UFC
While NFL and NBA punish, UFC rewards; fighters to get bonuses for using Twitter
May 12, 2011 - 12:05:55 PM While NFL and NBA punish, UFC rewards; fighters to get bonuses for using Twitter

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

While most professional sports leagues, most notably the National Football League and the National Basketball Association, have discouraged their athletes from utilizing Twitter to get their names and opinions out to their fanbase, going so far as to fine a number of players significant amounts of money, the UFC is taking the exact opposite approach.

In fact, not only does the UFC encourage their fighters to use Twitter and to be heavily involved in social networking and developing their own brand, they're now going to start paying them as well.

Ariel Helwani at MMAFighting.com reported the details this week of the UFC's new Twitter incentive for fighters, which will will pay out more than $240,000 to fighters a year just for using Twitter.

The new policy, which was introduced to fighters this week at the annual fighter summit in Las Vegas, will go into effect on June 1.

Per Helwani's report, fighters will be divided into four categories based on how many followers they currently have on Twitter. Then, after each quarter, the UFC will pick three fighters from each category as bonus winners based on who gained the highest percentage of followers and who was the most creative with their tweets. The three fighters in each category chosen will then receive a $5,000 bonus from the organization.

UFC President Dana White has been a major proponent of Twitter, frequently interacting with fans and non-fans of his and also utilizing the program around events to set up impromptu ticket giveaways and more.

So if you're already on Twitter and following a number of fighters, expect a bombardment of chatter and more from them once June 1 hits.

Link to Original Source Article

Penick's Analysis: The UFC has been ahead of the game when it comes to utilizing social media and new and different technology to increase their brand awareness and keep in touch with the fanbase. With how into Twitter White is, this new policy is no surprise at all, but it's still a good way to get their fighters more into this to increase their profiles and to expand their own personal fanbase. Twitter can be a powerful tool for those that have exposure, and it will be a good way for fans to continue interacting with fighters as they likely get more into using Twitter and posting (hopefully) interesting comments and replies. There's already an abundance of fighter activity on Twitter, but this is sure to ratchet that up quite a few notches.