The Secret to Success: Re-Airing Fights on Fox and FX

Despite signing a lucrative TV deal with Fox Broadcasting, the UFC faces two hurdles to achieving mainstream success: educating new fans and consistent visibility. These problems are compounded by the scattershot TV programming of UFC events and the unpredictability inherent to fight sports. The solution is simple: Air "best of" shows and air them often.

Though Fox seems 100% committed to promoting the UFC, going so far as to air advertising for UFC on Fox during football games, the company is strangely reluctant to air UFC programming on their flagship network, instead opting for an "all our eggs in one basket" approach with their big UFC shows. It seems a far safer bet to air fights with known outcomes, not during prime time of course. Keep in mind that most people have not seen these fights because they have not seen the UFC at all. Not only could the UFC cherry-pick exciting fights, they could pick fights that show off all aspects of the fight game.

The UFC on the other hand still has a PPV mindset. They don't like to give away content for free. My guess is Fox's programming decisions have more to do with what does and doesn't get aired on Fox, but the UFC should be doing everything in its power to air its old content on all Fox stations at all times, especially the flagship network. Frankly, given the UFCs aspirations for mainstream success, the entirety of its back catalog should be viewed as a write-off. Give the stuff away to whomever will watch it. Start posting the top ten or twenty fights on every website that will link to them--again, especially the Fox.com website.

Almost as important as the UFC back catalog is everything on Fuel. Fox is using the UFC to pressure fans into pressuring their cable providers (Comcast) to carry the network. Fine, but why not air the card a week later on a more accessible network. Would doing so really cut into the Fuel strategy so much? Disenfranchising die-hard fans can't be good for business in the long run. It's already hard enough for most people to keep up with the sport, both financially and logistically. Fuel, in the end, is small potatoes, and even fans willing to shell out $50 for a PPV won't switch TV providers just for second-tier UFC material. Honestly, asking fans to purchase the individual fights from the UFC vault is too much for a cash-strapped fan base.

Fox is spending a lot of money promoting the UFC in giving up valuable advertising slots. My feeling is that they would do a lot better for themselves if they simply aired more UFC. Do it at odd hours. Do it during the play-offs and the Oscars--in other words, do it when you would be airing Cops or rerunning sitcoms. Would the UFC specials pull the same numbers? Probably not, but this is a small price to pay for mass exposure to the UFC's best fights.