Dana White predicts the UFC will hold 100 events a year:
"Right now, what we've used to go into Europe and even Australia is our U.K. office," White said. "But we're looking right now – and here I go jumping ahead of myself and saying stuff before we do it – but we're going to open an office in China."
"We bought this company, and we were doing five fights a year. If you would have told me six or seven years ago that we'd be doing 34 fights a year, I would have said, 'That's impossible. It'll never happen. That's crazy.' We're probably going to end up doing 100 fights a year."
"We could have a show [in the U.S.] on Saturday night and five more going on in five other countries. That's what's going to eventually happen."
"I've been saying for years that we're going to be bigger than the NFL, and people were laughing at me. Well, it's starting to look like a reality now."
-- Check out the full interview at mmajunkie.com
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100 events a year couldnt possibly have the quality fights that we see now.
by Meth Wyzzyrd on May 27, 2010 2:27 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
I think it can work perfectly if done right....
“We could have a show [in the U.S.] on Saturday night and five more going on in five other countries. That’s what’s going to eventually happen.”
In the US on a Saturday night, you probably wouldnt have a “UFC China Fight Night” on television. Maybe on UFC.com or on demand. Same for an event in India or Austrilia or even Canada. Most people would see the US (or their local) show. The China show would have Chinese fighters and the Aussie Show would have local fighters etc… but the US show would have the top dogs.
If Some Chinese stud wins 8 fights in a row, or some Eastern European dude turns up looking like a commie BROCKLESNAR then those guys would be called up to the stateside UFC shows. The other markets would still see all the Stateside (numbered) UFC events like they do/will soon do already as well. This way the Zuffa could use these shows in other countries to promote and build the HUGE stateside numbered UFC events.
I think it can work perfectly in time. The numbered events could be held anywhere, but they would feature the best of the best in the world… almost like the ‘major leagues’ of the UFC.
This would do 3 things…
1. Make tons of money and stars by establishing markets all over the globe.
2. Make the top dogs like GSP and Brock get PAID! Maybe NFL, NBA, or MLB money.
3. Establish the UFC ‘brand’ as the only legitimate MMA body in the world. People say someday the ‘UFC’ will represent the entire sport of MMA (like NFL for football). This would be a major step in doing so if everyone that made it up to the UFC came from…the UFC.
Just imagine the Chinese watching their local hero build his way to 10 straight wins in Chinese UFC events… Then what will they do when he gets called up to the big leagues at UFC 245 to fight the best in the world? Ill tell you… millions of Chinese will pay to see it.
A true MMA fan from the great state of Arkansas.
by MMArazorback on May 27, 2010 6:10 PM EDT up reply actions
Too bad I need my security clearance, I’d like to try being as high as he is right now.
Got the Summer hatin on me cus I'm hotter than the sun. Got the Spring hatin on me cus I ain't never sprung. Winter hatin on me cus I'm colder than ya'll; and I will never I will never I will never Fall.
The mat is my church, the ground is my heaven, Jiu-Jitsu is my religion. And once you hit the ground you're in my world. My world is like the ocean, I’m like a shark and most people don't even know how to swim - Draculino
The NFL is huge in the US. Nobody else in the entire world gives a rats ass about American football, however. It wouldn’t be that impossible to bigger than the NFL when you market the sport in the whole world, and the NFL remains limited to the US. You wouldn’t have to be too popular in China and India to be bigger than the NFL just from the tremendous populations of those countries.
"an excellent example of why most MMA "journalism" is a joke. Pseudonyms like "toxic" and shitty writing like that dopey article"--- Joe Rogan.
The NFL is a nearly $8B a year business. It’s the world’s richest and most profitable sports league. The UFC isn’t in the same stratosphere.
The UFC is probably somewhere near a billion dollar a year company at current.
that is as mostly in the US as somewhat of a neche sport with little major network coverage and without expansion into dozens and dozens of countries. Is doing 8 times the current business possible? Probably. It won’t be easy, but it isn’t impossible.
I think you are confusing the value of the company with their annual revenue.
PPV is about 70% of the UFC’s revenue and the most they have ever made in a single year on PPV is about $280MM. They are nowhere near a billion dollars a year in revenue.
Also, that 280 million is their gross revenue on PPV sales. About half of that never makes it to to their bottom line (PPV providers keep it).
Eight billion would likely be the NFL's gross totals too.
You are probably right though. The UFC is closer to half a billion / year. Lol… my estimate was just based on some quick bad math and was probably way off base…
UFC PPV’s averaged (620,000) buys in 2009 * (10) PPV’s at an average of ($50) a show = around $320,000,000 gross. Add in TV contracts in multiple countries, bar licenses, event sponsorships, live gates, merch and everything else I would be surprised if they weren’t in the $4 – 500,000,000 range.
