What Does It All Mean?

The world of professional sports, especially in America, is subject to the whim of its fans. Like other forms of leisure, spectator sports are subject to fads. Baseball was considered "America's pastime" for many years, and living in the Metropolitan New York area this is apparent, the city itself having had four professional teams and birthing the sport of baseball itself from Madison Square Park. However, if one were to step outside of the New York area, it seems obvious that America's pastime is now professional football. We've seen the emergence of soccer, lacrosse, rugby, skateboarding, snowboarding, and even surfing gaining unprecedented popularity in the American mainstream. Mixed martial arts is no different in this respect. Where MMA is different, however, is in it's ability to successfully target and market a powerful demographic. We are a generation centered on excitement and experience. We have at our disposal more forms of entertainment than any generation previous and despite the myriad of choices available, we have been caught hook, line, and sinker by this previously despised sport of mixed martial arts. Perhaps it is because we as a generation are jaded and feel we've seen it all before and that we need something new, or perhaps its because we are starstruck by ideas of fame and fortune but current UFC fans identify with fighters on a level that current boxing fans do not. More than anything I think that the UFC has successfully marketed the sport not due to the fact that it is "extreme" but because the largest companies involved, such as TapouT, Zuffa Inc, and Xyience among others, are primarily run by fans and fighters of the sport. That kind of grassroots organization creates a powerful loyalty with and amongst fans because they feel like individuals included in family of mixed martial arts, and not merely ticket prices and box office numbers. The new fad in fortune 500 marketing is the loyalty program, and to make your customer feel involved and appreciated is worth much more than any voucher or coupon ever could be.

UFC Goes Hollywood

Acclaimed playwright and director David Mamet is currently working on a new movie by the title of Redbelt chronicling the life of a Brazilian Jujitsu master who teaches his students for the purpose of survival in the mean streets of Brazil rather than for fame and fortune. However due to circumstances beyond his control he is forced to fight for money and glory. While not directly supporting UFC and MMA prizefighting, Redbelt features many MMA masters, Randy Couture among them. With this release it seems certain that mixed martial arts and the UFC will rocket to the forefront of both big business and professional sports.

Full Rosters Keep UFC In Business

An often overlooked aspect of prize fighting is what to do when a fighter is injured and can't compete. Unlike other sports, there are no second string players to replace headliners in these events. It's extremely important to have a contingency plan and having deep rosters helps ensure that fans get what they want, even if big fighters can't compete. This was the case with UFC's upcoming June card which has been cancelled due to headliner Chuck Liddell's torn hamstring. While similar problems have crippled upstart competitors to the UFC like EliteXC, UFC has been able to still schedule back-to-back big name fights despite losing what is arguably going to be its largest draw. EliteXC however had to cancel two cards with the same fighter for two different injuries, drawing the ire of televising sponsor CBS and certainly impacting EliteXC profit margins.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/josh_gross/05/05/notes.05.05/

UFC Signs Deal With StubHub

Dana White recently signed a deal with StubHub, an eBay owned ticket resaler, as the UFC's sole fan-to-fan ticket seller. Such a deal is a definitive indication of the growing popularity of Mixed Martial Arts as StubHub, working on commission as a marketplace, would only want venues which were sure to sell out as higher ticket prices would turn into a larger return if the site takes a fixed percentage, and a higher volume of transactions would turn into a larger return if the site takes a fixed dollar amount for each ticket sold. In addition to StubHub, White signed a deal with PrimeSports as its primary ticket package partner to offer higher end ticket deals including VIP seating, transportation, lodging, and after parties similar to other mainstream sports, most notably boxing. Although StubHub hasn't disclosed its ticket sales for UFC events they did say that their current 2008 sales have already exceeded the total sales for 2007. Considering the demographic of UFC fans it seems to reason that White would not bother with upscale ticket packaging if he were not trying to entice fans outside the current demographic, despite what he may say at press conferences. The better news is that since the current demographic is M18-34, StubHub should have no problem with computer literacy and fans embracing the internet as a viable means to attaining tickets.

