MMA Universe

Welcome to another addition of Payout Perspective. Today we look at UFC 126 held in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Super Bowl weekend show featured a trio of fights: the much-anticipated Anderson Silva facing Vito Belfort, Forrest Griffin taking on Rich Franklin and Jon “Bones” Jones faced Ryan Bader.

Silva KOs Belfort

After an intense weigh-in face off where both fighters had to be restrained, the fight ended abruptly as Silva’s front kick to Belfort’s chin stunned “The Phenom.” A couple shots on the ground by Silva ended the evening in the first round. Although he credits Steven Seagal for teaching him the kick, the Spider is still pretty good.

Next up for Silva is a potential superfight with GSP. Certainly everyone, except Yushin Okami, would like to see it next. As we’ve talked about, a GSP-Silva fight could surpass 1.6 million PPV buys. The anticipated fight should have an international appeal and it will be interesting where the UFC will have the fight. Look for this fight to happen in December.

Griffin beats Franklin

In a fight between fan favorites, Forrest Griffin fought off the Octagon rust to beat Rich Franklin. In the post-fight interview,  Joe Rogan helped Griffin “push product” as Griffin put it, by plugging Griffin’s two books. Unfortunately for Griffin, MMA Junkie reports that he is out until August with a foot injury unless he is cleared by a doctor. It will be interesting what Franklin will do next. He is still a quality fighter but his future may not be in the Light Heavyweight division. If Anderson Silva decides to leave the middleweight division, I could see Franklin moving back in.

 Jones submits Bader, earns title shot

Jon Jones submitted Ryan Bader in the second round and leapfrogged into a title match versus Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. With Rashard Evans out with a knee injury, and Rampage Jackson not ready for the shot, the UFC decided to give it to Jones. The announcement came via Rogan in the post-match interview. A good ploy by the UFC as you got to see Jones’ reaction as he first heard he was getting the shot. Even though Jones is getting the shot on relative short notice, Rua cannot be happy with the matchup especially since he will be facing a Pro-Jones crowd in New Jersey. Only Matt Serra had it worse for a title defense.

The Rua-Jones fight should bolster ticket sales and PPV buys. Not only is Jones’ popularity at a high, the native New Yorker will get home field advantage in Newark, New Jersey.  Obviously, the UFC is playing up the local ties and hopes that the event shows the folks in New York what its missing.

 Fighter Payouts

Via MMA Junkie:

Champ Anderson Silva: $200,000 (includes no win bonus)
def. Vitor Belfort: $275,000

Forrest Griffin: $275,000 ($150,000 win bonus)
def. Rich Franklin: $75,000

Jon Jones: $140,000 ($70,000 win bonus)
def. Ryan Bader: $20,000

Jake Ellenberger: $32,000 ($16,000 win bonus)
def. Carlos Eduardo Rocha: $8,000

Miguel Torres: $56,000 ($28,000 win bonus)
def. Antonio Banuelos: $9,000

Donald Cerrone: $36,000 ($18,000 win bonus)
def. Paul Kelly: $19,000

Chad Mendes: $19,000 ($9,500 win bonus)
def. Michihiro Omigawa: $8,000

Demetrious Johnson: $10,000 ($5,000 win bonus)
def. Norifumi Yamamoto: $15,000

Paul Taylor: $36,000 ($18,000 win bonus)
def. Gabe Ruediger: $8,000

Kyle Kingsbury: $20,000 ($10,000 win bonus)
def. Ricardo Romero: $10,000

Mike Pierce: $28,000 ($14,000 win bonus)
def. Kenny Robertson: $6,000

As always, the payouts are not inclusive as certain fighters receive “locker room bonuses” from the UFC and paid from their individual sponsors.

It’s interesting to see that Jon Jones gets paid like a top star. His base was only $5K less than the more-established Rich Franklin. It looks like the base salaries has increased from a $3,000 minimum to $6,000 minimum.

