Dana White Tries to Push CBS Out
by Michael Rome on Oct 16, 2008 1:48 PM EDT
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I was a bit surprised at first to see Dana White so aggressively go after EliteXC over the "Standgate" controversy. It's pretty risky for the him, seeing as most fans conflate MMA and the UFC. Adam Swift talks about the risks here:
White’s decision to fan the flames of the controversy is a calculated risk. Depending on the outcome, it is either a shrewd move that could cement the UFC’s stranglehold on the sport while insulating it from EliteXC’s critics or a calculated risk that could ultimately blow back on the UFC. While the incident could be the nail in EliteXC’s coffin if any improprieties are substantiated and its brand, along with its top star, has suffered some irreparable damage as a result of the negative publicity regardless of the outcome, the potential fallout for the entire MMA industry as a result of any wrongdoing is very real.
I think there are three other goals White has in fanning the flames. First, he wants to take control of the story. If he just lets the media run with it, and the commission finds wrongdoing, the story could snowball into a story about corruption in MMA, and Dana would be on the defensive. By aggressively going after EliteXC, a company that can't afford to sue him, he is trying to change the narrative to blame the few guys on top of EliteXC rather than the whole sport.
Second, he wants to scare CBS out of the deal with EliteXC. CBS cannot be stained by a scandal like this, and by pushing the story Dana is creating a lot of worries over at CBS.
Finally, he turned himself into a white knight for MMA fans. It was very amusing to me to see all the message board fans that normally hate him cheering him on. All of a sudden to have Dana White standing up for the purity of the sport was truly a sight to behold.
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Good article. Say what you like about Dana White, but what I am going to say has been said many times. He may be foul mouthed and not your average president of the company, but it is evident he is passionate about MMA and the business.
Of course if this whole Elite XC thing did blow up with the investigation, it would hurt his pocket, but it is more than that. I think Dana really gives a damn about the sport, and for me his reaction came from the heart, so I say good luck to him.
I think Swift overstated the risks for White and the UFC. Furthermore, I believe his only realistic option was to challenge the integrity of EliteXC in regards to this situation. He couldn’t leave this potential PR nightmare for the whole sport to just smolder. Dana would essentially be putting all the resources and accomplishments of the UFC at peril by staying neutral.
It seems pretty clear to me that what Dana pushing this does is allows him to very publicly and very loudly help to ruin EXC while making sure everybody who hears anything about the story also hears some variation of “this doesn’t happen in the UFC.” It could turn CBS away from EXC and it could position the UFC perfectly to land a major network deal — the ratings for EXC haven’t been too bad, considering what it’s been put up against and the quality of its “main” events, and I have to believe that the major networks are all watching and believing that a well done mma show could score huge ratings, and if the UFC comes out of this looking like the only clean and legitimate major organization then that’s all the better for Dana and the UFC.
I don’t think Dana is doing this in order to ruin EliteXC being as EliteXC already is doing a good job at that themselves but it is very important for him to get out in front of the scandal and separate the UFC as much as possible from this crap. It’s not really a risk/reward issue it’s just a risk issue, EliteXC is already on it’s way out but the risk here is that they could take the whole sport with them.
It sounds to me like Dana would have been approached first over Gary Shaw, and probably had too high of an offer, so CBS went “with the other guys” and now Dana is going to get on his soapbox and say “I told you they were scum!”.
Best result: EXC is cancelled and CBS adopts the Ultimate Fight Nights format.
Worst Result: EXC is cancelled and CBS abandons MMA all together.
Dana really does care about the sport – for as much as I often don’t like what he does, I do think he is a true fan deep down – you can see it when he consoled Wandy after his loss to Liddell (“Chuck knocks everybody out – You got more fans by standing and losing by decision than most people who win – you’re a @#$% warrior”). I think he wants to distance himself from EXC, not just to promote UFC, but promote UFC as legit MMA, something that has been his #1 priority for years, not the bastard child of pro-wrestling.
Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better. -Samuel Beckett
by Scott C. Broussard on Oct 16, 2008 2:34 PM EDT reply actions
How long until PPV prices go up again?
" Tell me something Steve, How does a guy from Puerto Rico loose a ball in the Sun? "
Awesome! After watching in HD, it is really hard to go back. I wish i could get Spike in HD. Come on Dish!!!
http://eliotmarshall.com/
Dana cares about the UFC, not MMA.
Get it straight people.
Its his job to sell the UFC as MMA. If he can make EliteXC, Affliction, etc, anyone who is his enemy look bad, he will do it.