This is of pretty dramatically I think. You are starting with the assumption that the UFC collects all that PPV money. Cut it in half. For awhile you could actually take 60% of it away. So start from about $150 million and go forward.
by Jonathan Snowden on May 27, 2010 5:10 PM EDT up reply actions
Oh, I'm sure you are correct on the take home...
They aren’t making all of that as profit (nowhere near), but when people say they are doing a billion a year, they generally mean gross not net.
If you are going by value
The UFC valued somewhere around 1-1.5 Billion for the entire organization, the average NFL franchise is valued at over a billion with the whole shebang at about 35 billion.
Not afraid to nitpick
I'm thinking Champion's League here
Inhale deep, like the words of my breath—I never sleep, cause sleep is the cousin of death
by Anthony Pace on May 27, 2010 5:33 PM EDT up reply actions
even i wont be interested in a fight every saturday
i need to think that each fight has some relevance. TUF shows upcoming guys fighting for a winner of the whole season. otherwise, i wouldn’t care about half of those fights.
if they want a show every saturday, they need to crown a yearly champion for lower level fighters, or accept the tournament set up.
I'm old school hating Lesnar, I've been hating Lesnar since '08
tourney set-up, perfect. they buy bellator and thats 15 events a year right there. the b-league, fighting to get promoted to the a-league. hell, they could even have 3 levels of promotion going on. prospect league, almost-ready tourney league (bellator) fighting to get promoted to full on UFC, and the big show
they can do stuff like that, but I don’t see a real need or a desire to make hard and fast rules like that. Flexibility is the key.
They sort of have that now, TUF, Fight Nights, numbered PPVs, but they don’t call it that. In the beginning the winner of TUF would get into the UFC, then they realized that they dumped a bunch of money into those people, so why not keep them around a little more.
By clearly defining those lines, you make it harder to adjust if things go wrong, and could be stuck in a bad situation if things don’t work out. Also, by drawing those lines, you make it harder to market the “lesser divisions.” That’s why they won’t put out official rankings or officially label a "senior “division” or something like that. Drawing those lines makes it harder to market and could lead to being painted into a corner.
by Phildo on May 27, 2010 4:01 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
You guys are missing one of the key things he is saying. They will be televising multiple shows possible some at the same time in different regions of the world. You may not even be able to get many of them, especially if they do non-US Fight Night style shows.
I am not sure how close they will get to the NFL but I am sure they can pull off 100 shows a year if they get into places like China and India.
Some of the other counties may not be simple PPV money grabs like they are in NA
but a show in the US, a show in India, a show in Mexico and a show in China on the same night (assuming each induvidual had a profiable business model) would add up tp big $$
That's 3-4 days between events.
That just doesn’t sound like fun. Half the fun for me with the events is the anticipation.
If you're not watching Treme, you're a bad person.
Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better. -Samuel Beckett
by Scott C. Broussard on May 27, 2010 2:35 PM EDT reply actions 2 recs
If they do that many events they will have to have a lot of events catering to smaller crowds, which I think is what he is implying. Like having Chinese cards mainly catering towards Chinese audiences. Then the better fighters there can work themselves up to larger events.
Truthfully, I think Bellators format would be great for breaking into new markets.
Maybe not with shows every week, but tournament create logical rankings and build stars in short order. Bellator is able to push out a show a week and will run 24 shows (two seasons) this calendar year in north americal alone.
This could probably work on a braoder scale too.
I agree
Oversaturation is becoming a reality. With all the shows going on right now it is difficult to be a hardcore MMA fan. Everybody needs to stop taking this guy so literal. I would love it if just for one week out of the year everyone would just ignore this guy.
"I have to carry out another fine moment before I die."
-Tatsuya Kawajiri-
by Erich Vowell on May 27, 2010 2:38 PM EDT up reply actions
unless its world wide. local Filipino fighters on Filipino tv, local Chinese fighters on Chinese tv, and so one and so on all under a UFC banner, that would make sense.
I'm old school hating Lesnar, I've been hating Lesnar since '08
Exactly.
Regional minor-leagues to allow for the spread of the “UFC” brand, and to build local start that can bring along an audience when they’re called up to the big show.
by Verklemptomaniac on May 27, 2010 2:42 PM EDT up reply actions
the question is:
which is more profitable? to be your own feeder league and incur all of those costs, or to let someone else own the risk of failing in a new market and pulling from their talent.