Bonuses – each fighter received a $75K bonus

Paul Kelly versus Donald Cerrone – Fight of the Night

Jon Jones – Submission of the Night

Anderson Silva – Knockout of the Night

No complaints on any of the fighter bonuses. I have been a proponent of giving the benefit of the doubt to a lower-tier fighter for Sub or KO of the night but both Jones and Silva deserved their bonuses.

Attendance and Gate

Saturday’s “UFC 126: Silva vs. Belfort” event drew a reported 10,893 attendees and generated a live gate of $3.6 million. This did not include an additional $45,100 in revenue generated by the 1,046 attendees who viewed the fight via closed-circuit broadcast. (h/t MMA Junkie)

Sponsorship Watch

Xbox 360 – Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson was sponsored by the Microsoft video game console maker. Johnson’s gym in Kirkland (recently featured on Inside MMA) is 15 minutes from the Microsoft campus in Washington. Not sure if this was the tie-in to get him sponsored, but it’s a theory. Not only did Johnson use his twitter to ask his followers to demand that his fight be televised, he used it to promote Xbox 360′s  Twitter and Facebook page.

Xyience – The energy drink of the UFC was in full force with signage on the mat and on every bottle of water used by the fighters. It also sponsored an Ultimate Access Sweepstakes where two fans could win the VIP treatment at UFC 129 in Toronto which includes meeting Jon Jones. A great form of brand activation.

Tapout – A new fashion statement coming to the ring replacing the regular fight shirt – the track suit top. Not a lot of design and it looked great.

Form Athletics /K-Swiss – Jon Jones signed a multi-year deal with K-Swiss which promised a Jon Jones shoe. Jones wore the K-Swiss tubes at the weigh-ins. Also, Jones will have a signature line of clothing with Form Athletics. It probably includes this hoodie.

MusclePharm – Despite its past troubles, it sponsored three fighters (two in one fight – Ellenberger v. Rocha) including Anderson Silva.

Speaking of Silva, he reportedly made $100K from Brazilian brand Bonanno for wearing it during the fight. In addition, Silva signed with Brazilian sports marketing agency, 9ine. Although relatively new, the agency is owned by WPP, an established, worldwide advertising firm.

Facebook and Twitter

The UFC utilized its Facebook page to live stream another fight. It first used its page at UFC Fight for the Troops 2. This time, Demetrious Johnson faced Kid Yamamoto. Johnson had campaigned, via his twitter, to have his fight televised. And behold, he gets the opportunity to have fans see his fight via Facebook. Johnson also forged a nice sponsorship deal with Xbox 360.

The UFC also introduced a fight game on Facebook: UFC Fight Nation.

Vitor Belfort and Anderson Silva made waves on Twitter as both were trending prior to weigh-ins. The fight was especially popular in Brazil. After his big KO, Silva remained trending in twitterverse hours after the fight.

UFC 126 Prelims: 2 million viewers

MMA Junkie reports that Saturday night’s UFC 126 prelims hit 2 million viewers. It earned a 1.2 household rating including a 1.7 for M18-49. It was the highest-rated program in its timeslot among M18-49 and 18-34. It was an all-time high for “UFC Prelims” broadcasts.

HD Net at the UFC Weigh-Ins

HD Net’s Inside the MMA held its weekly show at the UFC weigh-ins. Bas Rutten and Kenny Rice were joined by Mike Goldberg. The show provided insight and did a good job in hyping the fights as the fighters got on the scales. It was surreal to see Joe Rogan host the UFC weigh-ins on one channel and then flip to Inside the MMA and see his PPV broadcast partner on HD Net. I think the HD Net broadcast adds value to the weigh-ins but it cannot go up against the live feed hosted by Joe Rogan. It will be interesting to see what the UFC decides to do.

UFC offers new experience via UFC.tv

The UFC introduced a new technology on UFC.tv which includes control of audio and video, multiple camera angles and interaction with other fans. No news yet on how many people took advantage of it but we will keep you updated.

