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UFC’s expansion plans

By Zach Arnold | May 25, 2006

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By Zach Arnold

There is a great Whaledog editorial about Dana White’s comments to The Long Beach Press-Telegram about expanding the UFC into Europe, Canada, and other markets. One comment that struck me in particular was Mr. White stating that the NFL has had trouble exporting their product overseas, but that UFC could export their product to foreign markets more successfully because “everyone understands fighting.”

The failed logic in Mr. White’s claim about expanding UFC into foreign markets is that because MMA is a more global industry, more and more countries will develop their own leagues — which therefore diminishes the value of UFC because of supply and demand. Japan has PRIDE & K-1. Holland has Simon Rutz and his It’s Showtime events. The UK has Cage Rage. This is not to say that UFC shouldn’t be considering exporting their product to foreign markets, because it’s a good idea. However, the idea that UFC could be the dominant brand for MMA in foreign countries (like WWE is with professional wrestling) is an ill-conceived notion.

Topics: All Topics, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 6 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

6 Responses to “UFC’s expansion plans”

  1. Andy says:

    Saying that tho, in my experience, way more people in the UK watch the UFC than Cage Rage anyway, so i think he stands a good chance.

  2. Andy stole my response…haha.

  3. FredEttish says:

    While you make valid points, there is one thing you may not have considered. The UFC would be able to make inroads into Europe very quickly through acquisition. By buying out some of the organizations you mentioned (especially Cage Rage), attaching the UFC brand and involving U.S. based UFC fighters, Dana could quickly establish himself as a major player in the market.

  4. Chuck says:

    Hey, Vince McMahon did the same when he bought out Stampede Wrestling in the 1980’s and renaming in Maple Leaf Wrestling, why can’t Dana do the same for UFC? I wouldn’t really like it though, because that is too monopoly-ish in business practices.

    On a not-so-related note, Cary Silkin is bringing Ring Of Honor over to Great Britain in August. Anyone else think that Cary Silkin is trying to over-run FWA, England’s leading British wrestling fed? Because Alex Shane, the promoter of FWA (probably the biggest indy in the world, they get crowds up to 3,000+) is the tour coordinator of the ROH tour in England. Sorry to kind of sidetrack the topic, but it is a related topic.

    And if Dana White is trying to buy-out European promotions, then he is trying way to hard trying to be like Vince McMahon, who in turn, tries way to hard to be kind of like Don King.

  5. Zach Arnold says:

    [Hey, Vince McMahon did the same when he bought out Stampede Wrestling in the 1980’s and renaming in Maple Leaf Wrestling, why can’t Dana do the same for UFC? I wouldn’t really like it though, because that is too monopoly-ish in business practices.]

    He might be able to buy out Cage Rage, but he isn’t going to ever be buying out PRIDE, K-1, or Simon Rutz — for various good and bad reasons.

  6. Green Hornet says:

    I’m afraid I have to go with Andy. The validity of UFC’s global expansion can be exemplified by football, I mean soccer. While China has its own Chinese Premier, other major European leagues are as popular if not more popular than it here.This being said, on top of buying out smaller promotions, UFC can coexist with them in various countries.

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