MMA Universe

The NY Times had an article yesterday on baseball players doing MMA training to get in shape. The article entitled, “Mixed Martial Arts makes inroads in baseball training,” examines the fascination with using MMA to train.

Russell Martin is once again identified as a player that trains in MMA. He was featured in a Wall Street Journal article several weeks ago.

Via the NY Times:

Adam Dunn of the Chicago White Sox, Brad Penny of the Detroit Tigers and Russell Martin of the Yankees have used the sport’s punches and kicks to improve their throwing and swinging. In addition to improving overall fitness, Martin said, mixed martial arts can make an athlete mentally tougher.

Dunn and Penny declined comment on their training although the article notes that Penny trained with Dan Henderson. It would be interesting to know whether baseball players have in their contracts that they cannot do any other physical sports (golf not too physical) outside of baseball. I’m sure teams would not be pleased if a player would get hurt checking a kick or throwing a punch. Can you imagine a pitcher hurting his pitching hand from sparring.

An interesting note from the piece about the fact that MMA training is not utilized by Japanese baseball players:

Bobby Valentine, an ESPN baseball analyst, has managed in the major leagues and in Japan, where one would think mixed martial arts training is popular among players. But that is not the case, he said.

“It’s more prominent in the States,” said Valentine, who said he believes the training is beneficial.

He added: “Most mixed martial arts instructors teach balance, quickness and awareness of your surroundings. There are a few cases in Japan, but most players just play baseball over there.”

Payout Perspective:

The article covers the latest training fad by professional athletes to use MMA as a means of conditioning. We’ve seen the likes of Jay Glazer taking advantage of the MMA training boom by offering their services to professional athletes. Not sure if Matt Leinhart reaped the benefits of training but it is still an interesting story that mainstream outlets picked up on. Moreover, the MMA training trickles down to regular people who want to lose weight or get in better shape. Capitalizing on this, the UFC has opened gyms and developed an interactive video game, the UFC Personal Trainer coming in June.

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Welcome to another edition of Payout Perspective. This time we look at UFC 128 held at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The show was topped by Jon Jones stopping Mauricio Rua to win the UFC Light Heavyweight title.

Jones fights crime, beats Rua

To top off being a favorite , fighting close to his hometown and having his own Spike TV special prior to challenging for the Light Heavyweight crown, Jon Jones helped stop a burglar just hours before the fight.  Although he looked nervous and Rua looked calm, Jones destroyed Rua  to win the belt. Rua looked slow and out of shape, but perhaps that was a testament to the speed and skill of Jones.

For Jones, a matchup with Rashad Evans is next although it may happen late 2011 as it is reported that Jones may have broken a bone in his hand. Thus, Evans will not have fought in the UFC since May 2010.

Faber kisses Rosie, survives to win in UFC debut

Urijah Faber defeated Eddie Wineland and will face Dominick Cruz next. Wineland did well for himself as he stuffed several takedown attempts at the outset, but Faber eventually solved Wineland. After the fight, Faber gave a rather mechanic call out to Cruz.  Perhaps the venom will step up if they become opposing TUF coaches. Whenever the fight happens, it should be a great fight.

I think that the UFC should have Faber-Cruz coach TUF as this can help gain more exposure to the lighter divisions. Plus, it should elevate Faber’s presence to the mainstream. I think Faber (and Jose Aldo) are the two fighters that can give the lighter weight divisions a boost in giving them respect and more visibility on UFC cards.

Not able boos for “The California Kid” coming out to 2Pac/Dre. I guess the East Coast-West Coast rap battle is still alive. And yes, that was Rosie O’Donnell that he kissed walking to the ring. I liked Rosie better when she was a VH1 DJ.

Bonuses

MMA Junkie reports the bonuses for 128.

Brendan Schaub and Erik Koch earned $75K apiece for their KOs and Edson Barboza and Anthony Njokuani earned $75K each for their Fight of the Night on Spike TV. There were no fights ending in submissions so that can explain the double KO bonus.

Attendance and Gate

MMA Junkie reports that 12,619 fans attended UFC 128 for a gate of $2.14 million. The numbers were not as good as GSP-Hardy and did not draw as many fans as Bisping-Evans. In fact, UFC 128 had a slightly better gate than UFC 78. It is likely that Jones will draw much better in the future.

Via MMA Junkie:

UFC 111 (St-Pierre vs. Hardy): $4,000,000 gate (17,000 attendance)* UFC 128 (Jones vs. Rua): $2,140,000 (12,619)* UFC 78 (Bisping vs. Evans): $2,100,000 (14,071)* UFC 53 (Arlovski vs. Eilers): $1,100,000 (12,000)*

Ratings

UPDATED 3/22/11 – MMAPayout confirmed today with SpikeTV the ratings for the UFC Prelims. UFC 128 Prelims earned a .85 household rating, a .92 in Men 18-49, a 1.03 in Men 18-34, and an average audience of 1.3 million viewers. According to MMA Junkie, the ratings show a strong increase from the UFC 127 Prelims on ION.

The lead-up shows for UFC 128 included the usual Countdown show and a special for Jon Jones, “In the Moment.” The Jones pre-event show did better than the Countdown show. It did very well considering it went up against NCAA Tournament games. It will be interesting to see how he GSP-Shields Primetime series will do in comparison.

Sponsorship Watch

MMAPayout Emiritus Kelsey Philpott was on hand and tweeted about the scene outside the arena pre-UFC 128 where the UFC held a Tailgate Party. This was a great way for sponsors to get out in front of its audience. Tapout and Xyience were among the sponsors outside interacting with fans.  The newest product out there for the MMA fan:  Tapout energy bands.

Sponsors in the Octagon included Harley Davidson, BSN, BoostMobile, Xyience, Affliction, Tapout , Toyo Tires and Bud Light had the center of the Octagon.

The UFCStore.com was actively involved in the PPV as it sponsored the tale of the tape and also ran an ad during the first round of the Jones/Rua fight which I thought was a little annoying.

Jon Jones had Iron Bridge Tools as a fight sponsor on the back of his shorts. According to my count, this is the second time that a challenger has won the UFC title with a tool sponsor on the back of his shorts as Cain Velasquez wore a Milwaukee Tools logo when he beat Brock Lesnar. I don’t think Gray Maynard or Vito Belfort had a tool sponsor on the back of their shorts. Are you listening Jake Shields?

Big night for sponsor Form Athletics as Jon Jones and Urijah Faber won their fights.

Public Relations for 128

The UFC was all over the NY/NJ area promoting UFC 128. Details on some of its appearances are here. Aside from promoting 128, the UFC made an effort to promote the legalization of the sport in New York. Notably, Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta appeared on a NY public affairs program to discuss the fight for legalization.

Aside from local media, notable print media stories included Jon Jones in WSJ which asked whether Jones would be the breakthrough star the UFC (and MMA) needs.

Jones appeared on a local morning show in NY where he was asked to display what he does in the Octagon.

UFC Fighter Jon ‘Bones’ Jones: MyFoxNY.com

I think Middle Easy explains my sentiments.

Via Middle Easy:

Hopefully in 2012, we can collectively agree that any form of media asking a fighter to place them in a rear-naked choke needs to come to an end. Actually, that’s not entirely fair. Let’s make a rule that if you ask a fighter to place you in a rear-naked choke, you can’t tap out. The blood running through your neck will have to come to a complete halt and your unconscious body will need to collapse to the floor in order to realize how much of an idiot you were for asking someone to choke you out.

Trending during 128

Twitter was abuzz Saturday night as #ufc128 #Crocop #Schaub #Miller and #Faber were all trending. I’m sure Jones was trending as well although I did not check after the fights.

Odds and Ends

MMA is great because it’s the only sport where one of its champs seconds a fighter as Frankie Edgar did at the weigh-ins for Ricardo Almeida The Miller Brothers fought back to back and went 1 and 1. Jon Jones gave a shout out to his after-party during his post-fight interview, a taboo in the UFC. But, Jones quickly amended his announcement to say it was for charity. Perhaps the champ was taking liberties with his newfound position. While there are many MMA fans that loathe the comparisons to pro wrestling, “USA, USA” chants broke out during the main event. The last time I heard that I think The Iron Shiek was wrestling Sargent Slaughter. If Herb Dean did not stop the Jones-Rua fight, Rua was tapping. Faber received his Brown Belt in BJJ after the Wineland match. Not as dramatic as when Randy Couture received his Black Belt for choking out James Toney or when Frank Mir received his after breaking Tim Sylvia’s arm.