Storylines Post-UFC 126

“Superfight in the making” – Silva v. GSP: Jake Shields is the only man to stop this from happening.

“Next big thing” – Jones gets title shot on 6 weeks notice: At 23, is he ready to hold down the Light Heavyweight Division?

“Rashad Evans moving?” If Jon Jones wins, Evans stated that he will never fight his teammate and move divisions.

Odds and ends

Look for the UFC to do something more with 3-D. With its new technology initiatives, it’s coming soon.

In its pre-main event fight analysis, the UFC used mini-Belfort and Silva to go over the keys to victory. Pretty interesting.

Aaron Rodgers thanked Dana White via tweet for the Championship belt he had on the podium after the Super Bowl.

If you were wondering where Silva got the mask at the weigh-ins, Sherdog has the info. Before Silva donned the mask, there was Shaq.

 The UFC announced that UFC.tv will offer a new viewing experience featuring live statistics, multiple camera views and audio feeds. In partnership with NeuLion, Inc., the UFC aims to provide fans with a more interactive perspective of its fights. In hopes that fans will like it, the UFC is offering the exciting first round of Edgar-Maynard II for free.

Via UFC:

The Ultimate Fighting Championship^® and NeuLion, Inc. (TSX:NLN), the leading service provider of live and on-demand international, sports and variety programming delivered via broadband, today announced a partnership to launch a brand new service for UFC^® offering the most interactive, far-reaching digital experience yet.

The new online tool gives fans the ability to control audio and video feeds of UFC Pay-Per-View events, as well as other unique features such as quad view, picture-in-picture, video quality up to broadcast quality, live chat and live scoring by fans. The new UFC viewing experience will launch online on Feb. 5 at UFC.TV, just in time for the much-anticipated UFC^® 126: SILVA vs. BELFORT card.

 
Payout Perspective:

It will be interesting to see how many people will take advantage of this new technology. The price point will make a difference on whether people will check it out. The demo is pretty cool for the fact that there is a bar near the bottom of the screen that indicates where the action is during the round (e.g., flurry, takedown, injury). The different camera angles are a nice touch but I assume that the producers would provide the best camera angles when viewing the fight. So, watching the other angles didn’t really add much in my opinion. If you are into alternate views, it may be cool to play with the different camera angles. I actually think it would be neat if they put a camera on each corner (as they coach their fighter) as well as Dana White as he watches the match. For example, would have been great to have seen White watch Silva-Maia and Silva-Sonnen.

The new technology does provide the UFC with another chance to interact with its fans, and for fans to interact with each other.

The UFC announced two Japanese media deals which will expand its reach to Japan. According to the UFC, the digital media distribution deals will enable significantly wider access to a range of UFC content to Japanese MMA fans.

Via UFC press release:

First, UFC^® officials announced a deal with TV Bank Corp. which will provide an Official UFC Mobile site across all three major Japanese cellular networks – NTT Docomo, KDD AU and Softbank. The agreement with TV Bank Corp. will ensure that UFC^® updates, ringtones, wallpapers, fights on demand and other exciting content are made available to UFC fans in Japan. Most news and features will be accessible for free, while premium content will be available on a pay basis.  The partnership establishes TV Bank, a subsidiary of major Japanese digital media company Softbank, as the UFC’s primary online content distributor in Japan. In a second announcement for Japanese UFC fans, UFC officials confirmed an agreement with the Hikari TV, the internet protocol television network (IPTV) operated by NTT Plala Corp.  The digital network will air delayed live and archived UFC bouts, as well as classic fights from the famed PRIDE^® library. Hikari TV currently enjoys a rapidly growing subscriber base of more than 1.3 million subscribers in Japan.

The web sites will launch February 1st. The UFC indicated it plans on a show in Japan in late 2011 or 2012.

In conjunction with the announcement of the new partnerships, the UFC announced the recent signings of three Japanese MMA stars: Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto, Michihiro Omigawa and Riki Fukuda.

