http://www.sportingnews.com/wwe/new...-down-ronda-rousey/1ovzh7gbpyt9t1fglfp1m7xr2w The big question: what happens to Fox's TV deal with the UFC, which expires this year. If Fox lands WWE, look for the network to likely end its relationship with the UFC, said sources. "[Fox] is definitely trying to get [the WWE]. They'll pass on UFC, then use 'Raw' for [Fox Broadcasting] and FS1 content," said a source. Both the WWE and UFC are seeking up to $400 million a year for their TV rights. But Fox is more likely to fork over that kind of money for WWE than for UFC said sources. Fox currently pays around $120 million a year for UFC TV rights. The UFC met with ESPN, Turner Sports, CBS and NBC last year to try to drum up interest, according to John Ourand of SportsBusiness Journal. But none seemed interested in paying the $450 million annual average sought by Endeavor's Ari Emanuel, who represents the UFC in TV negotiations. Fox recently put an offer of $200 million annually on the table, according to SBJ. With Amazon picking up rights to UFC pay-per-view events, UFC might get more money from various tech giants that are taking more steps into sports programming.
The WWE make $30MM/month gross from television and their Network. On top of that they have ticket sales, advertising and sponsorships, merch, and other streams such as their film and music production. The company's revenue was at about $800MM last year. The UFC wants it all--to maintain the PPV business that the WWE abandoned and increase the price of PPV's to $65, nearly quadruple their television business from $120MM to $450MM (they will likely settle for far less), and also charge for their Fight Pass service which offers only a handful of live events a year.
Fight Pass is stupid. $65 for a PPV is fucking stupid, too. I bet eventually they'll roll out a pricing tier level for PPV...Conor, JJ, Brock, and GSP will all be $75, other champs will be $65, and non heading PPV will be $60...just a guess.. Streaming illegally is free and effective.
It makes sense for Fox to target the WWE over the UFC. Every episode one of the WWE's biggest stars like Roman Reigns will be on the show. WWE Raw and Smackdown will pull in over 2 million viewers every single episode no matter how slow the product is. Meanwhile they would pay the UFC that kind of money and the UFC would repay them by putting on a battle of relatively unknowns in Josh Emmett and Jeremy Stephens.
Meltzer says negotiations are going poorly and the UFC is likely to leave FOX. They were hoping to have a deal done before the end of last year but now we're pushing up on Q2 with no deal. The WWE is the spanner in the works. They have higher rated content and are cheaper.
A few things-- MMA is a niche sport. Crossover stars like Rousey and McGregor are one-in-a-million. This is why the Fertittas sold when they did. It will take WME 20-years to recoup. The UFC wants to keep it's PPV model (presumably WME do as well since it generates a lot of money) so networks are being offered B- and C-shows at A-prices. All content on network TV with the back catalogue on the streaming service for a reduced rate is the best case (for fans) but least likely scenario.
That 6 PPV's a year with the rest on cable would be awesome for us fans watching if this turned out to be true. It's a lot easier to stack a PPV card with top talent, but still leave some top talent for the network shows. Plus I can justify paying for 6 PPV's with my wife a lot easier than trying to do 15 PPV's at $65 a pop each year or whatever they are at these days. Kind of weird that ESPN and NBC would team up though.
The teaming up thing is weird but it must be due to some connections through WME. I hope all of this is true. I'm not too big on exclusive network fighters...but everything else I love. I think this would also move the WW limit to 175 if they did add 165. I can see Conor / Nate III being for the 165 lb inaugural title.
Agreed. I can also see GSP returning for a 165-lb division and looking to fight Conor or either Diaz. I would be interested in any of those fights.
Sounds like the source is not credible. NBC has denied the report. Don't love the idea of splitting the roster.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...eportedly-submit-joint-bid-for-ufc-tv-package Joint venture with Fox paying $200 million or more and ESPN paying between $120 and $180 million according to Bleacherreport. For the UFC this seems like a deal too good to pass up if this is true.
Oh boy. If people had too easy a time watching UFC events spread across Fight Pass, FS2, FS1, big FOX, and PPV, now they can have them also spread across multiple ESPN platforms as well.
