections in the entertainment industry. It probably helped them seal that ESPN deal.

Plus they got rid of a lot of dead weight in the company. I think it's overall not bad.

I'm not sure if that Chinese companies would pay fighter's more either, nor do they really have a footing in the states

 

[strongstylekarate]

No. Zuffa saw that ufc/MMA popularity was declining and that their few top stars will either just fade away or look at other ways to make money. They sold while it still had some value and fucking ripped off WME-IMG

Decline is such a hard word to swallow, I guess McGregor is the only one that making the UFC alive.

 

[strongstylekarate]

Endeavors seems to have a lot of good connections in the entertainment industry. It probably helped them seal that ESPN deal.

Plus they got rid of a lot of dead weight in the company. I think it's overall not bad.

I'm not sure if that Chinese companies would pay fighter's more either, nor do they really have a footing in the states

I think instead of the States, they will go through Asia.

The Asian market is a lot better than American market right now.

 

[strongstylekarate]

I don't think the UFC will survive under WME-IMG leadership.

 

[strongstylekarate]

So sad about what's happening to UFC.

 

[accolyte1022]

A UFC is dying thread....

 

[suffersystem]

Strange, as UFC is actually turning great profits and has gained value since being sold to WME.


Or is this just another "UFC is dying bro" thread.

 

[Apollo33]

I think instead of the States, they will go through Asia.

The Asian market is a lot better than American market right now.

except MMA is pretty much dead in China. I just don't think it's something that will ever catch on there. There's a lot of political.traditional bs reasons, and I don't think people in China really understands MMA

 

[COBRA03]

Nobody knows the answer to this question until it happens. Until then it is speculation. UFC will do fine either way.

 

[FrontNakedChoke]

They sold the UFC to liberals, and signed a TV deal with Disney.

It's all over for the UFC.

 

[strongstylekarate]

except MMA is pretty much dead in China. I just don't think it's something that will ever catch on there. There's a lot of political.traditional bs reasons, and I don't think people in China really understands MMA

It is easy to make MMA mainstream in China, just let a monk test his skills in the UFC.

And there's a trend in China where an mma fighter beats Shaolin and Wudang Masters so it will be easy to market UFC there.

 

[wilKO]

Wait. How did the UFC not doing as well now become a Fertitas mistake?

 

[KingOfTheDojo]

No. Zuffa saw that ufc/MMA popularity was declining and that their few top stars will either just fade away or look at other ways to make money. They sold while it still had some value and fucking ripped off WME-IMG

This

WME buying Zuffa/UFC will down as THE worst investment in entertainment history (worse than John Carter, 47 Ronin, The 13th Warrior, etc..)

 

[MMAJunkie]

I think the Ferttitas made the wrong move of selling the UFC to the wrong people,

The UFC is pummeling right now and most of the cards are lackluster.

Fighters are unhappy with their contract,

And most of the people running the company made some monstrous mistakes.

WME-IMG can't handle the UFC properly.

They probably didn't want Dana so they went with the other guys

 

[ChinaMMABlog]

I think the Ferttitas made the wrong move of selling the UFC to the wrong people,

The UFC is pummeling right now and most of the cards are lackluster.

Fighters are unhappy with their contract,

And most of the people running the company made some monstrous mistakes.

WME-IMG can't handle the UFC properly.

Wanda has its own problems and very limited experience in the combat sports space (did a few events with ONE a few years ago).

Likely they would have done a worse job because they wouldn't be able to work w/ Dana as well as Ari and Endeavor.

Endeavor has way better celebrity connections to push UFC/MMA further, while Wanda had a limited run w/ Legendary Pictures, produced that shitty Warcraft movie and then bounced.

It's easy to say that UFC is way down right now because of PPV sales and TV ratings, but they just signed the ESPN deal and are changing the business model. They have a lot of debt to pay off, but they're making money.

 

[KGmma]

Just like TakeTwo did with RockstarGames are WME playing the money game. Cold stare business men just making decisions that makes them more money and they are playing dumb people into wasting hard earned money.

A shame fighters are stuck in between.

 

[Dsingleton7]

This

WME buying Zuffa/UFC will down as THE worst investment in entertainment history (worse than John Carter, 47 Ronin, The 13th Warrior, etc..)

It looks like WME made a good deal. They have 1.5 Billion of guaranteed income over the next 5 years notwithstanding all of the money they make from sponsors, ticket sales, ppv, and everything else. That's a great return on a 4 billion dollar investment because they still retain the asset.