I'm old school hating Lesnar, I've been hating Lesnar since '08
That’s a fair point, but if the UFC becomes big enough, they can absorb the losses in new markets easily. The benefit comes when you sign the next big thing in Indonesia or China to an ironclad, peanut-paying contract signing away all his marketing and licensing rights before he even fights for the first time.
There’s a ton of possibility for the UFC to eventually control most of the top fighter talent out there. That said, they’re not half big enough to do this yet, and I think Dana might be high.
At the world level they may be considered minor leagues but at a country level they could quickly claim the top promotion in that country. I think they have a better chance of getting network deals that they like as well so they can build stars and if they feel they’re ready they can build them up to the “global” level.
^ This
The UFC is testing water in different countries and with different brands (WEC)
If they can find a way to develop their brand in differnt countries, which is largely based on hiring the right people, there is no reason that they shouldn’t be able to succeed. Big money backing them won’t hurt either.
Between the UFC, Strikeforce, Bellator, WEC. ect... we get less than 100 shows and..
it’s hard to keep up sometimes.
by snakecharmer1340 on May 27, 2010 2:38 PM EDT reply actions
I wouldn't be surprised if there end up being close to that next year though.
By the end of this we will probably have seen:
14 UFC Events
2 or 3 UFC Live on Versus
2 or 3 Ultimate Fight Nights
2 Ultimate Fighter Finales
20 ish total
9 WEC events
16 – 18 Strikeforce / Strikeforce Challenger events
24 Bellator Events (I think they are planing to squeez season 3 in before year end)
So about 70 total events this year.
“We could have a show [in the U.S.] on Saturday night and five more going on in five other countries. That’s what’s going to eventually happen.”
He’s not talking about 100 shows in the US he is talking about 100 shows worldwide catering to local markets. His example was 6 shows at the same time around the world, obviously they aren’t going to show them all in the US at the same time.
by who me on May 27, 2010 2:50 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
actually that would be 312 events per year. 6 countries X 52 weeks/year = 312 shows/year.
I'm old school hating Lesnar, I've been hating Lesnar since '08
I think it would be pretty cool to to get main event replays from the other countries shows on the US card in between matches if the US prelims weren’t as exciting.
What he said.
I thought it was obvious. 100 shows in the US would never work. But you can have UFC 147 in Vegas, UFC China 3 in Beijing, and UFC India 5 in Delhi on the same night or in the same month. We can see the results of the foreign events and watch guys roll through the competition before getting fights on the UFC Pay per view and Fight Night cards.
Hard core MMA fan since UFC 99
It was obvious. There are dum dums lurking.
Follow me on Twitter @lelandroling
"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
by Leland Roling on May 27, 2010 3:07 PM EDT up reply actions 5 recs
I’m usually good at ignoring these comments, but every so often one gets past me and I reply.
Hard core MMA fan since UFC 99
by ChiCubs23 on May 27, 2010 4:26 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Rec’d for mustaches.
I'm a lover not a fighter
by spectaa on May 27, 2010 4:57 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Im actually getting what Dana is trying to do here now. Thats fucking brilliant. We really wont be hearing about these shows that go on overseas. Its just gonna be feeder systems for the big shows on PPV. Nice, very nice.
Mauricio "Shogun" Rua: UFC LHW CHAMP! Justice is served, 2-0 against Machida!
Mike Goldberg: "You know Joe, When Matt and his brother Mark Hughes were growing up, they would pound each other behind the barn."
Really wish they would
Start on Mexico first but I guess eventually…
Mauricio "Shogun" Rua: UFC LHW CHAMP! Justice is served, 2-0 against Machida!
Mike Goldberg: "You know Joe, When Matt and his brother Mark Hughes were growing up, they would pound each other behind the barn."
mexico would probably be very hard. Pokerstars tried to have a tournament down there, and the government stepped in while it was going on demanding more payments and what not.
There’s probably a lot of people in Mexico that would watch, but doing anything down there is going to be a logistical nightmare.
They sould try and start up with the big latin networks that are in the US like Univision and Telemundo. After the latin american audience are familiar (more than they are now) with the UFC brand, thhey could probably market themselves aggresively in Mexico and keep going south
Well I hope this happens 10 years from now,
…not now. Hopefully when MMA expands into new markets like China, India, Korea, South America, etc. This probably means the UFC will expand it’s own brand into smaller units in those particular markets.
I disagree
Their long-term strategy is to grow the sport in markets where it is currently non-existent, then take the best talent from around the world and move them to the big show.
