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People and Pop Culture

Plugged In: Eric Burak, Bellator MMA

Eric Burak, vice president of digital at Bellator MMA, has a wealth of experience in athlete representation and marketing as well as in social media and digital. In his more than two decades in the sports industry, he has worked on marketing and PR for MLB stars at Beverly Hills Sports Council, was director of marketing for Fox Sports, and negotiated digital deals for athletes at the former Brand Affinity Technologies. Burak joined MMA promoter Bellator in 2014 and reports to its president, Scott Coker.


There is a very quick transition to mobile. People want to consume content wherever and whenever they want. On our Bellator app, we have a library of free fights and you can watch all of the amazing fights at the tip of your finger. You can consume all of the original digital content. You can learn about all of our fighters. You can become the fourth judge on fight night. On our mobile app, you can buy tickets.


Eric Burak (left) with Bellator fighter Rory MacDonald
Photo by: BELLATOR

On the changes social media has brought to athlete representation: The athlete talent business has evolved tremendously … mainly because of social media. In 2000, if we wanted to have one of our fighters make an announcement, we had to coordinate that with a local news or radio outlet. Now they can literally post it. And they can make a video and they can partner with folks like Uninterrupted or The Players’ Tribune or the league itself.

On the effect of new talent at Bellator: What we have now seen under Scott Coker’s guidance is bringing in top-shelf fighters from UFC. … He started bringing top fighters, including Benson Henderson, Chael Sonnen and Rory MacDonald. From a digital perspective, these fighters have made an immediate impact for us by helping to expand our social footprint and affording us the ability to develop additional, original content.

On MMA’s fans in other sports: Other mainstream athletes — NFL, Major League Baseball, NBA players — have actually become our biggest promoters. They come to the fights. They tweet. Great example: Former NFL player Shawne Merriman, he is now a Bellator MMA brand ambassador. … We had Antonio Brown Snapchatting about one of our recent fights.

On further growth: I think we are already starting to see some major agencies getting involved in MMA, like CAA represents a handful of stars. I think that can be very much more of a trend because MMA is one of the fastest-growing sports out there right now. You are seeing it with television ratings. You’re seeing it with attendance.

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