The US Attorney of New York and the US Immigration Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) received a big thanks from the UFC in a press release on Wednesday as the agencies shut down 10 websites that allegedly live streamed sporting events and PPVs.

Political news web site POLITICO reported the enforcement actions but did not mention the UFC in the article. Instead, it focused on the fact that the seizure of websites was made prior to the Super Bowl as context for the actions. The sites themselves do not provide the content, but provide links to other websites where people can access the events illegally. The POLITICO article states that the sites not only act as a conduit to provide people to sites that illegally stream content, but dent revenues of sports leagues and broadcasters which ultimately will hurt viewers.

Via UFC press release:

In connection with the recent forfeiture raids initiated by the United States Department of Justice, the UFC^® wishes to individually thank Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York and John T. Morton, the Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) for aggressively confronting and pursuing these criminal enterprises.

Speaking on behalf of the UFC^®, Dana White, Zuffa’s President, issued the following statement: “The very forceful actions taken by Mr. Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York and Mr. Morton, the Director of ICE, against these parasitic websites is very welcome news. The criminal theft of Pay-Per-View events has resulted in the loss of millions of dollars of revenue to not only the UFC^® and its fighters, but has also deprived federal, state and local government of their rightful entitlement to significant tax revenue.

“On behalf of the UFC^®and its fighters, I extend my sincerest thanks to Mr. Bharara, Mr. Morton, and the many Assistant United States Attorneys and Agents of Homeland Security Investigations who worked so tirelessly during the course of this intensive investigation.”

Despite the seizures, one of the websites that was shut down on Wednesday has already reappeared online.

Payout Perspective:

For the UFC, the press release reaffirms its aggressive stance on piracy.  The UFC release is part government relations as it complements, by name, the NY US Attorney and ICE Director for its work. Notwithstanding recent news about MMA in New York, thanking the US Attorney in New York doesn’t hurt.

Although mainstream news outlets like POLITICO will focus on the affect the seizures have on professional leagues, it goes without saying that the work helps the UFC as well. This weekend’s UFC 126 should be one of the more compelling PPVs in a while with Silva-Belfort, Griffin-Franklin and Bader-Jones. The PPV buy rate should be good and with the assist from the feds, some users may need to buy the PPV rather than get it for free.

Of course, while some sites go down, others pop up: a game of whac-a-mole as the Fight Lawyer pointed out last year.

Although growing in popularity, mixed martial arts is behind in the minds of mainstream sports. No MMA fighters were included in Businessweek’s Power List of 100 most powerful athletes. Also, a recent Harris poll asking sports fans of their favorite sports failed to register MMA in its list.

Businessweek’s 2011 Power List of 100 which lists the most powerful professional athletes in sports did not include anyone from MMA. Last year, the list included Fedor Emelianenko (No. 82) and Brock Lesnar (No. 96). NFL’s Peyton Manning was No. 1 followed by snowboarder Shawn White. Manny Pacquiao was the only combat sports athlete at No. 24. (h/t MMA Fighting)

The criteria via Businessweek:

It’s the combination of athletic achievement plus the ability to connect with an audience on a deeper, more personal level that separates mere jocks from the stars. Indeed, the everyman image often earns the highest ranking and the biggest earnings. That explains why the No. 1 spot on the 2011 Power 100 ranking went to Peyton Manning, the well-liked, hard-working Colts quarterback who appeared in two of the last four Super Bowls and led his team to victory in Super Bowl XLI.

The Harris Interactive poll asked American sports fans their ONE favorite sport.  The MMA snub may raise some eyebrows considering bowling is ahead of boxing in the poll.

Via MMA Junkie:

Harris Interactive, a research company with widely distributed and influential surveys, recently asked American fans about their favorite sports. MMA isn’t even listed. According to the 2010 survey, pro football is king of the sporting world and is followed by baseball and college football. Boxing, a sibling of MMA in the combat-sports world, is ranked 13th. It’s outpaced by NASCAR (fourth), hockey (sixth), and bowling (11^th).

The question posed to people was: “If you had to choose, which ONE of these sports would you say is your favorite?” The poll surveyed 2,331 adults in December 2010. Several sportswriters have approached Harris Interactive about the inclusion of MMA which it will take under consideration.

Payout Perspective:

Businessweek Power List

With Fedor and Brock losing in 2010, it was inevitable that they would drop out of the rankings. I find it surprising that Georges St. Pierre did not make the 100. His crossover appeal along with his mainstream sponsors should have him on this list. Interesting that Houston Texans running back Arian Foster made the list at No. 22 ahead of Kevin Durant. In fact, Foster was the first NFL running back on the list ahead of Chris Johnson and Adrian Peterson.

Harris Interactive

The Harris poll seems antiquated as the MMA Junkie indicates it has not changed its categories of sports since 1985. It also shows that MMA is still is a fringe sport in the eyes of some.

Despite the poll, I think the better question is whether MMA is the one sport you would say is your favorite. Although MMA is growing in mainstream popularity, it would be hard for people to say they would take the sport over the NFL.

Although growing in popularity, mixed martial arts is behind in the minds of mainstream sports. No MMA fighters were included in Businessweek’s Power List of 100 most powerful athletes. Also, a recent Harris poll asking sports fans of their favorite sports failed to register MMA in its list.

Businessweek’s 2011 Power List of 100 which lists the most powerful professional athletes in sports did not include anyone from MMA. Last year, the list included Fedor Emelianenko (No. 82) and Brock Lesnar (No. 96). NFL’s Peyton Manning was No. 1 followed by snowboarder Shawn White. Manny Pacquiao was the only combat sports athlete at No. 24. (h/t MMA Fighting)

The criteria via Businessweek:

It’s the combination of athletic achievement plus the ability to connect with an audience on a deeper, more personal level that separates mere jocks from the stars. Indeed, the everyman image often earns the highest ranking and the biggest earnings. That explains why the No. 1 spot on the 2011 Power 100 ranking went to Peyton Manning, the well-liked, hard-working Colts quarterback who appeared in two of the last four Super Bowls and led his team to victory in Super Bowl XLI.

The Harris Interactive poll asked American sports fans their ONE favorite sport.  The MMA snub may raise some eyebrows considering bowling is ahead of boxing in the poll.

Via MMA Junkie:

Harris Interactive, a research company with widely distributed and influential surveys, recently asked American fans about their favorite sports. MMA isn’t even listed. According to the 2010 survey, pro football is king of the sporting world and is followed by baseball and college football. Boxing, a sibling of MMA in the combat-sports world, is ranked 13th. It’s outpaced by NASCAR (fourth), hockey (sixth), and bowling (11^th).

The question posed to people was: “If you had to choose, which ONE of these sports would you say is your favorite?” The poll surveyed 2,331 adults in December 2010. Several sportswriters have approached Harris Interactive about the inclusion of MMA which it will take under consideration.

Payout Perspective:

Businessweek Power List

With Fedor and Brock losing in 2010, it was inevitable that they would drop out of the rankings. I find it surprising that Georges St. Pierre did not make the 100. His crossover appeal along with his mainstream sponsors should have him on this list. Interesting that Houston Texans running back Arian Foster made the list at No. 22 ahead of Kevin Durant. In fact, Foster was the first NFL running back on the list ahead of Chris Johnson and Adrian Peterson.

Harris Interactive

The Harris poll seems antiquated as the MMA Junkie indicates it has not changed its categories of sports since 1985. It also shows that MMA is still is a fringe sport in the eyes of some.

Despite the poll, I think the better question is whether MMA is the one sport you would say is your favorite. Although MMA is growing in mainstream popularity, it would be hard for people to say they would take the sport over the NFL.

