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Dan LeBatard talks about UFC 100 on ESPN
By Zach Arnold | July 9, 2009
He and JA Adande were hosting Pardon the Interruption today. Adande repeated UFC’s company line that the event will drew 1.5 million PPV buys. Adande asked LeBatard if UFC will continue to get bigger.
“Bigger, and I think bigger means they can be the fourth biggest sport in the country.”
Both commentators accepted the idea that UFC 100 will drew 1 million PPV buys. Dave Meltzer is reporting that the UFC 100 Countdown show drew a 1.1 cable rating, blowing out the cable rating of any other Countdown show in the history of Spike TV.
For all of the hatred inside and outside of MMA circles for Brock Lesnar, the fact is that he has clearly surpassed Chuck Liddell as the company’s ace in terms of being their #1 draw. It doesn’t hurt to have Frank Mir in the mix, either.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 27 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
In case anyone was wondering, this includes you tim sylvia. This is the reason why Brock makes more than most coming from the WWE world.
I know me and some buddies will be ordering this.
I would be shocked if UFC 100 doesn’t break 1 Million PPV Buys. 1.5 Million is a possibility, but my prediction is 1.25 Million.
Looking at how the UFC compares to other American sports:
Top Tier: MLB, NFL, & NBA – I don’t think any of these 3 leagues will fall from the top anytime soon.
Second Tier: UFC, Boxing, Tennis, Golf, & NHL.
Bottom Tier: Soccer, Tour De France, WNBA, & Olympics.
Then there are the two one’s that are hard to catagorize, which is NASCAR and College Sports. Boh have extremely devoted fanbases, but it is very regionalized. Some states are huge abou college sports. Others are not. And NASCAR really is more of a southern “sport” and I have a hard time classifying it as a sport anyways.
With that said, the UFC is at the top of the 2nd tier. Which would make them the 4th biggest sport in America. Probably 5th or 6th once NASCAR and College Sports is factored in, but that’s a tough one to figure out.
Either way, that is unbelievable growth in 100 shows for Zuffa (and yes, UFC 100 is exactly their 100th show)…. Somebody on another website took the time to figure that one out.
NFL’s for hicks, college sports are for places without real pro sports, and the NBA is a bandwagoner’s holiday where franchises sink or swim based on how well they’re doing in the current season for the most part.
MLB is questionable as a sport, but at least it’s interesting in that kind of low background buzz way up until the playoffs, at which point it drops off a cliff for everyone except the fans of those teams. It’s not the national pastime for nothing. They have some dead markets that need pruning.
The NHL has a great sport that they’ve screwed with far too much and unless something major has changed, the majority of the teams are losing money no matter how you count it (and there are many ways to count it). They could do with some significant franchise movement to get out of dead markets, and probably contraction. It’s probably one of the sports (along with soccer) that benefits the most from HD and they hung themselves out to dry by going with Vs. Took the money, lost the sport.
Boxing and UFC are event driven, they’re not even sports in any conventional sense (in a way they’re more similar to the NFL with it’s crazy-short season and limited number of dates). Their success depends on a combination of the matchups and the promoter’s skill and brand dominance.
I’m a soccer fan and it really shouldn’t even enter into your calculus (I watch MLS, and don’t watch euro leagues), we’re not a blip on anyone’s radar, really, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t have local market traction in some places and that we can’t do pretty well.
NASCAR is on the decline, they’re rising and falling, mostly falling, with the car industry. They’re incredibly dependent on sponsorships as a revenue stream. It’s not REALLY a southern sport so much. I don’t get it, but growing up there were people around who watched it (in the Boston area), and there is at least one track up here just over the border in New Hampshire. In Chicago they had just built some ridiculously large NASCAR track just before I left, but I didn’t feel like the sport had any traction there (not as much as here, and there’s not much here). I think that they attract the same kind of fans as college football these people with motorhomes who just want another excuse to get five miles per gallon on a roadtrip.
