Brazilian TV Exec Says UFC Coming To Brazil in 2011
Danilo Lavieri of Abril.com interviews Terence Paiva, RedeTV! sports director (translation by Chris Nelson):
While (RedeTV!) has been increasing the exposure of MMA, have you looked into broadcasting national events?
In truth, we can't. The agreement with the UFC doesn't allow us to show other fighting championships. But the way around this is to create something here, something like a selective (feeder) for the UFC. That we could broadcast.
Hence the idea of bringing The Ultimate Fighter to Brazil?
When we did the deal with the UFC, they wanted us to broadcast TUF. But our experience with The Contender showed that it doesn't do much. People watch, but it doesn't have the necessary impact. Brazilians want to see Brazilians in action. Brazilians don't like things captioned. So we want to bring TUF here, yes, with Brazilian fighters. But they're different ideas. One does not preclude the other.
Canal Combate's contract with the UFC ends in 2011. Do you really want to get this contract for yourselves?
Not quite. This makes it sound like RedeTV! is the enemy of others. It isn't. We want to broadcast something, something that goes beyond our current deal [21 days after the event takes place]...
And RedeTV! will be partnering with the UFC to bring fights to Brazil?
Also not so. People exaggerate, saying RedeTV! will bring (the UFC to Brazil) and things like this. We're a partner of the UFC and we're going to give them full support so they come here. In fact, they'll be here in 2011. That's for sure. There are some details missing, like where it will take place and whatnot. Now they view us as a market.
almost 2 years ago
Nate Wilcox
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TUF Brazil makes so much sense it’s hurting my brain.
You’ve got one of the biggest emerging economies on earth, a huge pool of homegrown prospects, and tepid public support for the sport (a la North America circa 2005).
It’s arrogant to assume Brazilians want to watch a subtitled Junie Browning pee on stuff when they can watch some guy who probably goes by “pitbull” pee on stuff in their own language.
by casey manrique on Jul 23, 2010 3:40 PM EDT reply actions 2 recs
exactly
how do you say “excuse me, i think there’s jism in your california roll” in portuguese?
Follow me on Twitter @KidNate
“Desculpa aí, mas acho que tem porra no seu rolinho california”
by Henrique on Jul 23, 2010 3:47 PM EDT up reply actions 3 recs
That's awesome.
You should be the official Bloody Elbow translator. I’d love to know what Gabriel Gonzaga was saying to the camera after he knocked out Mirko Cro Cop.
Forget it Donny, you're out of your element.
by Geno Mrosko on Jul 23, 2010 11:41 PM EDT up reply actions
About the "tepid public support for the sport"
MMA is pretty small here and still faces the public backlash of “vale tudo” days.
It´s probably worse here than USA pre-TUF.
agreed
I myself always try to compare it to USA pre-TUF era, but it’s probably much smaller than that
the following two things are signs of weaknesses:
stay silent when it's needed to speak up, and speak up when it's needed to stay silent.
Thanks for the input. I was making this claim based on a Marcelo Alonso interview with Jordan Breen. Alonso mentioned the vale tudo backlash.
Just so we’re all on the same page, tepid means weak, unenthusiastic, lukewarm etc. so we’re talking about the same thing.
by casey manrique on Jul 23, 2010 4:53 PM EDT up reply actions
This is awesome news
I´m a hardcore brazilian MMA fan, I´d love to watch a live UFC event in Brazil!
Reallity shows are big here, but Rede TV is a pretty small TV channel and the least watched. It´s not quite as it could be if Rede Globo showed live UFC events or a brazilian TUF.
Nevertheless, it´s a start. :-)
But RedeTV is a network that most people can watch, right? As opposed to Combate, which is on cable/satellite?
by Chris Nelson on Jul 23, 2010 3:49 PM EDT up reply actions
those guys are big fans of MMA
this year they had two professional fighters dress up like Dunga and Maradona and fight each other (for those who don’t know, they were the coaches for Brazil and Argentinean soccer team).
part 1 (starting at 5:20 min mark)
part 2
part 3
the following two things are signs of weaknesses:
stay silent when it's needed to speak up, and speak up when it's needed to stay silent.
by Orcus on Jul 23, 2010 4:19 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Brazil is a tricky market for Zuffa
Yeah, MMA could become a niche sport here the size it is in the US.
However, the model Zuffa uses in the US is just not going to work here. There´s no way in hell brazilians are going to shell out 50 bucks in PPV every UFC event.
Nowadays, to watch live UFC events you need basic cable (around 35/50 dollars per month) plus a subscription to “TV Combate”, the channel that broadcasts UFC events, which is around 2O dollars per month. And you get every UFC and WEC event Zuffa puts on. This is already A LOT of money in Brazil.
To make big bucks here, Zuffa needs to put live UFC events and TUF at Rede Globo. And that is probably gonna take years to happen.
if you don't have cable
then you’re not the targeted market anyway… Combate is R$40,00, and only R$9,00 to people with the soccer package, I say that’s cheap… Combate is also owned by Globo. Seriously though, this is not going to be/shouldn’t be marketed to the people who don’t have cable, HBO, Telecine, Playboy, any other premium channel makes money here, why wouldn’t Combate be one of them (as long as people want to throw money on it that is).
the following two things are signs of weaknesses:
stay silent when it's needed to speak up, and speak up when it's needed to stay silent.
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