Dana doesn’t need to do anything to make those orgs look bad, they do just fine on their own. Dana cares deeply about mma, as it pertains to the UFC. Dana knows that any transgression by EXC reflects badly on the sport as a whole, and while he has greatly tried to brand his sport as “ultimate fighting”, most serious fans know that is just code.
http://eliotmarshall.com/
That’s like saying Coke-a Cola doesn’t care about soda or that McDonalds doesn’t care about fast food. Of course McDonalds care’s about the fast food market, that is the product they are trying to sell to the general public but it should be obvious that doesn’t mean that they are wanting Burger King to be successful. Branding a product doesn’t change what the product actually is, it is just giving it a specific name so it better relates to customers.
To say that Dana White doesn’t care about MMA is the height of stupidity. Of course Dana White cares about the sport of MMA, it is the product he is selling to the public. Without MMA the UFC doesn’t exist but only a moron would want a competing company to take away market shares and income from their own company. Just because the UFC has branded MMA as “Ultimate Fighting” doesn’t mean that it isn’t MMA it just means they are doing the same thing that almost every smart and successful company does, branding a product to differentiate it from the competition. All professional sports are businesses, the sport is the product they are selling. You better believe that the NFL is concerned about the entire sport of football and not just their NFL brand of football they just want their brand to be the best.
You believe McDonald’s is interested in pushing Burger King along with their own brand for the good of fast food as a whole? Really?
by D.Capitated on Oct 16, 2008 10:17 PM EDT up reply actions
I think you misread what I wrote.
"it should be obvious that doesn’t mean that they are wanting Burger King to be successful. "
I am saying McDonalds doesn’t want Burger King to be sucessful because they are the competition. McDonalds not wanting Burger King to grow stronger and steal market share from them doesn’t mean that McDonalds doesn’t care about the fast food market or want it to grow in general.
This same thinking applies to Dana White and the UFC, not liking EliteXC and wanting to be top provider of MMA content doesn’t mean that they don’t care about the sport in general. Heck it’s exactly the opposite they want the sport to grow because that’s the only way the UFC will grow too, the sport being healthy is in their best interest.
If it was in the considered to be in the favor of McDonalds as a corporation to purposely retard the fast food industry from growth, they would do it in a second assuming that it would result in higher revenue. The same is applicable for the UFC. Being on network TV, ESPN, or HBO would probably give them a sense of legitimacy among mainstream media. The problem from the UFC’s stand point is that they’d lose some PPV revenue (which no network would dare try to make up) and the ability to control every aspect of the broadcast (including what the announcers say). Its evident what they’ve chosen.
It’s not just controlling what the announcers say.
Why should they pay someone else to do a worse job than they can already do on their own?
CBS has shown they can’t do a very good job on their own.
As for network TV making up the PPV revenue, network TV revenue is a major source of income for all the other major sports, so the UFC can get a deal like that eventually, it just doesn’t make sense for them to take a shitty deal, especially if thye are profitable the way they are.
The UFC choosing PPV over selling short just to get on network tv isn’t “retarding” MMA market growth it’s a choice about what is right for business. You say they would loose “some” money but when it comes down to it they would loose a heck of a lot of money not just some. A network is going to pay a couple of million a show at the most currently but even with the PPV provider taking half the profits off a average selling PPV they are going to make significantly more. Being on network tv isn’t the holy grail for a company like this, heck at this point it’s a calculated loss in many cases. Turning down a network contract that you don’t find favorable isn’t “retarding” the market for MMA it’s choosing the best path of growth for your company. EliteXC’s situation is a perfect example, they got tv contracts with Showtime and CBS and hold viewership records but that hasn’t saved the company, heck their current situation is even worse than it was before the CBS contract was signed and their stated goal is to one day be able to do PPVs.
Look at boxing, which is on HBO and ESPN and Showtime, the majority of fights of any consequence are put on PPV because that’s where the money is. Look at Pro Wrestling, yea the WWE has three major shows a week on three different channels and Raw regularly equals or even surpasses what EliteXC has done on CBS but for them PPV revenue is much more important, every show is basically an advertisement to get you to order a monthly PPV. Unless your on a massive viewership scale like the NFL is then network tv isn’t going to be a real money maker and even for the NFL it’s just one of many revenue streams.
McDonalds could sell a heck of a lot of hamburgers if they would price them at ten cents a piece but would that would be a horrible move for them to make. There is a lot more that goes into growing a market than just getting people’s attention.
Dude everywhere you post it’s anti-UFC.
http://mma4real.net/
by Tha Realness on Oct 16, 2008 3:47 PM EDT up reply actions
Looking at EXC on CBSs’ viewership numbers I wonder what kind of numbers would have happened if it was a UFC card on CBS.
Anyway White has to address these issues, as it was mentioned left smoldering this fire could get a lot bigger and affect the UFC, distancing his company while pointing out the other makes the most sense.
I have always liked Dana White.. I don’t know why all the haters think he is such an ass
Rob Dib
http://www.break-your-face.com
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