I won’t even get into my opinions on the Tour de France and the Olympics, which are even more disreputable than baseball.
As I posted in the other thread, another MMA writer has confirmed the UFC’s threats against fighters who may be interested in signing to appear in EA’s MMA video game.
Dave Meltzer writes in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter: “UFC wants the word out that anyone in the EA game will never work for UFC… There is the attitude right now that even the people who have already signed for the [EA] game, even before they made this doctrine clear this past week, won’t be brought in [to the UFC], which isn’t exactly fair as you can hardly punish someone for making a decision to sign up for a video game when they had no opportunity to get into your video game in the first place.”
Meltzer also writes about the plight of WEC fighters: “The WEC guys can’t be in the UFC game but also didn’t have the opportunity to negotiate deals for the EA game.”
My two favorite sports are (1) MMA and (2) international soccer (both US national team as well as international club soccer, i.e., English Premier League and Champions League).
I used to be a football-baseball-basketball guy, but MMA and international soccer (not MLS) just won me over; now I only watch parts of the football and baseball playoffs. I haven’t watched an entire basketball game since Jordan retired the second time.
Pretty sure I’m not representative of very many people, though.
FF
NFL is more then hicks. At least in the North East, its a steady combination of fat out of shape former high school football players and white collar guys who have no athletic ability and think they are an owner of a NFL Team because they do Fantasy Football with their friends. With that said, it’s still a very popular sport. Personally, I can’t stand it. American Football is a perfect example that the masses don’t enjoy sports because they are great…. They enjoy them because other people are into them and they want to belong to that group. If this wasn’t the case, then American Football would translate to other countries better.
Dana White does a lot of promoter speak, but one thing he says that is correct is that fighting translates well in all cultures.
The comments on the NFL ridiculous at best. NFL cuts through all social and racial lines in America; it is truly our national game, watched and loved by white and black, rich and poor, old and young.
Most players in the NFL are freakishly athletic and would be better than most hw mma guys with a few years of training. If you don’t believe me, just look at Justin Eilers, who didn’t even make it to the NFL but got all the way to a UFC title shot.
I didn’t post this in the betting thread because I’m not much of a betting man, but in the Georges St. Pierre-Thiago Alves fight, I don’t think St. Pierre is going to have much trouble as long as he can take Alves down. Jon Fitch was able to take Alves down at will, dominate him, and TKO him. Granted, that was in 2006, and Alves’ takedown defense is undoubtedly much better in 2009 than it was in 2006. At the same time, though, GSP’s takedown offense in 2009 is probably also a lot better than Fitch’s takedown offense was in 2006 when he fought Alves.
As for Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir, obviously Lesnar could get tapped out again if he decides to take Mir down again, but why would he? If he just keeps the fight standing, Lesnar should be able to outlast Mir and out-strike him. A lot of people talk about Mir’s stand-up as if it’s amazing after the Nogueira fight, apparently forgetting that Nogueira went into that fight with a staph infection and a knee that needed surgery, and Mir was still breathing heavily in the second round. Against a healthy Lesnar, Mir’s cardio could really cost him, and it’s not like Mir is going to be able to take Lesnar down to the ground whenever he wants to. In theory, all Lesnar has to do is keep the fight standing and wait for Mir to get tired.
NFL is way more than just hicks. It’s also gangsters (GO RAIDERS!!)
Fan Futbol,
MMA and soccer (or football, as I call it) are the only two sports I’ve ever followed, too.
“another MMA writer has confirmed the UFC’s threats ”
Does another writer penning a story about this really confirm anything? I suspect there is a ton of overlap in the sourcing of all these articles. This story didn’t even exist until GoldenBoy brought it up on the UG. How plugged in can all of these reporters be if they are depending on the UG for their source material?
I’m not saying it’s not true. GB’s scoops have usually been spot on. I just don’t think that ‘more articles’ equals further confirmation. More sources, yes. More articles, no.
