FACEBOOK TWITTER RSS APP PODCAST Opinion & Analysis : Roundtables FRIDAY ROUNDTABLE: What strategy can WEC take to succeed on PPV? Keller, Rowland, O'Donnell, Hyden, Carter

Feb 12, 2010 - 5:11:37 PM

By Wade Keller, MMATorch Supervising Editor

We have brought back the popular MMATorch Roundtable feature. Most days we will publish a question followed by several staff members' answers. We will run several batches of staff responses to the following question over the next several days, and then introduce a new topic after that.

TODAY'S NEW TOPIC:

What would you do to try to make WEC successful on PPV, even if in general you disagree with WEC going on PPV? In other words, what advice would you give to Zuffa assuming they were open to some outside-the-box or aggressive marketing ideas?

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GREG ROWLAND, MMATORCH AUDIO HOST

WEC's biggest pay-per-view mistake in my opinion is the price tag. There is no MMA organization out there right now worth $45 besides the UFC. Giving Urijah Faber the title shot against Jose Aldo is a good idea, even if Faber will probably lose, it should grab more buys than any other fight WEC could put on. They should have sold it for 20 bucks, though, or even thirty. I just don't see people paying UFC prices for UFC's little brother.

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ANDREW O'DONNELL, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

I thought the price was a rip off when I first heard it was the same price as a UFC PPV. When I heard about them going on PPV, I never thought it'd be more than $29.99. Not a big fan of the WEC on PPV because it's already enough struggle for so many people affording the UFC PPVs each month. Gosh! So lower the price.

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FRANK HYDEN, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

I think the key for WEC to have success on PPV is to combine the good shows that they usually put on with a bit of glitz. They should encourage the fighters to show their personalities. I want someone to ask Miguel Torres about his power mullet, or ask Urijah Faber what the hell he was thinking when he put his hair in cornrows. Give the fighters more time after the fights to talk, have Dana White address the live crowd, just do anything to make WEC stand out. I know Dana is more UFC, but it couldn't hurt. I don't have any off-the-wall ideas, just basic stuff that might help.

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ALVIN BENJAMIN CARTER III, MMATORCH SPECIALIST

I think Zuffa needs to go overboard in hyping the event. There needs to be 30 min special profile programing on Urijah Faber, Jose Aldo, Ben Henderson, and Donald Cerrone. Feature some history, fight clips, an interview, and some of their training camps. Then follow it with one of the specific fighters most important or exciting fights.

Also, it would be great if Zuffa could work with the cable/satelite companies to setup a random drawing based on ordering the PPV. All those stateside who order the PPV... say... two days in advance could be put in to a lottery to win a trip to the next WEC PPV. (Air/Hotel/Tikets, maybe a press pass.) The cable/satelite companies could provided a unique proof of purchase code that could be entered on the WEC website, and the winner could be drown right before the main event.

Contests are somewhat old school, but the chances of winning this are a lot better than winning your state lottery, and it might not be a bad effort as the WEC gets its PPV legs. If the WEC really wants to get into it, they can give away a series of prizes from walkout shirts to autograph to tickets to a full trip package.

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WADE KELLER, MMATORCH SUPERVISING EDITOR

The way to make this PPV work should have started four to six months ago. There should have been personality profiles of top fighters on every UFC PPV with fight highlights. There should have been 30 second commercials hyping the background of UFC. There should have been mini-documentaries on every UFC PPV that last about 90 seconds that talk about what WEC is, why it exists, and how it's different from UFC. The brand needs to be clearly established as UFC is assuming a lot, given WEC's ratings on Versus, that the typical UFC PPV viewers even knows what WEC is all about.

They should have taken advantage of the star power and relationship of UFC's top stars with UFC fans by having top UFC stars make predictions for the top WEC fights. They should bring in the WEC lead announcer Todd Harris and color commentator Frank Mir appear on UFC PPV to shill in a credible, professional manner the WEC PPV. Make fans feel part of a big "first" for WEC, making it seem like they're doing their duty as MMA fans by supporting the first attempt to put WEC on PPV.

I also agree that the show should be loaded with multiple title fights. Even if it means the next couple Versus cards are not as stacked as they would otherwise be. I would also have lowered the price to at least $35 and maybe the $29.95 price. I know the whole theory, which has ample evidence to back it up, that lower prices don't make a big difference and sometimes a lower price can create a perception of inferiority. I don't care. This is WEC, and it's a stretch to succeed no matter what marketing is done, so go ahead and just market it as a first-time "introductory price." Make the lower price an asset and a goodwill gesture.

All of that may be enough in this saturated market and limited brand identity with WEC, so maybe plant a story with TMZ that Urijah Faber is dating Kara DioGuardi or, heck, is the "love child" or Randy Jackson! And if all else fails, they can do what WKRP did - drop turkeys from a helicopter, and to maximize exposure, do it over the Olympic opening ceremony in Vancouver.

On a more serious note, get Faber on Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel. Offer the top fighters for interviews with every MMA website big and small. Every few hundred buys will make a difference with this venture.

But the main thing is they should have been building up to this for the last few months during UFC PPVs and UFC specials on Spike, and they just haven't done enough to put WEC on people's radars so it's an uphill battle from here. [Click to access a list of all recent Roundtables. (App users, please choose the "OPINION" option on the menu at the bottom of your screen.)

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UPCOMING TOPICS

Our next batch of Roundtable Topics to be addressed over the next week or two are as follows (so keep coming back to MMATorch every day for this and more exclusive features):

-Who are the two or three current Strikeforce fighters (other than Fedor) you'd be most intrigued to see acquired by UFC. What match-ups would you make from those acquisitions?

-Who are the two or three current UFC fighters you'd be most intrigued to see leave UFC for whatever reason (perhaps not being given a fair shake, already fought everyone, hit a ceiling, etc.) and be acquired by Strikeforce. What match-ups would you make from those acquisitions?

-Would you prefer Strikeforce in two years was out of business, close to UFC's equal (in revenue, ratings, buyrates, talent roster), or had surpassed UFC (assuming UFC stays static in the mean time)? Why?

-Should UFC add a women's fighting division?

ALERT: Every Tuesday night, listen to the MMATorch Livecast from 9-10:30 p.m. ET or listen now to the most recent shows by clicking here. Listen live this coming Tuesday as Jamie Penick, Rich Hansen, and Matt Pelkey discuss the latest MMA happenings. Online listen at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/mmatorch or call into the show at 646-716-8090 to either just listen or participate.