Right now, MMA gets almost no talent whatsoever from gigantic countries with rich martial arts traditions like China, India, etc. By setting up shop and running shows in those countries, Zuffa will be expanding the talent pool in MMA exponentially. I can’t wait to see elite middle eastern wrestlers getting involved in the sport.
i disagree back
because as they start running shows in five countries at once, Dana will be more spread thin, and more responsibilities will have to be delegated to less passionate, less talented people. explosive growth usually leads to a decline in quality.
you call it the minor leagues/farm system, i call it quantity over quality, but whatever
not really...
because it’s basically going to be the exact same thing that goes on now. The UFC will run off all the low level local shows and use the same fighters that fight in those to fight in the “UFC” events. On a given Saturday night there’s tons of small shows that go on around the U.S. This way, Dana and the UFC just get the upper hand in signing prospects before we would even consider them prospects.
"I fight because I can’t sing, I can’t dance, and it beats working all day. Now ask me a question that doesn’t sound so fucking stupid." – Phil Baroni
Dana isn’t going to give positions of power to just anyone. They will do their homework and find more guys like Tom Wright. They will put dedicated people in positions to properly advance MMAin foreign markets. I see the feeder system becoming a reality over the next 5-10 years.
Hard core MMA fan since UFC 99
by ChiCubs23 on May 27, 2010 4:34 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Hmmm...
Dana is clearly being Hyperbolic in regards to the numbers.
I would also question the business intelligence of being their own feeder promotion.
Maybe they will have some sort of regional champions that can “graduate” to higher and higher echelons on ppv’s?
"Alas, there is no time-share on my balls." -Luke Thomas
I don’t think they have a choice but to be their own feeder promotion if they want to tap the wealth of talent in countries like China and India. There are no local/regional promotions to speak of in those countries (other than AOW in China). If you want to turn elite Chinese and Indian athletes into MMA fighters, you need to provide them with a platform to perform and a place to get paid.
If you’re in New York do you watch every pheonix suns game? NO…
Same thing here. You’ll watch the UFC that matters to you and more importantly YOU’LL GET the UFC that matters to you even if you cant figure it out. You wont need to watch 100 shows to follow the UFC… same way you dont need to watch every pheonix suns game to follow the NBA.
Not everyone watches tuf in the US even the most avid UFC fans… so nobody expects people here to follow tuf in china. Stop hyperventilating and take a breath.
by mmalogic on May 27, 2010 3:51 PM EDT reply actions 5 recs
to follow the UFC, no you wont have to watch every event. but the idea of watching lower level fighters is the idea of following the fighter, not the org. the UFC will have to make these shows more about fighter development than the org… because these fights will have little to NO affect on the drama of the UFC (titles, challengers, etc.)
I'm old school hating Lesnar, I've been hating Lesnar since '08
How many fights of phil davis have you seen before he got into the UFC? There are fights going on all the time and fighters coming into the UFC all the time of which most havent seen their previous fights. How many of Jon Jones fights have you seen pre-UFC?
Nothing will change except now the guys who make it (what will matter to you) you’ll have access to all of his previous fights through unleashed and on demand.
by mmalogic on May 27, 2010 4:33 PM EDT up reply actions 4 recs
This is why he keeps saying internet is where it’s at in the future. All their global content can be made available online. Just like they did with The Ultimate Fighter and all the past seasons. Plus with TVs now coming internet ready it’s not going to be sitting in front of the computer to catch a show in China. You just find it on the UFC website and watch on your TV. The foresight to start planning for global content on the internet is a very big move that will pay off big in the future if they pull it off.
Just BE.
Basically mini UFC leagues around the world. But the Big dawgs will roll here in the states and other huge markets. I was trying to explain this to my buddy. Its like Boxing, theres boxing going on all over the world but we only know about the big boys (kinda I guess lol) I think it would be friggin amazing if done right.
Now, if we can just get an updated Gladiator intro with epic music and without the craptastic metal. =P Logic, please pass this on to your bud. ;)
Mauricio "Shogun" Rua: UFC LHW CHAMP! Justice is served, 2-0 against Machida!
Mike Goldberg: "You know Joe, When Matt and his brother Mark Hughes were growing up, they would pound each other behind the barn."
by xFenixKnightx on May 27, 2010 7:27 PM EDT up reply actions
I am sentimentally attached to the gladiator man and the metal.
Keep Firing, Assholes!
BROCKLESNAR's #1 Fan.
Mauricio "Shogun" Rua: UFC LHW CHAMP! Justice is served, 2-0 against Machida!
Mike Goldberg: "You know Joe, When Matt and his brother Mark Hughes were growing up, they would pound each other behind the barn."
by xFenixKnightx on May 27, 2010 7:49 PM EDT up reply actions
Maybe they’ll modify it for each country…
How awesome would UFC India be if it started with a guy doing the chanting in Hindi, followed by a metal song played on the sitar?