First of all, the UFC was not trying to keep it a secret from the fighters that they were threatening. In fact, they “wanted to get the word out,” as Dave Meltzer wrote.
Second, none of those writers are depending on the UG for their sources. Just because a member of the UG made a post about it doesn’t mean that all future news stories on the subject are based on that post on the UG.
Third, Meltzer works for Yahoo Sports, an “editorial content partner” of the UFC. He is in frequent contact with UFC management, and if he had asked them about the story and they denied it, that would have been in his article. It wasn’t. Instead, he wrote that Zuffa “wanted to get the word out.”
I’m a huge MMA fan, but American Football is #1 for me. It’s a little sad when I see these prejudiced opinions of what constitutes the “fanbase” for football. It does great numbers in every demographic and every economic class. Just because you don’t find it interesting doesn’t mean you should insult the fans of that sport. It makes you look as ignorant and narrow-minded as the people that say “Oh, MMA is barbaric. Only wannabe tough guys and thugs watch human cockfighting”.
If you don’t like it, fine, nobody says you have to, but it’s a legitimate sport, and it offers a blend of athleticism, strategy and excitement that isn’t matched by any other sport (but I think MMA is a very close second).
45, there is a growing number of people in Europe and Australia that watch American football. But just like soccer in America, it’s hard for a sport to break through in a culture that has already established national sports and legacies that go along with them.
I don’t get why so many MMA fans attack other sports. The NFL is great. More people watch a single Super Bowl than have watched every MMA event ever combined.
Why can’t people like both? You open up a pandoras box making fun of footballs demos. The NFL could say MMA is followed by wannabes who think they know secret fighting techniques andwear Tshirts two sizes too small, don’t you think?
I think the NFLs lack of international popularity has more to do with the complexity of the sport than anything else. Same reason rugby isn’t more popular. I think a big part of soccers appeal is how easy it is to understand.
Meltzer always has solid UFC scoops because he and Joe Silva are tight.
Side note, I heard Joe Silva isn’t allowed to do interviews.
More people have gotten drunk and watched advertisements with their buddies than have watched every MMA event ever combined.
I’m not sure how many of them could tell you who even played in last year’s “Super Bowl” let alone what the score was (I couldn’t).
You think Americans wouldn’t remember that the Steelers won? C’mon, dude. The NFL pulls a 10.0 on Fox and CBS simultaneously.
The discussion on PTI about UFC 100 was actually pretty good for being 1:30. JR Adande noted that part of the problems NASCAR ultimately had were that in its attempts to appeal to people outside the south and rural America, they lost a chunk of their core fanbase they’re going to have to work to get back. I’d argue too that they never totally attained a strong foothold outside of the sort of people that listen to country music (as wide a group as that is these days).
His point in mentioning that is that while the UFC was successful with the niche audience they currently present to, by attempting to branch out in the fashion they claim to aspire to, they run the risk of alienating not just the most hardcore of fans, but also many of the early adopters who came to it because of its rebellious image.
I think there’s still a lot of comparisons to be made to the emergence of “action sports” in the mid 1990s and their inability to completely break through into being competitors to traditional stick and ball sports. Right now the biggest MMA fighter ever in this country has about the same cultural profile as Tony Hawk. Heck, even that’s argurable.
“In fact, they “wanted to get the word out,” as Dave Meltzer wrote.”
Do you know who else wrote those exact words? Ken Pavia. On GoldenBoy’s thread. A few hours after it was posted and DAYS before anyone in the media picked up on it. I’ll guarantee you you that everyone who has written an article on this has contacted Goldenboy and Pavia as sources. Like I said. HUGE overlap in sourcing.
“if he had asked them about the story and they denied it, that would have been in his article”
You know what else wasn’t in his article? An official comment from his content partner. Also, do you know where the article in question is NOT published? Dave’s Yahoo account. Strange. It seems to me the only source we have for ‘they want the word out’ is Ken Pavia (aka … the unnamed source). It sure as hell doesn’t seem like the UFC is broadcasting the information.
