Here are a few thoughts after reading Jason Bent's column on this site earlier today...
-He closed with a line saying remember "those days when people actually watched Monday Night Raw." Raw remains one of the top ranked shows each week, routinely drawing 5 million plus, and surpassing the 5.75 million mark when Shaq was guest hosting a few weeks back. What's more comparable is the PPV buyrate figures, which have been dropping as UFC's have been rising.
-I believe that UFC would absolutely be making a mistake by running two PPVs per month at $45 at $50 each (plus tax) unless both shows were loaded. UFC should be deliberate in making sure when they have two PPVs in one month, they are two dream cards. Following up UFC 100 and UFC 101 with a relatively weak line-up was a mistake. The last thing Dana White wants to do is push UFC fans' budgets to the point that they begin skipping any events, because once someone decides to skip one, I believe the pattern can begin of them being more discriminating on all future events.
-It's one thing to commit to 12 PPVs a year and know one will be on each cable bill. When two fall within the billing period, there better be great memories of both events when that bill comes. Dana needs to stay connected with his audience, many of whom have to sacrifice other parts of their budget to fit an extra $50 into it.
-I think UFC could run two PPVs per month and succeed, but they need the strong main events and strong undercards to support it. I think UFC fans will find a way to pay $100 a month including pooling resources with friends if White puts together must-see line-ups. UFC 102 did not feel like that.
-Another big issue UFC faces with increased PPV frequency and questionable depth on some of them is cable pirating. It is not difficult to find a live stream online of PPVs or find a video shortly afterward. UFC's core audience is young and savvy. Once they feel fleeced or taken for granted, those who might feel guilty watching pirated feeds or who don't like their unreliability and small screen size and poor audio will begin to look at it as the only way to keep up.
-As for the WWE analogy, what hurt WWE and the now-defunct WCW were bad programming choices more than burnout. If UFC provides a top quality effort 100 percent of the time, they'll be insulated from many of the causes of the downfall of WCW.
-While there are comparisons to be made between the Monday Night War boom period and pro wrestling, and UFC's current emergence, there are key differences. For one, pro wrestling's been around as part of American entertainment for a century. It was hugely popular in the early 1980s with much great attendance at arenas during that stretch of time than even during the Monday Night War boom period, but it was off the mainstream radar because it was pre-PPV and pre-WWF domination via national expansion. But when WWE and WCW had their late-'90s boom period, it was a bubble waiting to burst in part because it was an established product having much greater success on cable and PPV than it ever had before. In other words, the water level was going to return to the long-established normal at some point. UFC (and more aptly put, MMA) is different because it's a new sport that America (and the world) is just getting acquainted with. The height of its potential popularity has yet to be established, and there's no reason - if Dana White plays his cards right - that it's can't continue to experience increased success and popularity. We don't know yet what the natural water level is for MMA's popularity, and I believe it's a compelling, exciting enough sport to continue to rise to new heights.
-Bent is right, though, in pointing White toward lessons to be learned from WWE and WCW. Monday Night Wrestling, while still massively popular, is drawing half the overall viewers that Raw and Nitro did collectively at one point. PPV buys are down (although that could be attributable to UFC competition and even Internet pirating as much as mistakes in promoting tactics), too. In general, though, WWE and WCW had a sense of being invulnerable in the 1990s - and some promoters had some extra-curricular activities on the side which enhanced that sense of immortality that played into dumb decisions or a lack of long-term planning - and it cost them big time. UFC is riding high and, in the eyes of many of their fans, they can do almost no wrong. However, it doesn't take much to break that loyalty to the product. If fans feel fleeced, gouged, disrespected, or taken for granted, that bond can break. UFC as a brand and MMA as a mainstream popular sport is almost for sure here to stay, and I expect it will keep growing (baring a death in a fight, which could change everything depending on the circumstances), but nothing today should be taken for granted, no move should be made that fans might see as being motivated by greed as opposed to what's good for fans, the sport, and the fighters, and UFC should be sure to grow at a pace that's a smart mix of both aggressive and cautious.
I agree with this more than Bent's crap
31 Aug 2009, 18:45
Fans aren't that stupid. It's not like they look at a PPV schedule see
there are two PPVs this month, and decide MMA is stupid and that they won't
watch. That's ridiculous, and an irrational attitude. Most people aren't
that emotionally disturbed that they operate that way.
It's as simple as looking at the cards, and making a choice on what you can
afford, and which has a better value for you personally.