Welcome to another edition of Payout Perspective! This week we’ll be taking at look at UFC 125: Resolution which was held on January 1, 2011 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas Nevada. The event featured a lightweight title fight between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard, but the likes of Chris Leben, Brian Stann, Thiago Silva, and Clay Guida also appeared on the night.

Edgar vs. Maynard Ends in Draw

Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard put forward a fight of the year candidate on the very first day of the year in their five round back and forth battle that featured a remarkable comeback by Edgar who was absolutely trounced in the first round. In the end, the fight was incredibly close and the decision of a draw was probably appropriate. Regardless, I think we’d all agree that this fight demands a rematch and the draw should facilitate that.

Dana White sent word through VP of Production, Craig Borsari, that Anthony Pettis would get the next shot at Frankie Edgar. White is probably looking to capitalize on the mainstream attention that Pettis garnered with his incredible kick two weeks ago at WEC 53. The promotional value of that kick is significant and there’s no doubt the UFC will be able to leverage it further on the PR front in the lead up to a title fight. Imagine Pettis doing a SportsCenter interview on the Wednesday morning before the fight; he’s introduced, talks about the fight, ESPN shows the clip, and then he’s asked to comment further. It will prove to be very effective (although it will need to be supported by a solid integrated promotional campaign).

I doubt very much that this is the absolute final decision, because there’s a strong argument to be made for giving Gray Maynard an immediate rematch: the fans want to see this score settled, a rematch would do bigger business than the first fight, the winner would certainly see his stock elevated to new heights, and few actually believe that Pettis can put up the same type of fight as Maynard. However, in this case, what is to be done with Pettis? He’s got the WEC belt and that unification needs to happen at some point (unless they just scrap the idea altogether. It doesn’t make sense for Pettis to fight someone else (and most probably lose). And, I’m not sure the UFC wants to see an exciting fighter like Pettis sitting on the sidelines for 8 months, either. Tough decision. Perhaps the UFC just scraps the unification idea altogether (they didn’t give Condit an automatic shot).

(Edit: Ariel Helwani tracked down Dana White late Saturday night. White has had a change of heart and Maynard will get the next shot.)

Regardless, I think they use the next lightweight title fight as the co-main event at UFC 129 to bolster that fight card and bring a little bit of added promotional press (either in the form of the Pettis kick or the Maynard rematch).

Stann KOs Leben

Brian Stann beat Chris Leben at his own game on Saturday night. It was an impressive display of precision and punching power, yet this style of fighting is often a very risky game of who can strike first. Stann will need to take on a more well-rounded opponent in his next fight to prove he deserves to be considered amongst the contenders in the division. While he’s asked to fight Wanderlei Silva, he’ll likely have to find a different opponent as Silva seems to be all but committed to fighting Chael Sonnen in the next few months.

Stann is an intriguing fighter because he’s got knockout power and some of the finer marketing attributes that could help make him an ambassador for the sport moving forward. In particular, the combination of his soft spoken, polite mannerisms and his military past make him an ideal regulatory asset. He’s definitely one to watch.

Prelims Broadcast on ION TV, Spike, Versus “Counter Program”

The UFC struck a deal with Ion TV to broadcast three live preliminary fights from UFC 125. The major draw of Ion is that it’s available in 100+ million households, but it’s hard to assess how well the UFC was able to leverage that fact on account of the following:

We don’t know how much advertising was done on the network prior to the broadcast Many of the digital cable companies on the West Coast listed the program as starting at 9pm instead of 6pm Those that did tune in at the right time were greeted by a blank screen for the first minute or two Spike TV and Versus were both showing Zuffa-related content at the time of the preliminary fights (Spike had UFC’s Best Submission and Versus had Best of the WEC)

It seems clear that this Ion TV deal was less about expanding the UFC’s reach through network television and more about providing its existing fan base with an opportunity to watch the preliminary fights.

The UFC’s deal with Spike expires at the end of this year and it’s no secret that the UFC is looking to upgrade to a bigger and better network. This is going to make 2011 quite interesting because I don’t think we’re going to see nearly the same type of support for the UFC on Spike as we have in the past (e.g., preliminary card slots, live weigh-ins, etc.). Thus, you have to wonder what type of impact it’s going to have on the UFC’s ratings (and that’s the point if you’re Spike; to negatively impact the UFC’s negotiating leverage with other networks).

If you’re the UFC, you have to be careful here. This is the type of situation that can turn very ugly, very quickly. UFC brass must keep its composure because it doesn’t want to jeopardize the quality of its programming in a war of words or bad gestures.

UFC 125 Dominates Twitter

The following were all worldwide trending topics at some point during the night: UFC125, Frankie Edgar, Gray Maynard, Brian Stann, Chris Leben, Clay Guida, Grispi. Moreover, UFC125 was the topic trending topic in Brazil, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States at the end of the Edgar-Maynard bout.

This all leads me to wonder what type of buyrate the fight did. My own expectation was 400,000 given the headline and New Year’s day sports competition. However, the incredible response online leads me to believe it might have been higher. We’ll see in the next few weeks. Certainly, I think we’d all agree that the fight helped raise the profile of guys like Edgar and Maynard. If and when a rematch happens, it will sell.

Sponsorship Watch

MusclePharm made a surprising return to the Octagon at UFC 125. The company had previously failed to pay the money owed to Zuffa from its sponsorship of the WEC in 2010 (something in the range of $300,000). However, Zuffa sold that outstanding debt to a collections company and now it appears that MP has been given the okay to resume fighter sponsorships. It’s interesting to me that Zuffa has allowed them back in. There are any number of potential explanations as to why, but regardless, this is a good thing for the fighters (something the UFC is often criticized for).

Harley Davidson was the presenting sponsor of the UFC 125 Prelims on Ion TV. This is surprising to me because HD has gone through a leadership shake up recently and I’ve heard rumblings that its uncommitted to renewing with the UFC when the deal expires this year. Keep your eye on this situation moving forward.

Edit 2: I’d earlier commented that Tapout was not officially a part of the fight card, but this was incorrect. The brand did have some bumper signage on the top of the Octagon. It also continues to sponsor fighters, which has never been disputed. Please forgive the mistake.

The larger point still stands that Tapout has become much less active as an official UFC sponsor in the last few months. I suspect this reduction is due to ABG’s acquisition of Tapout (along with Hitman and Silver Star) and some reformulation of the marketing strategies for each brand. It may also be the result of a renegotiation between Zuffa and ABG that’s looking to explore new possibilities for a greater partnership. I’d expect an increase in activation quite shortly; an involved UFC-Tapout partnership is highly mutually beneficial. Perhaps the only way it doesn’t happen is if the UFC can swing a deal with a larger apparel company like Under Armour. UA is an incredible fit for the UFC, and it could provide the brand with a very competitive strike against the competition (Nike, Adidas, etc.). However, at this time, consider this just speculation.

UFC fighters Ryan Bader, Jon Jones, Junior dos Santos, Vito Belfort and Stephan Bonnar join Dana White in a Playboy pictorial for its January 2011 issue.

Via Fight! Magazine:

The group took part in the “Stand Tough” fashion pictorial in which they modeled looks from Calvin Klein, Hugo Boss and Tommy Hilfiger among others. Belfort will fight next at UFC 126 on Super Bowl weekend, where he will challenge Anderson Silva (#1 Middleweight) for the UFC Middleweight Championship. Bader and Jones will also meet on that card in a fight that will likely determine the number one challenger for the light heavyweight title.

Payout Perspective:

The pictorial is a great way to promote the big Super Bowl weekend card. With the exception of Bonnar, the choice of fighters make sense. The photospread is a good way for the UFC to market its fighters and for the fighters to market themselves as individuals. The photos appear to have them modeling designer brands. It gives the fighters an opportunity to do something different to promote themselves and expose (pun intended) themselves to a mainstream audience.

Of course, Arianny Celeste was featured in Playboy this past November. Forging a relationship with Playboy is a good way for the UFC to market itself to a huge younger, male demographic. I am sure we can expect more interviews and features with UFC fighters in Playboy.

UFC fighters Ryan Bader, Jon Jones, Junior dos Santos, Vito Belfort and Stephan Bonnar join Dana White in a Playboy pictorial for its January 2011 issue.

