UFC's move from Fox to ESPN: mainstream gravitas, oversaturation

LadyStanley

Registered User
Sep 22, 2004
105,727
18,855
Sin City


Paywall.

UFC exploded from ~20 PPV events circa 2010 to now nearly 50. Fighters up to ~500. 7 new weight classes.

Oversaturation for some fans.

Fox had the fights on multiple channels.

Move to ESPN family requires ESPN+ subscription plus UFC PPV for live fights.

Demographics changed as core fans have aged and no longer can justify every Saturday night out to watch fights as they're spending time with family or other priorities.

Expanded fighter pool means fewer recognizable names.

But ESPN >> Fox for mainstream gravitas in sports.

UFC getting ~$300m/year from deal, less than they hoped. Viewership up (from Fox).



Some interesting parallels as to what might happen with NHL rights if either party involved.
 

tony d

Registered User
Jun 23, 2007
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Interesting. UFC has lost a bit of its lustre over the past while. I remember for a time the UFC was quite popular among people I knew, you hardly hear them speak about it anymore.
 

tarheelhockey

Offside Review Specialist
Feb 12, 2010
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Interesting. UFC has lost a bit of its lustre over the past while. I remember for a time the UFC was quite popular among people I knew, you hardly hear them speak about it anymore.

Sounds a bit like what happened to NASCAR over the past decade. A brief run of popularity and (over?)expansion followed by a decline back into niche status, coincident with signing a toxic TV contract.
 

sh724

Registered User
Jun 2, 2009
2,823
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Missouri
There is so many fighters and the top people fight less and less frequently making it harder for casuals to have favorites that they can follow. Also there is a ton of other organizations now to watch for much cheaper. Without having those handful of top guys that are fighting somewhat regularly its easy to turn to a cheaper alternative.
 

Takuto Maruki

Ideal and the real
Dec 13, 2016
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Brandon, Manitoba
Sounds a bit like what happened to NASCAR over the past decade. A brief run of popularity and (over?)expansion followed by a decline back into niche status, coincident with signing a toxic TV contract.

In the case of NASCAR, I'd pin the downfall on trying to continue the run of hot luck and crossover appeal with asinine rule changes (The Chase being the biggest one, and now the two headed dragon of stage racing and the frankly atrocious engine package for this year which has put power at a premium, and sticky levels of downforce) and as you say, overextending their reach in terms of tracks (Chicagoland being the biggest one IMO)

Now the sport is basically dying at a faster rate then most other forms of motorsport (Even with the gains that IMSA and Indycar have been able to make over the past decade or so) and I'm not going to be surprised to see NASCAR begin to contract and go back to the more Southern based operation that they were before they got really big. They'd certainly be better off for it.
 
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tarheelhockey

Offside Review Specialist
Feb 12, 2010
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There were 13 UFC PPVs in 2018. UFC 220 in January, UFC 232 in December.

Specific quotes relevant to this discussion:

“UFC’s docket of live events swelled to unwieldy proportions – going from 20 total fight cards in 2009 to a high-water mark of 46 by 2014”

“For ESPN, the UFC offers a mountain of programming with which to support its new subscription streaming service. Forty-two live events are on tap for 2019, including 20 that will stream exclusively on ESPN+, 10 on linear ESPN television, and 12 PPVs.”

“For fans who already thought there was too much UFC, the ESPN deal might only exacerbate the problem. Those 42 events scheduled for 2019 are an increase over the past two years, when the total number topped out in the high 30s. ”
 

Trizent

Registered User
Mar 4, 2005
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Thanks tarheelhockey for clarifying what the article stated, events (TV, streaming & PPV) not just PPV.

2018 - 13 PPVs, 26 events on TV
 
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Rocko604

Sports will break your heart.
Apr 29, 2009
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Vancouver, BC
Interesting. UFC has lost a bit of its lustre over the past while. I remember for a time the UFC was quite popular among people I knew, you hardly hear them speak about it anymore.

The Reebok "uniform" deal killed a a lot, if not all, out-of-cage exposure for the fighters. Tons of money lost because the old owners wanted to put the fighters in uniforms for potential buyers.
 

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