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Dan Wetzel at Yahoo Sports: UFC 101 will do 1 million PPV buys
By Zach Arnold | August 6, 2009
Just where exactly did he get that figure? If that is what Dana White is predicting…
One all-out battle begets another. This is the core of the UFC business model, how the promotion, in the middle of a recession, gets so many people to shell out $44.95 month after month. UFC 101 is expected to do more than a million pay-per-view buys. Griffin-Silva could’ve headlined its own show. Instead it’s adding depth to a card, helping maintain momentum from the momentous UFC 100.
Now that Wetzel has publicly stated the 1 million PPV buy claim, I fully expect it to be parroted and used by various mainstream writers *after* the show takes place, no matter what the real buyrate ends up being.
Pre-UFC 101 media coverage
- The Canadian Press: Playful Anderson Silva says someone’s going to fall in UFC 101 showdown
- The Philadelphia Daily News: Shane Victorino, Phillies teammates are fans of MMA
- The Las Vegas Sun: Anderson Silva already putting on a show — in workouts
- The Las Vegas Sun: BJ Penn makes sacrifices to come back on top after loss
- The Philadelphia Inquirer: UFC comes to Philadelphia – and the impact it’s had on boxing back East
- The Philadelphia Daily News: MMA is an imperfect battlefield and has less throwaway fights than boxing
- Sportsnet (Canada): Notes from Wednesday UFC fighter workouts
On a side note, here’s an update on Andrei Arlovski.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 62 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
When he posts these things is he talking to cable industry people or Dana? For 100 they went with a new tactic of predicting low so they could claim surprising success, are they going back on that?
A year ago this show would be a 500-550,000 buy card. But how many of the 1.6m that bought UFC 100 are going to stick around? The bar is being raised constantly in terms of how to define success on PPV, but I’d be surprised if this is below 600,000. Which is a great number (Mir-Lesnar 1 did 600).
The latest garbage from everyone’s favorite UFC astro-turfer, “mmalogic,” comes in the comments section of this post (http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2009/8/5/978873/the-correct-way-to-use-fedor-in), and it’s about the potential marketability of Brett Rogers.
In response to a comment by Michael Rome in which he said that Rogers has a lot of marketability, “mmalogic” made comment posts that included the following quotes:
“mmalogic”: “The problem is that he’s black. Black dont sell ppv’s in MMA.”
and
“mmalogic”: ““working class black man” doesnt get a black fanbase nor the “wanna be black” white fanbase”
and
“mmalogic”: “Rashad, Rampage, Tuf and Kimbo is a trojan setup in getting the “wanna be” black market. (the white kids who actually spend money).”
On another note, I am going to be seriously pissed if Fedor’s first Strikeforce fight is announced and his opponent is someone other than Alistair Overeem in a title fight (or someone else in an “interim title fight” if Overeem’s hand is still not healed by October). I don’t understand Strikeforce’s mindset in wanting to put Fedor in a non-title fight first in order to “build up” to a Fedor-Overeem fight. As Chief Wiggum would say, “Book ’em, Lou!”
Jesus, I just read the Andrei Arlovski article that is linked-to above, and that’s upsetting to hear that he was suicidal after his two recent losses. That kind of depression is a lot to have on his plate, along with his recovery from the concussion that Fedor caused and the concussion that Rogers caused. I hope Arlovski gets well soon.
If this sells a million, I’ll be shocked. BJ and Silva aren’t major draws so that would be one hell of a hangover from 100.
* * * MEDIA TELECONFERENCE ALERT * * *
FEDOR “THE LAST EMPEROR’’ EMELIANENKO,
SCOTT COKER & KEN HERSHMAN,
VADIM FINKELCHTEIN
To Hold Media Conference Call
Thursday, Aug. 6, at 2 P.M. ET/11 A.M. PT
WHO: MMA Superstar & World’s Universally Recognized No. 1 Heavyweight Fedor
Senior VP & GM, Sports & Event Programming, Showtime Networks, Ken Hershman
STRIKEFORCE Founder & CEO Scott Coker
President of M-1 Global Vadim Finkelchtein
WHAT: Fedor and the executives will participate in a national media conference call to discuss the potentially game-changing announcement Monday that the fervently sought-after Emelianenko had signed a historic, multi-fight agreement that will see him headline mega-events co-promoted by STRIKEFORCE and M-1 Global.
Fedor will make his premium television debut during the fall when his first fight under the new agreement airs live on SHOWTIME®. Up until now, all his live fights had aired exclusively on pay-per-view in the United States.
ACCESS#:(888) 299-4099 (U.S. Toll Free), (866) 682-1172 (Canadian Toll Free), (302) 709-8337 (International Toll); Ask For SHOWTIME/Strikeforce/M-1 Global Conference Call
(Verbal Passcode: VB37030)
WHEN: Thursday, Aug, 6, 2009; 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT
Seeing as though Overeem has a kickboxing match in October if he doesn’t fight in MMA I’m calling bullshit.