Via Fight! Magazine:

The group took part in the “Stand Tough” fashion pictorial in which they modeled looks from Calvin Klein, Hugo Boss and Tommy Hilfiger among others. Belfort will fight next at UFC 126 on Super Bowl weekend, where he will challenge Anderson Silva (#1 Middleweight) for the UFC Middleweight Championship. Bader and Jones will also meet on that card in a fight that will likely determine the number one challenger for the light heavyweight title.

Payout Perspective:

The pictorial is a great way to promote the big Super Bowl weekend card. With the exception of Bonnar, the choice of fighters make sense. The photospread is a good way for the UFC to market its fighters and for the fighters to market themselves as individuals. The photos appear to have them modeling designer brands. It gives the fighters an opportunity to do something different to promote themselves and expose (pun intended) themselves to a mainstream audience.

Of course, Arianny Celeste was featured in Playboy this past November. Forging a relationship with Playboy is a good way for the UFC to market itself to a huge younger, male demographic. I am sure we can expect more interviews and features with UFC fighters in Playboy.

Welcome to another edition of Payout Perspective! This week we’ll be taking a look at UFC 124: St-Pierre vs. Koscheck II which was held at The Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec on Saturday, December 11th. The event was headlined by the much anticipated welterweight title showdown between Ultimate Fighter Season 12 coaches Georges St-Pierre and Josh Koscheck. The card also featured the likes of Thiago Alves, Joe Stevenson, Mac Danzig, and Stefan Struve.

GSP dominates Koscheck, now looking at Shields

Georges St-Pierre used a stiff jab and a few nasty left hook combinations to fracture the orbital bone of Josh Koscheck on the way to a dominant unanimous decision victory on Saturday night at UFC 124. He put on a clinic, as they say, with his masterful use of the jab and superb head movement to avoid Koscheck’s overhand right. It was truly a performance in which St-Pierre cemented his legacy as one of the best fighters of this era and undoubtedly the best welterweight of all-time.

St-Pierre is likely to face Jake Shields next. Dana White seemed to be most in favor of this bout. However, if you look around at the list of contenders, it’s hard to justify any other bout. St-Pierre has defeated the who’s who of the 170lbs. division, including Koscheck (2), Fitch, Alves, Penn (2), Hughes (2), Hardy, and Serra. Here we see the business side of the sport coming into play. Jon Fitch is probably the most deserving of the next shot from a wins perspective, but he’s failed to impress in any of his latest victories. He’s not the UFC’s only option – and certainly not the most appealing – so why would they give him a shot? If he keeps good to his word and puts on a dominating performance against BJ Penn in February, he’ll likely be next up for the WW defense in Fall of 2011.

Naturally, there’s been some talk of GSP fighting Silva, but, it will have to wait at least until after Silva fights Belfort in February and GSP fights Shields (likely in April). A fight between St-Pierre and Silva would undoubtedly be the most important fight in UFC history, although there’s no guarantee  it would break 1.6 million PPV buys. I could see the UFC using a fight like this as a center piece to a brand new integrated marketing campaign; something to help push it further towards mainstream acceptance with the goal of leveraging the fight and the marketing campaign towards obtaining a solid network television deal. The timing is certainly right.

UFC 124 attendance and gate

The UFC pushed the media all week with the message that UFC 124 was going to have the biggest attendance and live gate in UFC history, but sadly only one of those came true. The official attendance set a new record with 23, 152 people cramming The Bell Centre in Montreal. However, the official gate slightly underperformed at $4. 586 million. It should be noted that $4.6 million is still an excellent gate (my how far this sport has come to look at things and say a gate like that actually underperformed!).

Fight Week

Most casual fans make their purchase decision the week of the fight and these are the types of consumers that can make the difference between a fight selling 600,000 buys or 1.6 million buys. Therefore, as I’ve said many times before, fight week is the most critical time for any PPV in terms of promotion. There’s nothing in this sport that adds to the short-term bottom line like a good fight week campaign. Therefore, let’s take a look at some of what we saw this past week:

ESPN has shown an increasing commitment to the UFC and this was definitely on display this week. The fight week SportsCenter interviews and MMA Live coverage that have become commonplace over the last six months were accompanied by the first MMA-related SportsCenter commercial featuring Georges St-Pierre. Additionally, ESPN also released a viral video on Youtube that showed GSP teaching two college mascots how to fight. SpikeTV debuted its Countdown to UFC 124 program on Monday, December 6th at 7pm EST/PST and garnered 470,000 average viewers. It’s a solid but unspectacular number. However, Spike has switched up its strategy in recent months and this Countdown show now plays so often that it’s the aggregate number of views across the entire week that truly counts. In Canada, Rogers Sportsnet led the way with its usual stalwart programming featuring Showdown Joe Ferraro and his MMA Connected series. Sometimes I believe that American fans don’t realize how significant Sportsnet’s coverage of MMA really is. They were the first major sports network in the world to give MMA primetime love and they back this up with a host of online and behind the scenes content that isn’t matched anywhere else. TSN also jumped on the bandwagon with considerably more coverage on its SportsCentre (notice the spelling) and almost three full days worth of Off The Record coverage of UFC 124, including a special preview show on Saturday night. The preview show was solid as it featured interviews with both fighters and a good 5 minute clip with Cain Velasquez that took viewers through a typical fight day routine for the average fighter.

UFC 124 fight trailer featuring music by Jay-Z and Rhianna

The UFC has experimented with the use of mainstream music in its promo trailers over the last few years, but UFC 124 is the first time I can remember the company ever using music for a publicly released trailer that didn’t also contain some sort of co-promotion. The UFC did the video with 50 Cent for UFC 91 but that was just spliced fight video into 50′s regular music video. UFC 124′s trailer did not include anything from Jay-Z or Rhianna except the music.

I’ve said for a while now that one of the keys to the UFC’s impending mainstream acceptance will be smart and proper integration with popular culture. Music definitely helps them do that. Don’t get me wrong, I love the UFC’s Stemm intro, but that music only appeals to a very small subset of people. I can remember seeing Craig Borsari mixing up a “Welcome to Atlanta” version of the intro for UFC 88 on Dana’s Vlog a few years ago, but we never saw that on the PPV. Hopefully this latest Rhianna mix is a sign that the UFC is willing to pay the royalties necessary to use these songs in its promotional content.

UFCVote.com

The UFC unveiled UFCVote.com at UFC 124 in which fans were allowed to pick the winners of fight of the night and the $100,000 bonus checks. In what was clearly a pilot thrown together to test the idea, the UFC learned that it’s probably not the best idea to put hundreds of thousands of dollars in bonus money into the hands of biased fans. That’s because the fans chose the main event as the FON by an overwhelming margin despite Riddle vs. Pierson probably being the more spirited and entertaining bout.

UFCVote.com is a great idea, because it allows the brand to further engage the fans and give them a say over part of the product. This is especially relevant in a climate where many fans have criticized the UFC for its pay of the fighters (though I find it odd that, in light of this fact, the majority still elected to give more money to the fighters that were already set to make the most on the card).

I don’t believe the UFC ought to get rid of the idea altogether. Instead the UFC should modify the award by separating it from the FON and creating a distinct fans fight of the night honor worth $5,000-$10,000 per fighter. The UFC could further develop the existing website to allow fans to rate each fight on a scale of 10; the highest rated fight wins (perhaps you exclude from eligibility the main event guys). The additional upside to this idea is that the UFC could further sell a ton of inventory to what is likely going to be a highly trafficked website. Then, if it wanted to go one further, it could even take the winning fight from each PPV event on the year and compile them for an end of the year Spike special. The special could be used to review the year that was and determine the fans’ ultimate fight of the year (of course, you’d sell this to sponsors, too).

Sponsorship Watch

I criticized Boost Mobile for its involvement at 123, but I thought it did a better job at 124 of integrating its brand into the broadcast. They brought us the Judge’s Call, were a part of the UFCVote.com, and were generally visible throughout the fight card.

There’s been much ado this week regarding the UFC’s fighter sponsorship policies and how they influence fighters financially. If you haven’t jumped in on the debate yet, I suggest you take a look.

