UFC’s Partnership with Spike TV Directly Fueled the PPV Boom!

The difference between the UFC and Boxing in terms of popularity and revenue is nothing but marketing strategy.  That is all!  UFC’s sudden increase in PPV and ticket sales directly coincides with the Spike TV partnership.  The numbers do not lie.  When the UFC began broadcasting old fights, countdown shows, new fights and the reality show “the Ultimate Fighter,” on Spike TV, PPV revenue exploded.  Before Zuffa took control over the UFC, the all time record was in April of 1995 when Royce Gracie fought Ken Shamrock.  That particular PPV generated 260,000 PPV buys at $29.95.  The most successful PPV in recent years before the partnership with Spike TV was Tito Ortiz vs. Ken Shamrock in 2002.  That event drew 150,000 PPV buys at $29.95.  After the Ultimate Fighter began airing on Spike TV, along with a countdown show for the event, UFC 52, headlined by Chuck Lidelle vs. Randy Couture totaled over 280,000 at a price of $39.95, an all time record.  The previous years PPV’s had not even approached anywhere near this number.  The rematch between Lidelle and Couture at UFC 57 brought in over 400,000 buys.  Just four weeks later, Rich Franklin vs. David Loiseau, did around 300,000 buys.  Rich Franklin vs. David Loiseau is not even a major fight.  For UFC 59, Couture-Lidelle III, the fight generated almost 435,000 buys.  Just over a month later, UFC 60, Matt Hughes vs. Royce Gracie pulled in more than 600,000 buys.  For the Chuck Lidelle-Tito Ortiz fight, the UFC sold over 1.2 million PPV buys.  After the UFC partnered with Spike TV; they continually broke record after record after record in PPV buys.

The UFC 60 countdown show ran multiple times and drew a total viewership of 3.23 million viewers.  It’s clear that the countdown show and general hype on Spike TV have fueled UFC popularity and revenue.  For boxing, the fight that produced an all time PPV record was De La Hoya-Mayweather at 2.4 million buys, costing $59.95 per buy.  That’s over $140 million in PPV revenue alone.  Much of this can be attributed to “De La Hoya-Mayweather 24/7,” a four part series countdown show that aired after the Sopranos and Entourage.  Obviously this is perfect placement for any show on a premium channel.  Just imagine how many PPV buys the fight would have generated if “De La Hoya-Mayweather 24/7” was shown on basic cable night after night. 

The UFC places their countdown shows before and after other UFC fights on Spike, coupled with classic fights of the two fighters who will be headlining the upcoming PPV.  Boxing can do the same exact thing.  For example, Top Rank has an exclusive deal with Versus.  Why not put the Countdown to Cotto-Mosley on Versus before and after any actual fights they broadcast?  I would be willing to bet that the countdown show would actually do higher ratings than the live fights Versus actually broadcasts.  This is not a knock on Versus fight broadcasts: they have actually been airing some great fights, even teaching ESPN a thing or two.  Anything Top Rank related should be plastered all over Versus; Cotto, Pacquiao, Pavlik, etc, not just the fights, but the hype. 

How about the Contender and Friday Night Fights?  Friday night fights does a great job at breaking down some of the biggest fights in the game.  Why not have ESPN2 or ESPN News air a countdown show for an upcoming PPV?  Air the Countdown show before and or after the Contender.  ESPN could even have commercials for the countdown show during breaks for the Contender.  Again, I would bet that a countdown show for Cotto-Mosley, Hatton-Mayweather, Pacquiao-Marquez and Jones Jr.-Trinidad would absolutely crush the ratings for Friday Night Fights.  Even if not, do you think the Strongman competition and log cutting would get higher ratings?  The countdown shows generate more money on their own, let alone what they do for the PPV buys. 

Other options would be Comcast Sportsnet, Fox Sports net, Mojo, Telefutura and even the WB network.  Fox Sports and the WB air the IFL.  The IFL is a mixed martial arts league which is now headed by Jay Larkin.  The IFL is not what you would call a premium MMA league.  Although solid, the level of athlete cannot be compared to the UFC.  Either way, if the WB is willing to air the IFL, they would most certainly be willing to air a countdown show featuring the best athletes in the world. 

There are many basic cable channels which can be utilized as an outlet to generate popularity and revenue for boxing, Versus, ESPN, Fox Sportsnet, Comcast Sportsnet, MOJO, Telefutura, Telemundo, whoever, even network TV is a possibility.  The potential channels are countless.  The fact is that more people have access to basic cable channels than they do premium channels like HBO and Showtime.  If you hype the fight to only a few people, then only a few people will buy.  If you hype the fight to a lot of people, then a lot of people will buy the fight.  It’s just that simple.  Countdown shows on basic cable will not only increase PPV sales, but they will increase ticket sales, merchandise, casino revenue, site revenue and even ratings for non PPV events.  Popularity and revenue in boxing will explode.  I guarantee it!                       

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Sources:
Trembow, Ivan; UFC PPV Buys Explode in 2006--MMA Weekly
Corn, Christopher; The rise of the Ultimate Fighting Championship on PPV--Associate Content