Again, I believe the story, but I don’t think more articles being published equals more credibility. It just means another reporter hopped on the same bandwagon using the same sources.
On a happier note ….
Goldenboy’s most recent bombshell was that a certain superfight that people have been waiting for over a decade to see has finally been signed. Even though both guys are well past their expiration date, he is claiming that the Gracie Hunter will finally get his chance to fight Mr. 400-0.
This I’ll say: Golden Boy’s news flashes are generally more reliable than a lot of the internet posters-cum-INSIDERZ~!. I’m down with Rickson/Sakuraba and I’m sure the Japanese public will eat it up. I’m sure the argument against it would be that the Japanese are trying to make money off old, washed up guys, but then I see Randy Couture’s fighting in a month and a half and I expect Chuck Liddell to romp on in any time after New Years to get his clock cleaned again. Big f’n deal.
Agreed on Rickson-Sakuraba. I don’t have any problem with past-prime guys fighting as long as the fight each other. However, I wouldn’t put Couture in that group just yet. He is 2-1 since his return to HW and all of those fights have been very competitive against top notch competition. One loss to a gigantic freak of an athlete does not mean he is over the hill … yet.
Agreed on Goldenboy as well. He is generally pretty reliable. My only gripe is with the notion more articles equal more credibility, especially when those articles are lifting direct quotes from GB’s thread.
Couture is 46 and hasn’t won a fight in 23 months. Unless Nogueira is nearly unable to function neurologically, he will lose next month. And then, he’ll keep fighting.
Also, (and I know this will get merged as a single post – A-OK with me), you’re absolutely right. Dude, people get the journalism they deserve. People right now seem to demand endless reposting of rumors from message boards because they often have the most exciting stories. Remember: Floyd Mayweather to UFC? BJ Penn doesn’t want to fight on international cards because he gets paid less? Stuff like that?
This place had a 50 post thread about one of those guys citing that he was an insider. Not a single word said came to fruition. That’s how ridiculous this all is.
Couture has been written off before and proved everyone wrong. He whooped Sylvia & Gonzaga when both were ranked in the top 10, and was giving Lesnar everything he could handle prior to getting clocked behind the ear by one of those canned hams that Brock calls fists.
Until I see him on the wrong end of a one-sided beatdown, I will still have faith that the guy can compete with cream of the crop.
People said the same thing about Holyfield. At some point you have to recognize what you got. Dude is not getting younger, he’s got a lot of personal issues right now, and he’s fighting someone who probably would have beat them in their respective primes. People used to say you can’t count Holyfield out either for a long time.
Steve— At this point, you’re just disputing facts. The usual tactic of defending the UFC is “demonize the writer, defend the UFC, rinse, repeat.” But in Dave Meltzer’s case, this is someone who is in constant contact with UFC management, as evidenced by the fact that he’s constantly writing things with UFC management cited as his source. And Meltzer wrote that Zuffa wanted to get the word out.
If you don’t understand why a story that portrays the UFC in a less-than-flattering light wouldn’t appear on Yahoo Sports, then you don’t know very much about the MMA media landscape.
Josh Gross, Robert Joyner, and Dave Meltzer have all done reporting on this topic, independently of each other, each providing additional details and insight that the others didn’t.
You have no idea who any of their sources are, and the fact that GoldenBoy and Ken Pavia posted about it on the UG doesn’t mean that all of this reporting by Gross, Joyner, and Meltzer is coming from them.
The irony about Tony Hawk is that by the time most people knew who he was (I think in large part from the video game, maybe a little before that) he wasn’t an active skate competitor.
He’s the Royce Gracie of skateboarding.
That’s a good point about Tony Hawk. He’s also a unique case in that the majority of his lifetime earnings came not from his winnings as an active skateboarder, but from his video game royalties after he was no longer a full-time competitor. The Tony Hawk skateboarding video game franchise has been huge for years and has made him a very, very wealthy man.