UFC 131 announced for April 30th at the Rogers Centre

Earlier in the week, the UFC announced it will host its very first show in Ontario on April 30th when it plans to visit Toronto’s Rogers Centre and absolutely smash the North American attendance and gate record. The Rogers Centre is the enclosed baseball stadium where the MLB’s Toronto Blue Jays play (formerly known as the Skydome), and it actually sat upwards of 70,000 for a Wrestlemania show a few years ago. It’s likely the UFC is going to opt for a smaller seating configuration (40,000), not because it couldn’t fill 68,000 but more because it wants to make sure every fan can see the action. The nature of the UFC’s cage has always detracted from the live experience; this would really come into play for fans sitting in the very upper deck, a mile away from the action inside of a black cage.

Strikeforce will likely to make their Ohio debut on March 5, 2011, coinciding with the Arnold Sports Festival next year.

The Dayton Daily News first broke the news on Sunday, when they reported that Strikeforce was likely to be in Columbus for the festival, taking over for the UFC/WEC, who chose to not be a part of the event this year, an annual tradition for Zuffa since 2007.

“We’re in talks with the (Arnold) organizations,” Coker said. “We think it could be a good fit for us.”

When UFC president Dana White confirmed the organization would skip Ohio in 2011, Ohio Athletic Commission Executive Director Bernie Profato put out the call to other major MMA promotions. He explained the unique cross-promotional possibilities with the Arnold Sports Festival, which has gotten exponentially bigger since its 1989 debut as a mere bodybuilding competition. So is there at least a 50-50 shot of Strikeforce heading to Columbus

“I’d say it’s much better than that — much better,” said Coker, who added that the Showtime-televised event would include some of the organization’s top fighters. “It’d be a big event, for sure. We’re working on it.”

Payout Perspective:

The event is expected to take place on the 19,000-seat Nationwide Arena and air on Showtime on Saturday night.  MMAJunkie is also reporting that Strikeforce St. Louis headliner Dan Henderson could face Strikeforce Light Heavyweight champion Rafael Feijao as the main event for the show.  Strikeforce fighters Jorge Gurgel and Roger Bowling, both Ohio natives, are also top candidates to participate in the event.

Needless to say, this is a great move by Strikeforce.  Earlier this year, Strikeforce ran the Strikeforce Live event in conjunction with E3 and was a pretty big success in terms of creating new fan awareness of their product, attendance, and creating a great experience for their fans, as they teamed up with EA Sports to hold the event.  In 2007, the UFC teamed up with the Arnolds for UFC 68, which featured Randy Couture vs Tim Sylvia, and drew 19,079 fans, producing the largest attendance in North American MMA history and breaking the Nationwide Arena’s records for attendance, live gate ($3 million), and merchandise sales.  I expect Strikeforce to treat this event as a huge opportunity for them, as it will create a platform to showcase their product with a newly polished brand, merchandise, and apparel to festival attendees.

There’s no shortage of news or information available regarding the UFC’s growth from a pay-per-view or gate perspective, but there’s considerably less information where the growth of its fan base is concerned. I suspect this is the case because the UFC is a relatively new sporting phenomenon that’s yet to gain the requisite level of acceptance that would make it worthwhile for survey companies to collect the data from consumers needed to produce relevant information on the fan base. However, the times are changing and we’re now beginning to see some information emerge related to the demographics and psychographics of the UFC fan.

Today, we’ll be taking a glimpse at the age and gender demographics of the UFC. I’ve also included information from the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, NASCAR, and MLS to provide some context to the overall sports landscape, which will help to put the UFC’s current fan base into perspective – both its strengths and shortcomings.

The following information was mined from the Simmons Research Database.

Notes and Definitions

The title of this article and its subject matter should not imply a bias towards the UFC. The survey was simply conducted in a manner that quizzed its respondents on a variety of topics, including their interest in professional sports leagues. I’ll remind you that while the interest in a league implies a larger interest in the sport, this is sometimes not the case. There are many “fans” that are interested in the UFC but not other MMA; likewise there are “fans” interested in the NFL but not college or high school football.

Thus, the “fan” is defined as someone that is “very”, “somewhat”, or “a little bit” interested in the league in question. These are obviously subjective terms open to a very large spectrum of interpretation, which is why I’ve also set out to compare these figures against the “avid fan” – someone that is “very” interested in the league in question.

I’ll also caution that the following sets of information are just estimates based on data in the Simmons Database. Other polls and databases have also produced similar information (e.g., ESPN Sports Poll and Scarborough) to support some of the analysis done below. However, I encourage everyone to read the following a natural level  skepticism.

Americans 18+

The size of the UFC fan base in the United States is estimated to be approximately 31 million people. You can see below how this compares to the size of the general fan base of the other major sports played in the US over the last three years. Note that the UFC was the only property to experience growth in its fan base of the last three years.

The size of the UFC avid fan base in the United States is estimated to be approximately 11 million people or 35% of the overall fan base. Note, again, that the UFC and the NHL were the only to properties to grow their avid fan bases over the last three years.

The avid fan as a percentage of all fans gives us an interesting look at how competitive the UFC is among most sports properties. The UFC has been able to match the avidity of most sports properties with the exception of the NFL. The NFL is the sports league model in many respects, but the way it has managed to engage its fans is what truly allows it to generate revenues far greater than any other league. Engaged fans are more apt to receive and comprehend advertiser and sponsor messages. When these television networks and corporate sponsors are evaluating a property they look to how well a property can engage its fans (or what opportunities they have to engage those fans). Thus, one of the mid-to-long term objectives and challenges for the UFC moving forward is to increase the level of avidity in its fan base to levels beyond 35% and into the 50% range.

I mentioned above the tremendous growth that the UFC has enjoyed over the last few years and the following comparison really puts that into perspective. It’s only over a three year period, but this is the only data we have and that’s largely because the UFC has only become a relevant commercial entity in the last 3-4 years.

Some might argue that 30% growth is meaningless considering the UFC didn’t start out with a lot to begin with, but I reject this counter argument. The UFC owns an interest level commensurate with lower tier sports leagues like the NHL and MLS; no one would dismiss the fan bases of those two leagues as insignificant.

Americans 18-34

The 18-34 demographic – specifically the M18-34 demographic – is always a very important consideration in any fan base analysis, because it is probably the most coveted target audience in the world. Those within the 18-34 demographic possess relatively high levels of disposable income and a demand for luxury goods, but also lack many of the serious financial or family commitments of other demographics.

The numbers for the UFC here aren’t that far off from the NFL or MLB, yet the discrepancy in required sponsorship investment is stunning. If a brand determined that its image was somewhat aligned and fit well with that of the UFC, it could literally own the UFC consumer for $5m/year in sponsorship fees and another $5-10m in activation. Compare that to $100m/year that Bud Light just dumped on the NFL or the $75m/year that Verizon just spent on the NFL.

Is it a risk? Sure. But what isn’t in this day and age. If we’ve all learned one thing in the last 12 months, it’s that no sponsorship is risk-less. Tiger Woods is that case study. However, there remains a sizable opportunity here for a company to come in and completely own a category tied to this sizable demographic for an absolute fraction of the price a company would pay somewhere else. The only two things the company would need to do are a.) commit to activating and b.) find a group of people that know the sport well enough to formulate the right activation plan (I think there are a few people around that might fit that mold!).

Men and Women

Dana White stated some time ago that the split between male and female UFC fans is somewhere in the range of 56-44, but the numbers below indicate that the split is actually closer to 75-25. How do we reconcile this information? I’d venture to guess that 60-40 is a good estimate for the split at live UFC events, but those events are not necessarily an accurate reflection of the entire fan base.

I’m not sure these figures come  as much of a surprise to anyone. MMA is a rough and violent sport that still possesses a brutal image in some circles of the larger population. It will be a while before it can eschew conflicts with this boxing paradigm through which most casual sports fans still view combat sports. However, a 60-40 split across the entire fan base seems inevitable at some point.

Estimating Global Size

The global size of the UFC fan base is difficult to estimate, because there are material components of the fan base not included in the above survey or that do not live in the United States. We must reasonably adjust for American children (12-17), Canadians, British, and other fans throughout the world.

