UK Scene - Park
PARK: ESPN UK - The Home of the UFC in the United Kingdom
Jun 10, 2010 - 5:50:40 PM PARK: ESPN UK - The Home of the UFC in the United Kingdom

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By: Chris Park, MMATorch UK Specialist

The one thing that has hindered the advancement of the sport of MMA in the UK has been the inconsistent television coverage that, up until recently, has been something that UFC fans have just had to live with.

In August 2009, ESPN UK launched its exciting new sports package to the UK market, with a further announcement that this would be the new home of the UFC.

It is no secret that it was a rush for ESPN to make sure the first UFC show was broadcast, following the stations launch only five days earlier.

Well, it has been seven months since that partnership formed and things are going from strong to stronger. I recently visited the ESPN UK HQ, where I met Senior Marketing Manager Alex Lowe to discuss the partnership and what the future holds.

Recalling the first show preparations, Lowe told MMATorch, “We launched our channel on August 3. Now, the first UFC event was on the Saturday (August 8) so we had absolutely no time.”

“It was a miracle that everything was up on air! It was a matter of, 'let’s just get it up there, the UFC will let people know it’s on our channel. There will obviously be a few technical issues as we have three or four days to get everything up and ready.'”

“I guess there were a few issues that we had some complaints about, but the vast majority of feedback we had was, 'Thank god it’s back on TV.' There were a few people that had a problem with too many commercial breaks, but given the time scale to get the whole thing done...”

It was a huge relief when this all started to come together. From the outside looking in it seemed the obvious move for the UFC to be broadcast on the newly formed ESPN UK. The UFC will benefit from having such a huge company behind them, while ESPN have a whole new set of potential subscribers to their UK package.

Lowe added, “The UFC is a growing sport that many parties were interested in, and we were interested for some time. I think we just felt it fit for the UK. Also for us it’s a different audience and that’s the key thing. It’s a different audience and by having pretty much all of UFC on the channel it means we have something we can really offer those fans.”

With a whole UFC catalogue that includes all live events as well as shows such as UFC Wired, Unleashed, All Access and all countdown shows - and more recently the comeback of UFC Primetime - ESPN really does offer those fans value for their money.

Said Lowe, “At ESPN we are all sports fans. It sounds cheesy to say that but we are all massive sports fans here. Anything we do we will always try and put ourselves in the shoes of those who are watching it. To make sure if they can’t see it live – there are other ways to see it. If they can’t see it on TV there are other ways to pick it up. I don’t know if you have looked at ESPN.co.uk. We now have a separate MMA section so if you can’t see it, you can download the news and the clips where ever you are.”

Ben Blackmore has been brought in to drive the UFC division of ESPN.co.uk to great success, with the UFC being one of the more popular sections on the site.

One thing that is missed is “Ultimate Talk,” the weekly UFC magazine show that delivered the latest news directly to the fans from MMA insiders and fighters alike on their previous broadcast partner, Setanta. ESPN have so far done everything much bigger and better than anything Setanta ever did, however that weekly show, as basic as it was, is the one thing that has been missed.

Addressing this Lowe said, “We have our own show in the States called MMA live, which we also show here in the UK. We are working very closely with the producers, we are certainly trying to bring in more UK interest – that’s why we now have regular appearances from UK Journo Gareth Davies - given the fact that we broadcast the sport live here. But that show will develop.”

“An interesting thing – that show started off being produced literally in a tiny one-room studio in Bristol, produced exclusively for digital media platforms. Now it has grown to be on TV in multiple countries, online globally via ESPN.com and on mobile devices. Because the fans are so engaged by it... We will look to do more.”

The potential that the UFC offers ESPN will see that show grow bigger and bigger and will likely end up with a UK equivalent eventually.

It’s not just strong potential that the UFC brings. Already they are delivering the viewing figures: “We are pulling, for a live event, and baring in mind the time difference so let’s say 3 or 4 o’clock on a Sunday morning – we know we will have 60-70,000 people watching, and that’s not taking into account those who [are on] Sky + or V+ or any other kind of plus... So the audience is there!” Lowe added.

From the MMA fans I know, the majority watch the events the following day, so it is fair to say that the viewing figures would increase quite considerably if there was a way of accounting for these numbers.

One thing is for certain. The UFC is getting bigger by the day. The live shows are selling out faster than ever as more and more fans jump on the band wagon. It is hard to believe that less than a year ago the collapse of Setanta led many to believe that all the momentum of UFC Undisputed and the success of the Brits on TUF 9 had all been in vain.

Praising the UFC, Lowe said, “Hats off to the UFC; they turned this in to pure Vegas razz-ma-tazz.”

Park’s Analysis: It is apparent that the UFC has finally found a stable home here with ESPN. After years of uncertainty and change I strongly believe this set up is here to stay.

After speaking to Alex Lowe it is clear that the team at ESPN believe in the sport and see the potential it has. The content is constantly getting bigger, with the promise of more to come.

I am particularly looking forward to seeing how shows such as MMA Live develop here, and if a UK version is introduced further down the line.

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Chris Park is the MMATorch UK Specialist and guest columnist at ESPN.co.uk. Please email any comments or questions to Chris at; mmatorchuk@gmail.com or look us up at http://www.facebook.com/mmatorchuk our new MMATorch Facebook home for UK Fans!