Menu
SBJ In Depth

Networks paying more attention to MMA

More television networks are warming to the idea of mixed martial arts, even if broadcast network sports departments are no closer to cutting a deal than they were two years ago.

Various MMA events are littered throughout the television schedule. The leading MMA circuit, UFC, has deals with Spike TV and Versus. Strikeforce events appear on Showtime and occasionally in late-night time slots on CBS. NBC, FSN and MSG are dipping their toes in the water with matches from Bellator.

Showtime says its Strikeforce bouts have
brought a younger demo to the network.

But the biggest networks have yet to make the biggest commitments. ESPN is a good example. Last year, it moved its Web series, “MMA Live,” from its website to ESPN2. It started covering the sport on “SportsCenter” and it debuted MMA events on tape for ESPN Deportes.

But when you ask John Papa if the added MMA attention means that ESPN is any closer to bringing live MMA events to ESPN or ESPN2, the vice president of strategic program planning demurs.

“Currently, we’re not pursuing live events,” Papa said. “But we’ve gotten to a point where the sport has grown. We’re going to continue to monitor how it’s received and how it does.”

It’s the same story with Fox, where Fox Sports Net was one of the first television outlets to show MMA matches. Fox Sports en Español has carried MMA matches for several years, and its website covers the sport. Still, as he has said for many years, Fox Sports Chairman David Hill remains turned off by some of the more violent aspects of the sport. But it appears his position is thawing.

“There’s no dispute that MMA has grown in popularity over the last several years, especially with young men,” Hill said. “There are elements to it, like hitting a guy who’s down, that I still have a problem with, but today it is more a sport to consider rather than one to dismiss out of hand.”

There’s a reason these networks are looking at MMA more closely. Two years ago, it was easy to take a philosophical stand against a violent sport because so few sponsors were attached to it. Today, more mainstream sponsors are attaching their brands to MMA, which is causing networks to take a second look.

“You have to want that younger 18-to-24 demo, and the brand would have to be going for the same level of irreverence,” said Greg Luckman, president of the North American arm of GroupM ESP, a marketing agency that represents Citi, Volkswagen, Xerox, KFC and Schick. “There’s a need to be selective because of the level of violence, but for the right brands, it’s definitely a way to show you are edgy.”

That edginess helped Lipton’s Brisk brand, said Genesco Sports Enterprises’ Frank Mahar. He said Brisk’s recent ad campaign with fighter Chuck Liddell, “Uncage the Flavor,” effectively placed the brand as a foil for Arizona Iced Tea.

MMA ratings highlights
“The Ultimate Fighter” on Spike
The current season, Season 11 (Team Liddell vs. Team Ortiz), had averaged 1.677 million viewers for nine episodes through May 26. About four episodes remain in the season. For Season 10, “Heavyweights” (Team Jackson vs. Team Evans), Spike averaged 2.854 million viewers for 12 episodes (September-December 2009). The premiere for that season drew 4.107 million viewers, and the three-hour finale got 3.671 million viewers. “The Ultimate Fighter” episodes air on Wednesday nights, with the finales airing on Saturday nights.
“Saturday Night Fights” on CBS
The network has aired three telecasts to date, averaging 3.773 million viewers. The first telecast featured Kimbo Slice in October 2008, which attracted 4.557 million viewers, then Fedor Emelianenko in November 2009, which got 4.042 million viewers. The most recent bout in April, featuring Jake Shields vs. Dan Henderson, earned 2.864 million viewers.
“WEC” (World Extreme Cage Fighting) on Versus
WEC has aired 20 live telecasts on Versus since June 2007, averaging 614,000 viewers. Two telecasts have broken 1 million-plus viewers (June 7, 2009, and June 1, 2008)
Source: SportsBusiness Daily research

“It’s not the NFL when there’s huge competition for categories, but you don’t get the same pushback you used to, when it comes to MMA,” said Mahar, vice president and chief legal counsel for Genesco, which has brands like Pepsi, Motorola, Verizon and MillerCoors as sports clients. “MMA’s edginess has to enhance your brand.”

Genesco also represents Pepsi’s Amp Energy, which sponsors the UFC’s World Extreme Cagefighting circuit and three WEC fighters: Urijah Faber, Chad Mendes and Joseph Benavidez.

Currently, Amp’s most ambitious MMA promo to date is running a “Hometown Takedown” promo in which a fan vote decides which of 30 cities will host a WEC event in December. The promo also includes a sweeps overlay at more than 1,600 Hess and Maverik convenience stores.

“I don’t think it [MMA] will ever be totally mainstream, but it’s not a niche property anymore either,” Mahar said.

The roster of mainstream brands that support UFC — the biggest MMA producer — is not deep. Anheuser-Busch, Miller, Burger King and Harley-Davidson have attached their brands to the sport. What’s missing? “You look at most big sports in America and it’s beer and cars, so Ford or Chevy would be great,” said UFC President Dana White.

But Eric Bechtel of Rule 1.02 Marketing said some marketers still have a problem attaching brands to the sport.

“MMA has become more accepted, especially from a media-buying perspective, but there are still some brands that think any association will mean there will be blood on their logo,” said Bechtel, whose company sells media and marketing rights for the Bellator MMA circuit, which is on Fox Sports Net, NBC and Spanish-language networks Telemundo and Mun2. “But no one can deny the numbers or the demos MMA is getting, and it’s killing boxing, which does have some mainstream advertisers.”

Versus executives are so bullish about the sport, they want to increase the number of live events on their schedule. Versus carries matches from WEC, which is owned by Zuffa, the same company that operates UFC. It also has carried UFC events on its schedule.

“If the opportunity came up in the future to add some more live fights, we’d be silly not to,” said Marc Fein, Versus executive vice president of programming, production and business operations. “I’m not sure why people are fighting it anymore. To me, it’s clear. It’s mainstream, viable, legitimate. There’s really no question anymore around it.”

Similarly, Showtime is moving forward with its association with Strikeforce, saying it has brought a younger male demo to its premium network.

Last year ESPN moved its Web series
“MMA Live” from its website to ESPN2.

“Boxing has been on the network for 25 years and is one of the cornerstones of Showtime Sports. But there’s no denying that the demographics for boxing is an older demographic,” said Ken Hershman, executive vice president and general manager of Showtime Sports. “We want to have a network filled with programming that’s attractive to the whole span of demographics, including the 18- to 34-year-old male. That is what really drove the decision to look at the MMA space.”

For his part, UFC’s White seems less concerned with cutting broadcast or basic cable TV deals as he does with growing the pay-per-view part of his business.

“Pay-per-view is still the biggest piece of the pie, so I still consider us a pay-per-view company,” he said.

That was one of the reasons why UFC and HBO wound up calling off negotiations recently. Because UFC produced its own PPV telecasts, it had less of a need to deal with HBO, which is the biggest producer of boxing pay-per-view.

“They’ll never go to a full network package,” Mahar said. “I don’t ever see them going to HBO — they’ll never give up control of production, and no one will ever give them the rights fees they make on pay-per-view.”

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2010/06/14/SBJ-In-Depth/Networks-Paying-More-Attention-To-MMA.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2010/06/14/SBJ-In-Depth/Networks-Paying-More-Attention-To-MMA.aspx

CLOSE