(Photo above courtesy of UFC, pictured from left: Riki Fukuda, Kid Yamamoto, Yoshihiro Akiyama, Michihiro Omigawa and Yushin Okami at Monday’s press conference in Japan).

Payout Perspective:

The move is a sign of the expanding strategic global growth the UFC is planning for 2011 and beyond. It makes sense given the turbulent state of Japanese MMA. There is an existing MMA fan base in Japan that could be enticed into becoming UFC fans.

The addition of the Japanese fighters should help bring in the Japanese MMA fan. Last spring, Japanese MMA manager Shu Hirata spoke to MMA Fighting as to how the UFC could garner more Japanese fans:

Look at MLB. its very popular in Japan now because there are Japanese stars that are doing well – like Ichiro and Matsui. But in the UFC or WEC, we still haven’t seen Ichiro or Matsui yet. Think of it this way: if GSP or Anderson Silva were Japanese, then they would be all over the Japanese TV by now and even an old lady in the deep woods of Yamagata prefecture would know what the UFC is. So fighters are the ones that can really change everything. Even only one Japanese champ might be able to change everything. We need Japanese Tiger Woods in the UFC then everything would fall into the places for the entire industry.

It will be interesting to see how the Japanese fighters will be featured. Yushin Okami is in a holding pattern for a shot at Anderson Silva. But, his wait may get longer if GSP-Silva happens and/or he gets leapfrogged by a returning Chael Sonnen. Another idea could be Silva-Okami if and when the UFC runs a show in Japan.

MMA magazine Fighters Only announced the launching of an iPad version of its print edition making it the first MMA periodical to publish on the iPad.

“In excess of 7.4 million iPads have been sold in the last 6 months to date, and MMA’s fan demographic is a very close fit to that of iPad users,” stated Fighters Only’s CEO and President Robert Hewitt in a press release. “We truly believe that the iPad edition of Fighters Only will bring an even greater level of service to our readers and advertisers. It’ll help expand both the global reach and awareness of MMA as a sport and be a boon to the individuals that operate within it.”

More via Fighters Only’s press release:

Readers can expect a highly interactive experience via bespoke software that uses pictures, video and words to illustrate the same quality content found in the print version of Fighters Only. In addition, bonus material and an interactive punch bag game will make the iPad experience even more enjoyable. Regular purchasers of the Fighters Only iPad edition will also benefit from a personal library, stored remotely online and accessible anytime as a permanent archive that won’t take up any of the user’s own iPad memory space.

You can buy the app on iTunes. It lists for $4.99 USD.

Payout Perspective:

It is nice to see forward thinking from a company with a print publication taking advantage of emerging technology like the Ipad. It shows that it can adapt and remain relevant in a world where newspapers are becoming obsolete. In addition, the app creates another source of revenue from advertisers via the iPad version.

Simon Dumenco of Advertising Age reports on the trendiest topics on Twitter from last week. The list includes the UFC at #10, ahead of the NFL and the other major North American sports leagues.

“And it’s interesting to me,” Liz continues, “how in the past couple of years, the UFC — Ultimate Fighting Championship — has become a rival to the enormously popular wrestling and internationally popular boxing circuit. I think it might have something to do with the regularly scheduled large-scale events and the fact that the fighters are a very international group of athletes.”

 

Remarkably, the UFC (at No. 10) charts higher on our list than the NFL (No. 15) — though European football (soccer) beat them both, taking the No. 1 spot this week, thanks largely to Mazembe.

Payout Perspective:

The UFC has done a remarkable job of using social media to engage its fans and increase interest in its brand. It truly is leading all other North American sports properties in this regard. Now, the results are starting to speak for themselves as UFC fans are taking to Twitter or Facebook to interact with the brand and fellow fans; in the last week alone hashtags like UFC124, GSP, Danzig, and Pettis have been trending topics worldwide.

