Will UFC still become bigger or go down before 2020?

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Yrat

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With so many fighter who have expressed hate agant Reebok and now Ronda and Conor have left what can they actually do to raise their revenues if we say Ngannou will lose this saturday and Jon Jones will be out forever.

I am not saying that i want UFC to go down but i do want to see someone who can disrupt the market so the best fighters will not fight in UFC or Bellator.

For the European mma-scene i believe ACB can do well aslong they will start paying fighters with the same amount as UFC does and in asia Rizin will still do more and more events.

I remember 2007-2009 era when PRIDE went down, a lot of events was made such as Affliction,Dream, Sengoku etc. I hope one day we can see this again, its not good for the martial arts scene that UFC can control the market just like Coca Cola does with their sugar soda that makes people fat and get diabetes.
 
based on what criteria? profit? gross? viewership? PPV sales? market share?

example: if they sign even more TV deals for even more money, get less viewership on all channels, sell less PPV's, and become more profitable each year between 2018 and 2020, is that "bigger" or "going down"?

define the ruler before asking what we think the length will be ;)

PS: my example has contemporary usefulness....
 
UFC is dying. Probably won't remember what "UFC" even stands for in 2020.
 
Bigger. Fighting is in our DNA.

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I hope the UFC goes bankrupt and a legitimate sports organisation takes over MMA.
 
It'll probably be 'bigger' but we'll all think less of it. Seems WME's plan is to run the hardcore fans off so they can target the casuals who don't know the difference between an underhook and an uppercut.
 
They will become more and more like major team sports. Will look a lot like this...
giphy.gif
 
UFC goes in cycles depending on what kind of star power they have at a particular time
 
2018/19 should be good

after that it all goes downhill

wme realise how badly they got scammed
by 2025
the ufc is dead

UL has spoken.
 
SeattleFightFan said:
based on what criteria? profit? gross? viewership? PPV sales? market share?

example: if they sign even more TV deals for even more money, get less viewership on all channels, sell less PPV's, and become more profitable each year between 2018 and 2020, is that "bigger" or "going down"?

define the ruler before asking what we think the length will be ;)

PS: my example has contemporary usefulness....
Click to expand...

More fighters will leave UFC, they will not extend their contract. Also less ppv, i would say that the more top 5 fighters like Rory Mcdonald will leave UFC the harder it will be for UFC to raise their revenues. Nobody will never pay big PPV to watch Mighty Mouse or Namajunas.
 
Yrat said:
With so many fighter who have expressed hate agant Reebok and now Ronda and Conor have left what can they actually do to raise their revenues if we say Ngannou will lose this saturday and Jon Jones will be out forever.

I am not saying that i want UFC to go down but i do want to see someone who can disrupt the market so the best fighters will not fight in UFC or Bellator.

For the European mma-scene i believe ACB can do well aslong they will start paying fighters with the same amount as UFC does and in asia Rizin will still do more and more events.

I remember 2007-2009 era when PRIDE went down, a lot of events was made such as Affliction,Dream, Sengoku etc. I hope one day we can see this again, its not good for the martial arts scene that UFC can control the market just like Coca Cola does with their sugar soda that makes people fat and get diabetes.
Click to expand...
I don't what to see fighters spread out over more promotions. Boxing was great when the top guys actually fought each other, then it all went to shit which with additional sanctioning bodies, WBA, WBA, IBF, etc.
 
Yrat said:
More fighters will leave UFC, they will not extend their contract. Also less ppv, i would say that the more top 5 fighters like Rory Mcdonald will leave UFC the harder it will be for UFC to raise their revenues. Nobody will never pay big PPV to watch Mighty Mouse or Namajunas.
Click to expand...

ok, so say everything you say happens, but between 2017 and 2020 UFC signs even more lucrative TV deals, PPV sales are now only 20% of the income (instead of 100% in 2005 and 50% in 2015), and UFC makes more profit than ever before.

are they bigger, or are they going down?

i think i'm asking a pretty important question. how one quantifies "success" seems to be at the root of most debates about the health of the UFC.
 