http://sportsbusinessjournal.com/article/58830

UFC Success Boxing To Step Up

Two years after the question of Mixed Martial Arts vs Boxing was first uncorked, it has become apparent that MMA has taken over many of boxing's greatest venues and done it with the style and flair that attracted people to boxing as a form of entertainment in the first place. The UFC in particular as a promoter has forced the professional boxing world to step up its game to compete with the growing popularity of the sport. Although boxing officials and analysts say that MMA hasn't taken any of boxing's fans outside of the young white male demographic, many agree that current MMA venues are much more exciting than their boxing counterparts due to the fast paced action and little down time between bouts. Royce Feour, a reporter for ESPN says "...Since then I've attended two UFC cards in Las Vegas as a spectator and enjoyed the action. There is always something happening at a UFC card: The UFC makes great use of its video on giant screens to show interviews and highlights between fights. Gone are the sometimes lengthy "dead" times between fights where nothing is happening like in boxing." According to Marc Ratner, former head of the Nevada Gaming Commission, ""There is plenty of room for both sports," Ratner said. "To me, it's like soccer and rugby. They are different sports. But you can love them both equally." However, only time will tell if Mr. Ratner is correct.

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/columns/story?id=3204784

UFC Gets A Facelift

The UFC is now run by Dana White and financiers Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta. Although outdated news, the marketing scheme the trio came up with to rejuvenate the franchise is remarkable in its simplicity and has now become accepted practice for many businesses who need to promote to the masses. In order to renovate the name of the UFC and separate it from its previous incarnation, not only did Zuffa Inc. institute rules and regulations, helping to get the sport accepted by various athletic and gaming commissions, but the three buyers also wrote, and produced a TV show out of their own pockets which has become pop-culture phenomenon. The television show The Ultimate Fighter cashed in on the reality TV craze and offered viewers a look into the daily lives of would be professional fighters, from training to sparring to R&R, a concept that HBO has now adopted with its acclaimed 24/7 series for boxing title bouts. In an astounding display of marketing prowess, Spike TV managed to beat out all other programs in its time slot again and again. The Ultimate Fighter also provided advertisement for major Pay-Per-View UFC events as the winner of the competition would receive a UFC contract and would fight in televised UFC events. "According to Nielsen Media Reserach data, the UFC bout delivered 4.2 million total viewers in the 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. time slot, and drew 1.6 million men 18-34, compared the 1.07 million members of the demo that tuned in to Fox to watch the Detroit Tigers maul the host Oakland As. Spike's showing in the M18-34 demo outperformed evening on television Tuesday night, including broadcast and cable." The fight also delivered 2.4 million men 18-49.

http://www.allbusiness.com/services/business-services-miscellaneous-business/4787161-1.html

Dana White Can Do No Wrong

Dana White is living proof that America is the land of opportunity. A lower middle class kid being shipped all over the country during his childhood, White dropped out of school after two years to become a bellhop and eventually an aerobics trainer then over night took control of what has become one of the largest sports phenomena to ever hit the globe. His unprecedented control over the sport has allowed him to manipulate the UFC in such a way that it is now being accepted by magazines like Sports Illustrated and touted as the "next big thing" as this SI cover from 2007 shows. Since the reader demographic of SI undoubtedly crosses outside of the M18-34 demo of MMA such an article in such a prestigious and popular sports magazine can only increase the size of UFC's audience. This cover came shortly after the biggest (current) name in the UFC, Chuck Liddell, appeared on the cover of ESPN the magazine and Randy Couture, the biggest name in MMA appeared on the cover shortly thereafter. What, a few years prior, would probably have dismissed the sport altogether now not only acknowledges it, but concedes to the possibility that it may be the next big thing.

http://mmajunkie.com/news/2360/sports-illustrated-cover-features-the-ufc.mma