I'm glad that someone who actually knows about pro wrestling wrote this
article as opposed to Bent and his sensational assumptions. He ssaid
nothing about why the pro wrestling bubble burst, and that it's still
incredibly successful.
Cole Bratcher
01 Sep 2009, 09:58
I'm new-ish to watching UFC, I had a buddy forever ago who invited me over
to watch some events. The only fights I remember are Jardine beating
Griffin, Liddel beating Ortiz, Liddel losing to Jackson, and Couture
beating Sylvia, which was by far the most memorable.
For years since then I fell out of contact with the sport, my buddy stopped
watching UFC for some reason, I don't have cable, heck I don't even have
network TV hooked up. And I didn't start attending UFC events until I
discovered a local pub that I can go watch the fight at for a minimal fee.
So I saw UFC 100 and I've been hooked ever since.
I'm in an interesting spot because as much as I love UFC it's not worth
shelling out all the money for cable. It's just about the only thing I'd
bother watching. So for me going to the bar and paying 5 bucks to see a "B"
event, while eating good food, drinking good beer (I mean good beer) and
hanging with my buddy who watches fights with me.
Personally overall I liked 102 better than 101. The Couture fight was
riveting, and seeing Marquardt, Duffee, and Sylva's knockouts were well
worth the 5 bucks. 101 was a little disappointing to me. I loved the main
event, but there was that questionable stoppage with Hendricks win, and it
was tough to see Griffin get humiliated because I like that guy. 102 may
not have had as "stacked" of a card, but as much as I care about who's
fighting who, that goes out the window when I see exciting fights, and I
personally enjoyed most of the fights at 102.
I realize I'm not the norm, but the current way things are going is good
for me as I don't feel like I'm missing too much...
However...
Someone on this website wrote something about UFC absorbing WEC and adding
more weight classes. I REALLY like this idea IF the UFC gets their network
thing going. This would be Ideal for me. If we could get the "B" cards on
free television, and have more fighters to put on more "A" cards I'd be in
dreamland. I'd hook up my antenna just for that. It might take a while to
build it up but if we could see title matches at EVERY UFC PPV I would be
very pleased.
But that's just me....
Not Just You-Cole
01 Sep 2009, 10:49
102 on paper looked thin. Instead, for the very reasons you listed, it was
one of the best UFC PPV's I've ever seen. (And I've seen most.)
Nothing beats quick knockouts, even if most viewers don't know who the
fighters are.
Todd Duffee is one to keep an eye on.
Fearless Reader
01 Sep 2009, 10:55
Yeah, It's hard to determine if a PPV is going to be good just because it
appears to be "loaded." This PPV was way better than anything UFC has had
in over a year with the exception of number 100.
The main event was amazing and all the undercard knockouts were riveting.
This WAS a great PPV, and I feel sorry for anyone who missed it.
Todd Duffee could be the next big thing, and he's only 23!
SladeKain
01 Sep 2009, 21:03
Bent's article made some good points, and I agree that there are some
comparisons of the UFC and '90s era WWE. I remember walking in the mall and
Stone Cold, DX, and NWO shirts were everywhere and now you see nothing but
Tapout and UFC shirts. My buddy's son wanted nothing but Tapout shirts and
a UFC bookbag for back to school. The demographic is definately comparable.
I was a huge wrestling fan in the 80's Hulkamania days but then I grew up
and then came along ECW, and I was a fan again with the violence and hot
chicks fighting, and drinking and foul language and then WWE picked up on
the buzz of ECW and guys like Steve Austin were swearing on the mic and
giving people the finger and they had bra and panties matches and it became
the hottest fad again. Fad being the key word. Eventually, the
oversaturation of 10+ hours of wrestling on every week and 2 PPV's a month
just got to be too much. Finally, as was already mentioned, wrestling has
been around forever, but once or twice a decade, a huge star is created
that sparks huge interest and cause people to tune in week after week. UFC
definately has capitalized on it's stars like Liddel and Lesnar but
obviously the star power can't be on every card and they don't have a
weekly soap opera on tv (except TUF) to build up their PPV's so why do we
buy every one? For me, it's usually cause there is one fight I really want
to see, but I know that I'll be treated to other great bouts. Will there be
duds, sure (UFC 101) but nowadays $45/$50 bucks is a cheap night of
entertainment compared to going out to the movies or dinner and some drinks
at the club or whatever. Plus, I order every one and invite all my friends
over and they all leave $5 to $15 bucks as they walk out the door. That
more than covers the PPV plus pizza, beer, chips, ect.
