Sky Sports to air TUF 12, signals possible move to UK PPV
by MattParker117 on Sep 8, 2010 7:54 PM EDT
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PrintFirst Signs of the UFC moving to Pay Per View in the UK-Lowkick.com
Lowkick.com reports that Sky Sports will air season twelve of The Ultimate Fighter while this excellent news for the sport in the UK, it also could have other implications. Sky is also the market leader in what is left of the UK PPV industry with it's Sky Box Office service.
Dana White has been eating way too many of Joe Rogan's special brownies if he thinks PPV is a viable option in the UK. Both the Premier League and Formula 1 have tried to introduce PPV in this country and both spectaculary failed with buyrates failing to top 25,000. PPV in this country now mainly air's movies, porn, WWE and boxing matches with fights involving WBA Champion David Haye the only offerings to draw buyrates above 100,000.
A move to PPV in the UK would be an horrendous decision on the part of the UFC. Many fans including myself are not prepared to pay £15(standard UK PPV price) for an event that begins at 3AM GMT. The only thing the UFC will accomplish with a move to PPV in the UK is to drive it's UK fanbase to illegal streams and lose millions in TV revenue.
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Its hard to say if this will mean UK PPVs. Buyrates of a 3am PPV would be horrific. Personally I would happily pay £15 for it, but I doubt many people feel the same way. This could signal Sky trying to get the UFC rights off ESPN, which would probably be good for the UFC as they’d most likely market it much better than ESPN and have much more viewers.
The PPV market is basically dead in the UK. The only things that sell are big boxing matches, which are on for many hours longer than the UFC would be, and the WWE. If David Haye-Audley Harrison is PPV I can see it selling big, but that would be a one off
"The men who get on best with women are those that get on best without them" Lee Christmas
Based only on my experience
I’d say streaming is a big issue in the UK.
If dana is taking any page out of vince mcmahons book,he will see that when wwe went to ppv over here they started off with one card a year and then 2 and so on,UFC on sky sports can only be a good thing as like said about it will get more exposer,but please for god sakes dont put it on ppv,UFC 100 was the only one they could have justifed putting on ppv and I doubt we will see a card like that again for quiet a while
Comic Book Guy: The Internet King? I wonder if he could provide faster nudity…
Homer: Oh, so they have Internet on computers now!
The only way it would work on PPV is if a UK fighter is fighting for a title. Don’t think casual UK fans would be intrested unless a title is up for grabs. The only time boxing sells for american fighters has been when Hatton fought Pac-man and Mayweather, or when Haye or Khan fight. Can’t say how well WWF does across here, not watched it in about 15 years.
Hopefully it will be the same as is now but brining this sport to far more eyes than ESPN can generate for them.
Sky are simply after buying the rights that Setanta had for TUF.
The ESPN PPV deal is seperate and worth about $40,000,000 a year IIRC.
It also runs for another year I believe.
Dana has talked about wanting to break into a PPV market in the UK a few times,so I really think he’ll push for it and be in for a massive surprise when it fails miserably.
Sky would market the UFC better (they could hardly do worse than ESPN) but personally I don’t see it as a good thing.
Sky are after paying a ridiculous amount of money for the premiership rights, and are having to increase their subsprition price due to this.
Having to drop 50 million or more for UFC rights is only going to push that up furthur.
Maybe the UK events themselves could be viable as PPV. 3-4 a year at £15 a pop is fine by me. But not many people are going to buy a ppv that starts at 3am. UK fights only that start at 8pm seem like they could work, but the question is how many people will want to pay for it?
I see people paying to see Bisping but not many others. The UK needs a few more stars of their own on these cards. And that could be a while and even then they might be able to make more money by having it on sky sports or another channel.