The following is a bit of envelope math using the American 18+ interest level (13%) as a foundation for adjustment and should only be taken as a loose estimate for the purpose of framing a conversation regarding the UFC/MMA fan base.

Americans 12-17 at 13%: 800,000. This group accounts for approximately 8% of the American population and assuming the same overall interest levels between adults and children (which is conservative considering that the interest level for MMA is likely to be higher for youth) we arrive at 800,000. Canadians at 18%: 6,000,000. The sport has exploded in the country of 34 million people and the UFC’s interest levels in Canada far exceed that of the US in every demographic; 18% of the entire popular seems like a fair and conservative estimate, which gives us 6 million people. British at 8%: 5,000,000. The sport is slowly picking up speed in Britain, but still not close to enjoying the interest levels in Canada or the US. The World: 20,000,000. The rest of the world — including markets such as Japan, Korea, Brazil, Europe, Australia, and the Middle East — likely numbers into the 20 million range.

The above estimates would then put the global size of the UFC fan base at roughly 65 million. The growth potential is considerably higher, but that’s still a pretty solid number all things considered.

Welcome to another edition of Payout Perspective! This week we’re taking a look at UFC 121: Lesnar vs Velasquez which was held at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California on Saturday, October 23rd. The event featured a heavyweight title clash between Brock Lesnar and Cain Velasquez, but also featured the debut of Jake Shields in the Octagon as well as the return of Tito Ortiz.

Velasquez punishes Lesnar, vaults UFC into new territory

Cain Velasquez was able to negate Brock Lesnar’s tremendous size and athleticism with his combination of wrestling prowess and stand-up acumen. He then displayed a great deal of patience and poise in picking Lesnar a part on the ground to finish the fight. Velasquez is the real deal. He may not be the best pure wrestler or pure striker in the division, but he’s the most well-rounded. Perhaps even scarier is the fact that he’s only 28 and still got room to improve just about everything.

The business implications of this fight are several and involve a bit of a trade-off between the short and long term. Lesnar is the sport’s top draw and best mainstream enabler, but he’s likely to lose a bit of his appeal without the belt. Certainly the 1 million buy guarantee is probably gone unless he fights Mir in a rubber match or lands another title shot. However, it is my belief that we’ve witnessed the birth of the next big draw in the UFC in the form of Velasquez. He may not be the most stirring interview or imposing physical specimen, but he finishes fights and that is ultimately what the fans care about most.

Velasquez also happens to bring a new demographic to the table. Say what you want about the UFC’s marketing tactics for this fight, but it knew it had to hedge its bets when promoting this fight. Velasquez may not sell 1 million PPV buys every fight, but he will prove to be a solid draw for the company on the merit of his 89% stoppage rate and the fact that he gives them a somewhat credible entry point into the Hispanic market both North and South of the border.

I also like this new heavyweight reality from the perspective of asset management. Velasquez is likely to fight more often than Lesnar, which means a quicker turnaround for lucrative heavyweight title fights for the UFC. Lesnar is also now unquestionably the biggest non-title draw in the UFC and someone that can anchor a successful PPV card without title fight support. This single fight has just given Joe Silva a host of new options to play around with when booking fights over the next 6-12 months.

Shields earns win, not fans

Jake Shields did what he does best on Saturday and that’s smother his opponent. It wasn’t an endearing performance and it seems reasonable to assume the UFC was looking for a little more from him last night. However, he did get the job done and remains the front runner to challenge the winner of GSP-Koscheck II, according to Dana White. The choice between Shields and Fitch – both of whom have similar styles – has likely come down to providing the welterweight division with a fresh-faced contender. Shields has been hyped for so long as the best welterweight outside the UFC that he’ll likely generate more interest than a guy like Fitch.

Note: Keep a close eye on the payouts this week. It’ll be interesting to see what kind of guaranteed money Shields received from the UFC to defect from Strikeforce.

Ortiz classy in defeat, but that may not help him

Tito Ortiz may have been all class on Saturday night, but I’m not sure that’s going to help him stay in the UFC. He’s now lost four of his last five bouts and is no longer a relevant player within his division – not even as a gate keeper. Furthermore he isn’t the PPV or live gate draw that he used to be which calls the nature of his sizable contract into question.

The new relationship between Ortiz and the UFC was founded upon mutual benefit, but I can’t see it lasting if Ortiz no longer brings something to the agreement. This is simply the nature of the business.

UFC 121 draws the smallest gate of Brock Lesnar’s career

The UFC drew 14,856 to the Honda Center on Saturday night for UFC 121, which generated $2.15 million at the gate. Here’s the paradox: UFC 121 has come in as the lowest gate of Brock Lesnar’s career but on an event that will likely become the second or third highest-grossing PPV card of his career.

It’s difficult to reconcile the above, but I think it’s largely reflective of ticket pricing. The range for this fight was $75, $125, $200, $300, $400 and $500. While the demand for this fight may have been there at lower ticket levels or on PPV, the $300+ tickets may have exceeded the Anaheim MMA area reservation price.

I’d be very interested to learn whether the UFC is experimenting with any sort of ticket pricing sensitivity models, because from what we’ve seen over the last few years it appears as though the company is leaving money on the table with some of these inflated prices. Sure, the UFC comps a couple thousand tickets every night and that’s great from an exposure perspective, but at some point you want to maximize ticket revenue. I’d also argue that there are benefits to making the consumer purchase a product that go well beyond short-term revenue: the consumer is far more engaged with a product when they’ve had to sacrifice something to get it and it’s certainly difficult to get someone to pay for something after they’ve been consuming it for free.

Sponsorship watch

UFC 121 marked the official debut of Boost Mobile as an official UFC sponsor. They had a host of cage and mat signage, cut graphics through the telecast, and a presence on the UFC promotional material in the weeks leading up to the fight. It’ll be interesting to see what they drum up in terms of activation. The company has already initiated a nationwide sweepstakes entitled Your Town, Our Fighter, which offers a UFC viewing party with the fighter of your choice. Interestingly, the promotional partner for this activation is Samsung. I’ve said for a while now that the consumer electronics industry ought to seriously look at a partnership with the UFC, and Samsung might be able to use this promotion with Boost as a way to test the waters.

Welcome to another edition of Payout Perspective! This week we’ll be taking a look at UFC 119: Mir vs. Cro Cop which was held at the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana on September 25th. The event was headlined by a heavyweight tilt between former UFC Champ Frank Mir and Pride OWGP Champ Mirko Cro Cop.

Mir finishes Cro Cop in otherwise uneventful main event

Frank Mir ended a fairly lackluster main event with a bang when he delivered a crushing knee to the chin of Mirko Cro Cop. To that point neither fighter had managed to do much damage. The crowd booed consistently throughout the match, seemingly to break with applause only when referee Herb Dean intervened to separate the numerous stalls in the clinch along the cage.

If you subscribe to consumer psychology and believe in the recency effect, this event may be remembered for the dramatic knockout in the main event. However, given the volume of discontent currently visible on many blogs and MMA forum boards, it’s more likely to be remembered as an average event at best.

The win over Cro Cop won’t be enough to immediately establish Mir as the next in line after dos Santos, but it does provide the UFC with a solid fighter for a contenders bout in the future. He’ll also be available for a rubber match with Lesnar should Lesnar be defeated by Velasquez next month; an event that would provide the UFC with an extremely lucrative non-title PPV event.

TUF winner Bader takes next step, defeats Nogueira

The Ultimate Fighter has had a difficult time developing top-tier talent over the last few seasons, but Ryan Bader appears to be an outlier. Bader is 12-0 (5-0 UFC), an excellent wrestler with solid ground and pound, and an evolving stand-up game with decent power. His victory over Rogerio Nogueira wasn’t overwhelming, but he showed that he definitely belongs in the UFC’s top ten.

Prior to UFC 119, it was largely speculated that Jon Jones would face the winner of Nogueira-Bader. However, I’m not sure that makes a lot of sense at this point in time. Jones is not only at another level than Bader, but a win over Bader wouldn’t advance Jones’ career as much as a fight with someone like Forrest Griffin or even Thiago Silva. Plus, if you look at this from the perspective of continuing to develop Bader, it might be in the UFC’s best interest for him to fight someone else (perhaps also a Griffin or T. Silva).