Resident Capologist
How does K1 work?
Hard core MMA fan since UFC 99
by ChiCubs23 on May 27, 2010 4:37 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
They have less “star studded” cards around the world and qualifiers and such, then it basically turns into a big tournament. I really haven’t been following K1 that long, but with all of MMA’s weight classes, I think they could easily put on 100 shows doing something like this.
Perhaps someone with a greater understanding of teh K1 model would add something?
Can you say overexposure?
As much as I enjoy the UFC, I think 100 events a year might be spreading the butter too thinly on the slice of bread.
"If your going to come on then come on!" - Harold Howard
in 5 years think of how far the UFC has come
and with no major network coverage or fights shown on network tv
espn is finally getting behind mma, its only a matter of time till the network deal and once new york santions mma there will be fighting in every major state with an athletic commision
i can see the ufc growing exponentially over the next few years provided they do several things, 1 move away from ppvs, 2 maintain a noncorrupt management, and 3 avoid a tradgedy that results of a death in the fighter in the octagon
We have a saying back home that if your coming on, COME ON!!!!
No major network coverage? I know what youre sayin but c’mon now, cable is basically the standard these days and Spike is not a premium channel. You get it with basic cable. We all know Spike = UFC Channel 80% of the time. lol Thats pretty much just like being on network TV IMO. Dana can basically call Spike on a whim and clear all of Spikes programming for the day if he wants. We know its true.
Mauricio "Shogun" Rua: UFC LHW CHAMP! Justice is served, 2-0 against Machida!
Mike Goldberg: "You know Joe, When Matt and his brother Mark Hughes were growing up, they would pound each other behind the barn."
by xFenixKnightx on May 27, 2010 6:50 PM EDT up reply actions
I agree. 10 years ago network TV was a much much bigger deal than cable TV. Now not so much. Their relationship with Spike gives them a great partner that they work well with. They are mutually beneficial to each other. With a network TV deal they would have someone wanting to be the boss and not a partner. At least that is my impression of the deals the networks have offered in the past and the way Strikeforce’s deal works.
To me the only better deal out there would be with ESPN. That is only because they bring so much in terms of promotional power.
Just BE.
ESPN or HBO for me. Just that prestige of it for some reason.
Mauricio "Shogun" Rua: UFC LHW CHAMP! Justice is served, 2-0 against Machida!
Mike Goldberg: "You know Joe, When Matt and his brother Mark Hughes were growing up, they would pound each other behind the barn."
by xFenixKnightx on May 27, 2010 7:22 PM EDT up reply actions
100 cards a year
is great. Weekend warriors who buy the PPV won’t watch or care. It will give hardcore something to dig up, scout, evaluate, and watch up and coming fighters.
It allows the UFC to establish itself in dozens of markets with little investment. Using local fighters to put on cards with very little cost will give Zuffa hours and hours of highlights and a foothold in the marketplace cheap. Call it the Canadian experiment.
The UFC will also be able to latch onto talent and create super divisions. How great would life be if we could debate about 14 fighters being better than Rampage right now?
Nothing better than knowing you have fresh MMA out on the web waiting for you to go find.
PS There are more than 100 cards worldwide right now. UFC, Strikeforce, Bellator, WEC, K-1, Dream and every Wargods, Moosin etc.
I’ve always thought GSP would be a great candidate to run UFC Canada.
For UFC USA (or UFC America, whatever), they’d need somebody charismatic and with great business sense. Being a former top fighter would help a lot. Dana has at least a decade left in him; that would rule out geezers like Couture. Personally I don’t see any American in the UFC right now that can fill his shoes.
by Flying Gogoplata on May 27, 2010 10:13 PM EDT up reply actions
Hmm
So what Dana is describing is a plan where the UFC would franchise out and run regional promotions. Something like a UFC version of KSW, Jungle Fights, Dream, King of the Cage, and M-1 Global sprinkled around the world. I wonder if anyone has pondered what the outcome of having a private company not only own the largest promotion, but also all the regional promotions for all of mma UFC.
One has to ask if there are enough quality fighters for 100 shows a year. I mean, given the quality of contestants we’re seeing in recent seasons of TUF, we have to ask if the talent pool is deep enough for this.
Also, getting a steady schedule of events going overseas might not be exactly a cakewalk. For starters, there’s no way to be certain that the US Unified Rules can and will be accepted everywhere.
by Monday Morning Martial Artist on May 28, 2010 3:15 AM EDT reply actions
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