Digital Royalty is the specialty marketing agency that has helped the UFC to implement much of its social media strategy, including the very popular #Hunt4UFC series in local event markets. I love these Hunt4UFC’s not just because they allow the company to interact with fans and reward them for their dedication to the brand, but also because the meeting places help drive business to corporate partners like Burger King or Dave & Busters. It is very difficult to measure return on sponsorship, but the UFC is providing its partners with tangible benefits with these Hunt4UFCs and that goes a long way. Right now it might just be a gesture of goodwill, but in the future this is something the UFC can offer as a part of its benefit package to sponsors.

The UFC has partnered with Chinese web portal Sohu.com, as mentioned in yesterday’s MMAterial Facts, to provide viewing of UFC events online starting with UFC 109: Relentless.

Sohu.com, Inc., (SOHU), is a leading online brand in China. Services provided by the company include news, search, e-mail, games and wireless messaging. Sohu.com was the official web partner for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and is also the official partner of the NBA, ESPN, Adidas and Sports Illustrated in China.

 

UFC programming debuted in China last summer on Inner Mongolia Television (NMTV), a network broadcast station available in 60 million households, with the potential to reach 240 million viewers throughout all the provinces.

Payout Perspective:

The deal is another stepping stone towards getting the UFC on a major network in China. They started with Inner Mongolia Television last year and will now look to increase their exposure to a wider audience online. It’s really going to be a game of patience for the UFC in many of these foreign markets; slowly pushing the product and increasing its visibility so that the consumer can grow comfortable and isn’t bombarded (that’s especially important in a nation where government censorship is notoriously strong).

The use of the internet as a medium does two things: it targets a naturally younger, tech savvy audience (which fits more closely with the traditional UFC audience) and it serves as a trial for the online streaming business model that is being bandied about in the sports world (and covered by us to a fair extent).

It’s difficult to speculate as to whether this deal was helped along by Flash Entertainment, but they’ve been working with the UFC since the end of October so it’s quite plausible they had a hand in the deal. Certainly, the connections that Abu Dhabi and Flash have in China didn’t hurt.

The UFC has long guarded against much of its content appearing on Youtube, but the following promotional video featuring Paul Daley appears to eschew that tendency. It’s a well-produced and effective marketing tool that the UFC should try to encourage in the future.

Payout Perspective:

I’ve never exactly understood why the UFC is so strict with its content usage on video sharing websites like Youtube. Some of the stuff that these fans put together is absolutely brilliant – like “This is Semtex” – and it’s essentially a free and very effective promotional tool for the organization. These videos are something to encourage, not frown upon.

The way social media is taking off, the UFC should be looking at leveraging the passion and creativity of some of these fans by establishing contests or other activation points around which it can build its brand and its fighters. Getting fans involved and letting them do part of the promotional leg work is never a bad thing.

Challenge some of these people to come up with the best UFC 111 trailer and then give them a free video game or some clothes or even a pair of tickets. Not only does that create some excellent content to help build the fights, but its the sort of thing that establishes a foundation for goodwill among the fans.

Note: The nice feature Youtube has implemented to provide users with an option to purchase the songs they’re listening to.

MMAPayout.com takes to the airwaves to discuss the latest Zuffa stock issuance with Josh Gross of Sports Illustrated on his weekly Gross Point Blank MMA segment.

Check it out here: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/podcasts/josh_gross/

Richard Sandomir of the NY Times talks about the potential acquisition of NBC Universal by Comcast – America’s largest television provider (cable or satellite).

Comcast’s impending acquisition of NBC Universal will certainly set off an effort to turn Versus into a viable alternative, if not a full-fledged competitor, to ESPN. Under Comcast’s ownership, Versus has transformed from the Outdoor Life Network to OLN, then, in 2006, into its current incarnation.

 

But Versus is a second-tier network whose highest-profile sports, the N.H.L. and the Tour de France, aren’t blockbusters. It lacks a studio show that would give it identity, like ESPN’s “SportsCenter,” or an announcer who is its defining personality.