UFC 119 meets mixed reviews

The jury is still out on UFC 119. I’ve heard and read everything from it was the worst UFC event of all-time to it was a solid card given the names and caliber of fighters involved.

I, myself, don’t think it was even close to the worst UFC show of all-time — I still think that’s UFC 72 — but I do see where some people are coming from. The card featured a host of decisions and a few grappling matches towards the end of the night that probably tainted how the entire show was perceived by most.

In fact, I’d argue the card was probably at a disadvantage to begin with. I’m inclined to believe that most people wrote the night off before it even began due to its lackluster main event and the absence of any truly compelling match-ups. Sometimes that’s a good thing, because it takes the pressure off the fighters and removes some of the expectation placed on an event. UFC 108 and 109 come to mind as events without great main events or compelling match-ups that ended up delivering entertaining fights. UFC 119 just wasn’t on that level.

However, I don’t think the performance of UFC 119 — the value it provided for fans or PPV buys it generated for the company — is an issue or cause for concern. The UFC is going to have bad, good, and great events just like any other sports property. The fans will continue to return so long as the UFC can consistently deliver a compelling reason to purchase the events. For example, this show certainly won’t prevent anyone from watching UFC 121 next month or dissuade them from UFC 124 in December.

This is interesting to me, because I think it underscores the continued development and growing sophistication of MMA fans. The hardcore fan is obviously quite well educated about the sport, but we’re now seeing similar levels of awareness from the average and casual fans (i.e., they are able to discern fights with good potential from fights with bad potential).

There’s definitely both a glass half-full and glass half-empty view to this trend for the UFC. If you’re an optimist, you see growth and a deeper level of awareness which should translate to an eventual expansion of the dedicated/hardcore fan base (your bread and butter). If you’re a pessimist, you’re perhaps disappointed that the influence of the UFC brand is slowly waining – people are no longer buying just because it’s a UFC fight.

Strong Prelim Show May Boost PPV Buys

The UFC 119 buyrate is expected to be relatively weak compared to the last eight events that have all done over 500k buys, but the stellar set of preliminary fights broadcast on Spike might help to boost the show’s bottom line. The Mitrione-Beltran slug fest went all three rounds and likely gained pretty well on viewership; and, despite the rather short nature of the Dolloway fight, his submission of Joe Doerksen was also impressive.

If you combine theose two bouts, it’s more than possible that the UFC did enough to convince additional households to purchase the fight card. It’s very tough to quantify any of the Prelim’s potential impact, but we’ll at least have an idea if it might have helped when we get the quarterly ratings this week.

Sponsorship Watch

This is often my favorite segment, but today I’m going to keep it short.

The one thing I really wanted to mention was the addition of Boost Mobile as a sponsor on the mat and cage padding. Boost has been slowly increasing it’s investment in MMA over the last year; most notably with it’s sponsorship of Rampage Jackson back at UFC 114. It appears the brand will be the presenting sponsor for UFC 120, so look for plenty of signage that evening. I’d also expect, seeing as it’s a Spike TV broadcast, that Boost will purchase some additional ad inventory to further activate it’s new found relationship with the UFC.

I’ll be watching this with a keen eye over the next couple of months to see where this relationship goes. The UFC is a potentially incredible platform for a mobile phone operator to advance on that coveted 18-34 demographic; especially one such as Boost that doesn’t require users to sign contracts.

Rampage Jackson makes a surprising appearance in one of the latest Nike commercials entitled the “Human Chain” alongside other Nike athletes including Maria Sharapova and Lance Armstrong.

Human Chain from NikeSportswear on Vimeo.

Payout Perspective:

Nike has traditionally been very selective of the athletes it chooses to associate with, so it’s somewhat surprising to see Rampage in one of their commercials given his history and the fact that there are probably safer endorsements out there in MMA.

There’s no telling whether the appearance is a sign of Nike jumping into the MMA market, endorsing Rampage specifically, or just a move to capitalize on MMA’s growing popularity while still maintaining an arm’s length relationship with the sport as a whole. Whatever the case may be, it’s encouraging that we’re starting to see a little bit of thaw in the attitude towards MMA – and its athletes – from some of these multi-billion dollar market cap companies like Nike and Microsoft.

John Morgan of MMAJunkie has the latest regarding Dana White acknowledging that boxing great James Toney is interested in fighting in the UFC:

Following December’s UFC 107 event in Memphis, Tenn., in which Toney tracked down White to discuss a potential fight in the UFC, the pro boxer showed up again at Saturday night’s UFC 108 event in Las Vegas. Toney jokingly said the next spot at which he would appear would be White’s private residence unless the fiery exec gave the boxer a chance to compete in the octagon.

 

White said Toney had earned at least an appointment to talk.

 

“I’m going to go sit right down with [Toney] before he goes to my [expletive] house,” White joked.

 

Toney’s potential involvement in MMA really has more questions than answers. First, Toney has been accustomed to making much larger paydays in his boxing exploits than he would earn in the UFC. But White said the dwindling paydays in boxing are precisely why Toney is interested in crossing over.

 

“There’s no money out there (in boxing),” White said. “There’s money for very few guys, and there’s thousands of guys that are making no money. … The way that we built [the UFC] was you’ve got guys that make millions of dollars, guys that make hundreds of thousands of dollars, guys that make 60-to-80 thousand dollars three times a year, and guys that make 60-or-70 thousand dollars a year. The money is spread out between all the fighters, not just a handful of guys at the top.

 

“How much is [Toney] making right now? He’s chasing me around for a reason. He’s not chasing me around because he’s making money. You know what I mean?”

 

Of course, even if the money could be worked out, the UFC has yet to see a high-level boxer gain success in the cage. While Toney, undoubtedly past his prime, was once among the most-feared boxers in the sport, mixed martial arts takes more than a pair of accurate hands.

 

White said Toney insists he offers the complete package.

Payout Perspective:

James Toney on a UFC card would undoubtedly bring a host of additional interest to the organization and the sport, but is that attention, on it’s own, enough of a reason to sign him?

It goes without saying – and by all accounts, White is well aware of this – that the UFC will need to tread carefully. MMA is becoming an increasingly demanding sport in which being well-rounded is a necessity. The UFC doesn’t sign every NCAA wrestling standout just because they were great at one of the aspects of MMA. Likewise, if they sign Toney it must be because he can compete on all dimensions of the sport.

Otherwise, signing Toney sends the wrong message; not just to MMA’s fan base, but the greater mainstream sports world. MMA must not become a stage for the freakish delight - reminiscent of Japanese MMA last decade – where the likes of Toney, Shaq, and others are allowed to compete just because they’re passable athletes and would draw a huge gate.

Freak shows are the quickest path to becoming a fad. For the sport of MMA to enjoy continued success and long term growth, it must establish itself on its own merits and with its own stars and talent.

———

Note: I also thought Dana’s quote about the transformation of the purses in boxing was interesting. Toney would need to be able to compete at the contenders level and for more than 2-3 fights for him to have any shot at earning enough money to exceed what he’d get from boxing at this point in his career.

However, I think the more saliet point that White made, here, is that a lot of the attention goes to boxing’s big draws and purses – the Mayweather’s and Pacquiao’s of the sport – but few ever entertain the $500 that some undercard fighters receive on the very same card.

HDNet’s Ron Kruck reveals that mixed martial arts accounts for only 1% of the estimated $2.5 billion in legal sports wagers in the United States, but that MMA betting handles are already starting to increase as the result of the sports sizable growth in the last five years.

Payout Perspective:

The potential for the growth of MMA-related wagering is intriguing, because it offers a reason for casual fans to become more interested in the sport.

However, it should also underscore the importance of addressing the issues related to officiating and judging in MMA. Not only will bad officiating and scoring impact the number of future wagers on the sport, but these poor decisions will also bring more public attention to the current inadequacies of the system (which ultimately reflects negatively on the sport’s quest for legitimacy).