UFC has reached its peak as far as viewership, I honestly believe.

They might try to break records for revenue or whatever, and they're always trying to figure out new ways to do that: increase the PPV price (again), Zuffa Boxing, pricier rights fees, whatever. But the org itself isn't going to get bigger with the fans post-2020. Others needs to step up and take some market share, just a matter of who.
 
Bigger, still opening in New markets and expanding
 
Sakuraba7 said:
UFC has reached its peak as far as viewership, I honestly believe.

They might try to break records for revenue or whatever, and they're always trying to figure out new ways to do that: increase the PPV price (again), Zuffa Boxing, pricier rights fees, whatever. But the org itself isn't going to get bigger with the fans post-2020. Others needs to step up and take some market share, just a matter of who.
Click to expand...

Zuffa figured out really quickly (just after TUF) what today seems very obvious;
1. a PPV-centric revenue model is not enough
2. a need for growth beyond North America

and in the next decade every move they made addressed those two issues.

WME's needs are different. in 2004 few people had even heard of UFC or MMA; today everyone has. so how they grow their brand and revenue (and yes, viewership - worldwide) is different than the challenge from 12 years ago.

my guess is that in another 10 years the choices they make in the next few years will look obvious in retrospect, just like the decisions they made in 2006 look obvious now. and i guess that's my answer to TS as well. they won't falter by 2020, is my prediction, but "success" won't be easily defined by the average sherdogger either.
 
SeattleFightFan said:
Zuffa figured out really quickly (just after TUF) what today seems very obvious;
1. a PPV-centric revenue model is not enough
2. a need for growth beyond North America

and in the next decade every move they made addressed those two issues.

WME's needs are different. in 2004 few people had even heard of UFC or MMA; today everyone has. so how they grow their brand and revenue (and yes, viewership - worldwide) is different than the challenge from 12 years ago.

my guess is that in another 10 years the choices they make in the next few years will look obvious in retrospect, just like the decisions they made in 2006 look obvious now. and i guess that's my answer to TS as well. they won't falter by 2020, is my prediction, but "success" won't be easily defined by the average sherdogger either.
Click to expand...


I concur with all of your points, and they've done a FINE job of it.
My issues are essentially 2 (i'll leave out my disdain for WMMA as personal taste).

1. The UFC has kept PPV on life support, when it needs to let it die. They are profit-hungry except the fans are getting fewer and fewer in return. I don't care about the UFC's interest here, I care about mine: the consumer. No company that's making $100 mill/year on a network deal, plus international TV fees, plus Fight Pass subscriptions (and merch/licensing on top), should be charging $60 per PPV every month. That's $720-780/year. (EDIT: $65 per PPV now)

The TV deals, gate revenue, merch and Fight Pass should already cover the costs. 2 UFC PPVs cost is equivalent to a year subscription to HBO or SHO. Forgo 4 PPVs, and you get a sub to HBO and SHO; plus you already have basic cable with boxing there too. Same thing with the WWE Network, 2 UFC PPVs is equivalent to a year sub. What UFC should do is cut down PPVs to 5 a year –stacked, including title fights.

2. "But they're giving you so much free MMA though".. What they've giving for $100 mill/year has been absolute DOGSHIT. Just think about it....everyone acknowledges its B and C level cards on TV, but that's where they're charging the $100 million! OTOH, over-saturating the market with cards (Fight Nights) is their way off pushing out the competition. UFC's B-rate show takes the place of any other potential B-rate show and preventing them from becoming an A show or having it watched by fans.

That is not something I want, and anyone who's been a fan of the sport long enough should feel the same. If there was half as many Fight Nights (and lets be honest, half of them are garbage anyways); we'd be getting our fix from other MMA promotions. Promotions we need to see the VARIETY in talent, and our options as consumers. We have completely lost that. Its happened in a way that MMA media don't even cover the scenes in Japan then Russia like they used to. Well, I want people to follow ACB, M-1, FNG and Japanese shows, etc. Instead its become a supermaket where the shelves have no variety.
 
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