 

Versus (and its sister network, the Golf Channel) will be turned over to NBC for an overhaul, assuming regulators approve the deal, a process that could take 12 to 18 months. Versus will probably be renamed something like NBC Sports Cable to reflect a more defined sports brand. On-air and production talent would migrate from NBC, to a certain extent, although Bob Costas would not be hosting IndyCar races.

 

Versus and Golf would certainly be overseen by Dick Ebersol, the chairman of NBC Universal Sports, who has never had a sports cable network to tinker with (the expanding Universal Sports channel is distributed through NBC stations and affiliates); he would no doubt quickly strip Versus of its current crop of late-night infomercials.

 

But beefing up Versus’ quality and appearance is a small part of getting part of ESPN’s business. Comcast would have to decide to spend what is necessary to lure viewers from ESPN and ESPN2 by acquiring bigger events, like the Olympics, Major League Baseball, the N.F.L., Nascar and the N.B.A. — properties on a tier above its current rights to IndyCar, the Professional Bull Riders, Mountain West Conference football and mixed martial arts.

 

Versus needs big acquisitions to become something more than a default network for sports that ESPN doesn’t want (although it doesn’t need the huge bulk of hundreds upon hundreds of college games).

Payout Perspective:

The UFC could be an attractive sports property for Comcast-NBCU to leverage in a relaunch of its new sports media entity. The UFC would bring with it that coveted 18-34 year-old demographic, and a slew of media attention. Moreover, from a branding perspective the UFC would provide a means of differentiation – this isn’t your father’s sports network.

Comcast-NBCU might also be in a better position to compromise on some of the issues that have been known to be sticking points for ESPN:

• Brand fit
• Rights fees
• Production control
• Program scheduling

ESPN should still be the UFC’s first choice, because they have so many well-developed touchpoints with the consumer, and it would take time for Comcast-NBC to develop a comparable combination of television, internet, and radio content. However, the entrance of a Comcast-NBCU network at the very least provides the UFC with another option, and reduces the negotiating leverage of ESPN.

The potential for MMA to adopt an online platform is something that MMAPayout.com has discussed before, but few people have outlined the business model or made a better argument than Frantz Cayo of the Sports Business Journal.

Here’s a snippet of the excellent article he wrote for the journal detailing the means by which broadband content could play a more integral role in the distribution of sports content: 

By Frantz Cayo

 

In 10 short years, broadband video has transformed itself from being an anomaly among most American households to standard fare for mass audiences.  Most voraciously, however, online video is being consumed by sports fans whose appetites are insatiable for highlights-on-demand, sports news-on-demand, and fantasy tips to help them win their leagues.

 

When I started investigating the business model behind streaming  video at its inception, most people could not conceive of paying for a medium that seemed to pale in comparison to cable television. As a fan of television history, I promoted a strategy of sponsored content for this new digital medium, similar to the model used when television use first exploded after World War II. The other alternative being proposed was a subscription model, which I maintain is only optimal when you have access to limited and proprietary content (e.g. Major League Baseball games) online. 

 

Ten years later, few successful iterations of the subscription model have succeeded, leaving the sponsored model as the one still showing promise. The biggest liability of the sponsored content strategy, however, is that although everyone talks about how online video is where media dollars are migrating, we have not yet seen the great migration. The responsibility for this is twofold: Media buyers are still not entirely comfortable investing their money online, and content providers are not offering compelling options to attract their clients’ dollars. Even with a huge revenue ceiling, no one seems to be able to get a handle on the business model. If our industry wants to see the online sports video revenue growth that most industry experts have predicted, we have to come to terms with three realities:

 

 1. Branded entertainment is critical to the growth of the online video market.

 

 2. Providing branded entertainment solutions might necessitate organizational change within the sales and production teams.

 

3. Sponsors need to provide an assist as well, and offer different advertising experiences online.

 

 

Read the rest of the article here: www.sportsbusinessjournal.com. It’s a subscription based service, but a necessity for any sports business lover out there – well worth the money.