The Sports Business Journal recently conducted a reader survey with over 2,400 participants on a variety of topics, and the results were mixed regarding the UFC’s future.

Here’s a sampling of some of the more relevant results regarding the UFC and the business of MMA in general:

Will the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) continue to grow in mainstream acceptance or has it peaked as a sports property?

  

Continue to grow - 46.04%
Has peaked - 42.84%
Will decline – 11.12%

 

1340 responses

 

Biggest threat to sports:

 

Economy – 26.04%
Disconnect with fanbase – 21.16%
Rising ticket prices – 17.36%
Inflated salaries - 16.28%
Integrity of the game – 6.00%

 

2316 responses

 

When will the economy show significant recovery?

 

Second half of 2010 – 50.09%
2011 or later – 25.24%
First half of 2010 – 22.20%
Fourth quarter 2009 – 2.48%

 

2302 responses

 

Over the next five years, sports sponsorship spending will:

 

Increase slightly – 41.82%
Decrease slightly – 28.26%
Remain the same – 21.33%
Decrease dramatically – 6.00%
Increase dramatically – 2.59%

 

966 responses

 

The main hesitation that sponsors have in signing an athlete as a spokesperson:

 

Unpredictable athlete behaviour – 69.97%
Insufficient consumer reach – 13.11%
Insufficient access for personal appearances – 10.01%
Conflicts with athlete’s other deals – 3.61%
Other – 3.3%

Payout Perspective:

It kind of relates to MMAPayout.com’s discussion yesterday about the expectations that have been set for the UFC (and in part, by the UFC).

“The latest PPV buyrates haven’t been mind-blowing – the UFC has peaked,” they say. I’m not convinced.

There are 26,000 martial arts gyms across the country, and patronage is growing exponentially. The regulation and television distribution of MMA is growing rapidly. And the UFC is about to smash its previous revenue and PPV records.

Are there concerns? Sure, but that’s the nature of any business.

Today, Under Armour announced that it signed MMA superstar Georges “Rush” St-Pierre to a multi-year endorsement deal.

Below is the press release, followed by some Payout Perspective:

UNDER ARMOUR THROWS KNOCK-OUT PUNCH BY SIGNING
MMA CHAMPION GEORGES ST-PIERRE AS A FACE OF THE
TOP-SELLING ATHLETIC BRAND

 

In A Multi-Year Endorsement Deal, St-Pierre Will Be Featured in Under Armour’s Upcoming Campaigns Showcasing Fitted ColdGear®, Underwear, Recharge™ Suit, and New Coreshort product

 

Baltimore, MD (November 5th, 2009) – Under Armour, (NYSE:UA) the Baltimore-based leader in performance apparel and footwear, announced today it has signed Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre to a multi-year endorsement deal. Under the terms of the agreement, St-Pierre, the 2008 Sportsnet Canadian Athlete of the Year, will serve as the face of Under Armour’s Underwear, one of the company’s most popular items, and will be featured in its multi-platform media campaign beginning this holiday season.

 

St-Pierre, known by his fans as GSP, will be featured in imagery displayed in Sporting Goods stores across North America, outfitted in Under Armour’s ColdGear®, performance apparel designed to protect athletes in cold temperatures. Beginning in spring 2010, St-Pierre will become the face of Under Armour’s long-time top-selling BoxerJock® and BoxerBrief Underwear and will serve as one of the primary faces for Under Armour’s Recharge™ suit, a suit designed to re-energize your body, promote muscle repair and reduce swelling following a workout.

 

“It is quite an honor for me to represent Under Armour. I have always appreciated the quality of their products, and to be partners with them is a dream come true,” said St-Pierre.

 

“Not only is Georges one of the biggest stars in one of the fastest growing sports in the world, but his dedication to training and making himself the best at what he does aligns perfectly with our Brand’s mission to make all athletes better,” said Steve Battista, Under Armour Senior Vice President, Brand. “When we found out that he was a fan of ours, we jumped on the opportunity to bring him into the Under Armour family.”

 

“Georges St-Pierre’s continued success in MMA, his character and integrity, and his wide-reaching fan base make him a terrific brand ambassador for Under Armour, which, much like GSP, has become one of the foremost brands in sports in a short period of time,” said Howard Nuchow, Co-Head, CAA Sports, which represents St-Pierre in conjunction withShari L. Spencer, President of GSP Enterprises. “Pairing GSP with Under Armour is a testament to the explosive growth of MMA, and the popularity and cultural relevance of its top fighter, among consumers worldwide.”

 

New for spring 2010, Under Armour has joined forces with Coretection Products Ltd. to bring state-of-the-art patented technology to athletes for all sports around the globe. St-Pierre will be prominently featured in in-store imagery highlighting the new Coreshort compression product. The Coreshort product works to stabilize the core without obstructing movement. The unique technology creates efficient movement through the core, activating stronger motion and more explosive propulsion. Available in two styles; the Coreshort product will retail for $44.99 and the Coreshort Pro product will retail for $59.99.

 

Under Armour, the originators of performance apparel, has transitioned athletes into moisture-wicking apparel since 1996. Under Armour products are sold worldwide and worn by athletes at all levels, from youth to professional, on playing fields around the globe.

 

St-Pierre rounds out an impressive roster of NFL, MLB, NBA and Olympic stars, including Super Bowl Champions Ray Lewis (Baltimore Ravens) and Brandon Jacobs (New York Giants); one of the world’s most accomplished downhill skiers, Lindsey Vonn; in addition to Devin Hester (Chicago Bears), Santana Moss (Washington Redskins), Ryan Zimmerman (Washington Nationals), Nick Markakis (Baltimore Orioles), Alfonso Soriano (Chicago Cubs), lacrosse superstar Paul Rabil, and U.S. Olympian Lindsey Jacobellis.

 

For more information about St-Pierre, please visit www.GSPFightClub.com.

 

About Under Armour, Inc.

 

Under Armour® (NYSE: UA) is a leading developer, marketer, and distributor of branded performance apparel, footwear, and accessories. The brand’s moisture-wicking synthetic fabrications are engineered in many different designs and styles for wear in nearly every climate to provide a performance alternative to traditional natural fiber products. The Company’s products are sold worldwide and worn by athletes at all levels, from youthto professional, on playing fields around the globe. The Under Armour global headquarters is in Baltimore, Maryland, with European headquarters in Amsterdam’s Olympic Stadium, and additional offices in Denver, Hong Kong, Toronto, and Guangzhou, China. For further information, please visit the Company’s website at www.underarmour.com.

Payout Perspective:

The agreement is a multi-year endorsement deal that calls for St-Pierre to appear in advertising campaigns as early as this holiday season. GSP will later become the face of select Under Armour product lines beginning with the BoxerJock and BoxerBrief in Spring 2010.

Under Armour signing GSP is huge for the sport. It’s more than just an endorsement of MMA’s legitimacy, the agreement also suggests that the company believes in the long-term viability of the sport (i.e., they can make money in MMA by endorsing GSP). 

Moreover, the agreement may also turn the heads of other companies currently considering an entrance into the MMA business (e.g., ESPN and Nike). The question of “is MMA a fit for our brand?” becomes easier to answer when your company isn’t the first to take the plunge.

I’ve long advocated that the MMA clothing and performance apparel market is over-saturated by a multitude of graphic design brands - a mixture of skulls, bones, and seizure-inducing colours. However, an under-served market opportunity does exist for a company to create a clean-cut, professional MMA brand to capture the segment of the MMA market that desires a different look , but still wants to represent the sport of MMA everywhere he/she goes.

Under Armour is now in a great position to leverage their aggressive, mainstream brand image – a perfect fit for MMA and its audience – in order to capitalize on some of that market opportunity (at least on the performance side).  Any further push into MMA would only be aided by the fact that a.) they’re essentially the first mover of the mainstream apparel companies (through their endorsement of St-Pierre), and b.) most of those who train in MMA already wear Under Armour to begin with - Under Armour’s existing brand recognition and reputation are already quite high.

Not only has Under Armour secured a great athlete and spokesperson for their brand, but they’ve also positioned themselves well for a potential expansion in the future.