Also the problem with football and formula 1 is people have been use to seeing them for free for god knows how long. Football also happens all the time so there wasn’t much incentive to pay for one game. UFC might be better off with a every now and again policy. And it has to deliver something special to the UK fans, people already pay loads for digital subscriptions they won’t want to pay for anything run of the mill. Big fights with UK stars will sell it’s just will it happen anytime soon?
by Stefan Manojlovic on Sep 9, 2010 11:40 AM EDT reply actions
If Bisping vs Akiyama was PPV in the UK, Dana would get his first reality check.
No way I’d pay to see it on TV. I mean, I wouldn’t even go to see it live.
WWE spent years live broadcasting on Sky Sports but it was during its peak. It’s actually when WWE began slipping with regards to viewership that they went to PPV, as Sky didn’t want to pay them for broadcast rights.
I think UFC can make more money through ad revenue from live broadcasts. Sky Sports easily has more viewers then ESPN UK, probably a 5:1 ratio at least.
I think UFC can make more money through ad revenue from live broadcasts. Sky Sports easily has more viewers then ESPN UK, probably a 5:1 ratio at least.
Hopefully this is the case and the UFC makes so much more money from the increased publicity the UFC gets through Sky, that they don’t decide to go the PPV route
"The men who get on best with women are those that get on best without them" Lee Christmas
Look did anyone get ESPN for any other reason than the UFC??
Being on sky sports is the right move as more people are likely to have to it and there for see ads for it,there might that a look and get hooked.Its a win win all around as long as they stay off ppv
Comic Book Guy: The Internet King? I wonder if he could provide faster nudity…
Homer: Oh, so they have Internet on computers now!
I understand what you're saying
Apart from Premier League Football, Serie A, Bundesliga, NBA, Monday Night Football (NFL), MLB, NHL, College Sports, Motorsport, Premiership Rugby and so on, there’s really nothing but MMA on ESPN.
Thats not what i was sayin I know what else is on it,but I only got ESPN to watch the UFC live,if it wasnt on it I would probably get rid of it
Comic Book Guy: The Internet King? I wonder if he could provide faster nudity…
Homer: Oh, so they have Internet on computers now!
Ditto
Of course the bonus is getting MMA Live in HD before it airs in the US… but that’s not worth the £12 asking price alone :p
by VikingPhotography on Sep 13, 2010 9:37 AM EDT up reply actions
PPV’s just will not work over here. People have stated maybe the UK cards only or when a UK fighter fights for a title but neither of those will work. There is ZERO coverage on sports news programs for MMA/UK over here. When Dan Hardy fought for the WORLD TITLE this wasn’t mentioned once in any news, sports or otherwise. And UFC 120 will be no different. The buys would break records for an all time low.
Mir, Nightmare , Axe Murderer , Bones
The only time I remember UFC on PPV over here was UFC 70......dont think it did too well
Comic Book Guy: The Internet King? I wonder if he could provide faster nudity…
Homer: Oh, so they have Internet on computers now!
To be fair
UFC 70 was the first time that there’d been an event in the UK for five years…. the sport was still relatively unknown outside the hardcore fans at that time.
by VikingPhotography on Sep 10, 2010 7:27 AM EDT up reply actions
I can only hope that it starts off as only needing a SS subscription to get access to the PPV’s. Going to the PPV format immediatly would be disasterous for the UFC. I don’t know anyone who pay’s for PPV events here in the UK (given the fact no one watches WWE anymore and the boxing is incredibly easy to stream). It’s been a dive for years and the market won’t pick up anytime soon.
In saying that, does anyone know when TUF airs in the UK? I’ve checked listings when I heard about a potential move to Sky and I can’t see anything anywhere, meaning that maybe they are rescheduling as they’ve taken it.
Goldberg: "He's got him in some kind of strange choke I've never seen before!"
Rogan: "That's a rear naked choke."
Marshall Zelaznik announced it today via Facebook
It will air at 10pm on Tuesday 24th… nearly a whole week after the on-air date in the US. The story was on Sky Sports website this morning.
by VikingPhotography on Sep 13, 2010 9:45 AM EDT up reply actions
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