Why Broadband Could Be Important to MMA

There are many questions currently being asked of MMA; chief among them is, can the sport sustain its growth?

Most people realize that MMA cannot afford to make the same mistake that boxing has: put a price tag on all of its greatest fights and deprive the casual fan of the opportunity to see what the best truly have to offer. But how does MMA avoid falling into this trap? Strikeforce on CBS, this weekend, is a start. Likewise, the oft-rumoured television deal between the UFC and a big four network could give MMA a much needed push into the mainstream. But is network television really the only answer?

Television may be the best way ahead for Strikeforce, because they’ve yet to develop the brand recognition to be without it. However, in the case of the UFC, it’s difficult to be certain.

The television platform that exists today – and that has largely existed over the last 50-60 years – may not be the viewing platform that exists in ten, or even five years, from now. In fact, with all the rapid technological advancement and application going on within other distribution platforms (internet, wireless communication, music, etc.), a change in the way consumers view their entertainment is probably closer than most think. 

By no means am I willing to argue that the UFC should avoid television. I’m simply advocating that taking a broader view of potential distribution platforms might allow the UFC to reach the masses more effectively; all the while establishing a business model that better hedges the inherent risk of its current PPV model through further diversification of distribution channels and revenue streams.

Broadband for MMA

MMA is quite well-suited to Cayo’s model, because it’s the type of unique product that could leverage tailored sponsorship content into something that greatly appeals to the younger, tech-savvy, and trend-setting MMA demographic.

The first event would be experimental and small scale in nature, but the basic steps above and beyond normal event preparation are these:

1.) Find sponsors. 

Without sponsorship revenue the project isn’t financially viable - the live gate revenue wouldn’t cover the combination of production costs and fighter pay. It’s essentially the crux of the entire model; the UFC would need to find a few big sponsors willing to take a risk, but also creative enough to think outside of the box.

The selling point is truly, how much value and ROI might a company like A-B Inbev generate over the course of a two hour program where Bud Light is very closely associated with the UFC brand? It’s an opportunity not just to activate a consistent, semi-exclusive association, but also develop a few UFC-themed advertisements that hit harder than the normal spot.

Given what transpired at UFC 100 between Lesnar and Bud Light, what UFC fan wouldn’t be paying attention to Lesnar in a Bud Light commercial (and, more importantly, what’s the recall in that situation between the UFC and Bud Light?).

2.) Generate online awareness.

The value that sponsors get on their investment is directly related to viewership, but material viewership isn’t going to happen unless UFC fans are well aware of what is taking place and when.

The UFC is well-positioned to effectively utilize an integrated marketing campaign to develop sufficient awareness of its online presence and future scheduled broadband content. This is where Spike TV and PPV spots, online banner ads, print ads, street ads, and social networking sites like Youtube, Twitter, and Facebook, would need to come together and produce singular, consistent message.

3.) Obtain technical capability.

It’s probably something that the UFC would out-source to begin with, because they wouldn’t have the technical know-how or server capacity to host such an endeavour themselves. The tricky part here, from a management perspective, is integrating and linking the production team with the out-sourced digital team.

The Risk and Return

There are risks:

• Will the casual fan be interested in watching a fight online? Essentially the question.
• Moreover, are consumers truly ready for sponsored content?
• How might online events impact the UFC’s relationship with Spike TV?
• How can the UFC ensure it meets the requisite viewership for itself and its sponsors.

However, in the grand scheme of things, there aren’t any significant, long-term implications of a failed broadband effort. The UFC isn’t yet in the position where anyone in the business community would care – or be surprised, for that matter – if the UFC failed.

Though, if the UFC succeeds, not only does it gain notoriety for being a pioneer of this new model, but it will also give itself the widespread exposure platform that it has long coveted –  an exposure platform free from the meddling grasp of network television executives that may not understand the sport.