Poor Andrei. He really does seem like a genuine dude, he just needs to pull himself out of this rut.
According to Meltzer, UFC 101 countdown did 800,000 views… Which is high compared
to most of them. There is definitly some added bonus to being the show right after 100. Not
sure about 1 million.
As for mmalogic… What he is saying is extremely non pc… But it does have some truth to it. You don’t think advertising firms don’t discuss things like that behind closed doors? Welcome to the real world.
And Fedor needs to fight Rogers or Overeem. Anything else is boxing like matchmaking to protect their investment….
No offense, but can we talk about the fights at UFC 101 instead of the BIZ BIZ BIZ? There’s two superb mains on that card! Two of the UFC champions are fighting!
BTW, the explanation that MMA internet fans are not often actual sports fans seems to be buoyed by the fact that there aren’t hundreds of jokes about BJ Penn’s new fitness trainer.
Seriously, Anderson Silva vs. Forrest Griffin is one of the most interesting fights of the year and really hard to predict. Instead, everybody is talking about buy rates and Vadim/Fedor, trying to be Dave Meltzer. Fuck that.
Also, seriously, poor Andrei. Dude is a great fighter and a genuine nice guy and is so shook by losing that he tried to kill himself (let’s face it, more of a cry for help). I hope he makes an awesome comeback.
One BIZ BIZ BIZ interjection
http://mmajunkie.com/news/15738/m-1-global-searching-for-new-location-for-previously-announced-breakthrough-event-on-aug-28.mma
Will Anderson Silva ever be a star?
UFC on Yahoo = press release
Anyone have an actual link to the Andrei article? Seems like a great guy but I suppose being in a situation where the one thing you do best is the one thing that you’re now failing at can pull everything out from under you. Depression is a very serious thing (and a common side effect after multiple concussions) and I hope he gets some help for it.
-Rp
For those people that think black guys don’t draw, Kimbo pretty much wiped the floor with that on CBS. It’s a stupid racist argument and I hope to god that mmalogic isn’t actually someone from UFC because any major corporation with that mindset deserves to go out of business.
-Rp
I am posting this at noon Eastern Time….
Why do i get the feeling that Strikeforce is going to announce Fedor vs. Buentello…
As for mmalogic…. I think where he is coming from is that advertisers (which is where CBS makes their money) don’t buy into black products. Kimbo might have brought in the ratings, but that might not mean advertisers will be there along with him.
I’m no expert in advertising, but I know they do break it down by ages, demographics, and the type of audience. I wouldn’t be shocked if it is broken down by skin color either.
mmalogic has also said that each Strikeforce Heavyweight is going to have to decide whether they want to fight Fedor, or take easier fights and get a great deal from Zuffa.
That sounds very likely to me. I said before that Zuffa is going to dry up the Heavyweight Division outside of Fedor….
45;
I thought Buentello was signed by the UFC after Affliction Entertainment closed down their doors. So how can Strikeforce do a Fedor/Buentello fight?
As for mmalogic…. I think where he is coming from is that advertisers (which is where CBS makes their money) don’t buy into black products
“Blacks don’t sell PPVs” would seem to indicate otherwise.
mmalogic has also said that each Strikeforce Heavyweight is going to have to decide whether they want to fight Fedor, or take easier fights and get a great deal from Zuffa.
I think they might get offered great deals by Zuffa, and if so, awesome for them. I doubt they’ll have easier fights though.
Buentello…. I thought so too at first, but some people are saying he has one more fight left with Strikeforce.
Alan,
The real winners of the Fedor singing are the other Strikeforce Heavyweights. They have all the leverage here. Either way, they should be getting at least one big payday, if not a few.
It can’t be Buentello. I just read an interview yesterday where he said he just signed with the UFC and his goal was to make a title run. He’s fighting the same guy he was scheduled against in Affliction, and I want to say it’s happening at 104.
^^^(inserts foot in mouth).
I confused Ben Rothwell with Buentello. Oops. Nevermind.
Advertisers, and developers of programming, definitely consider race. What mmalogic said might offend a few people, but thats only if you don’t like reality.
I find I can’t get too excited about this card. I want Penn and Silva to get crushed, but I expect them to do the crushing.
Grove vs. Almeida should be entertaining.
Doesn’t sound like any real news is coming out of the Strikeforce Press Conference…. I was hoping they would announce the opponent…
UFC 101 isn’t short of talent. The only problem is that the majority of talent is too new into their career to really make for an exciting undercard. Two years from now, I bet we could look back on the card and comment on how many future contenders were on here.
To me, it’s really missing one more good fight. They should have taken Gonzaga/Chris T from the undercard of UFC 102 and put it on this main card. I think that would have done the trick.
I’m going to post the conference call audio shortly after it ends. It started late, and they’ve just finished opening remarks.
Oh, and conference calls with translators never works. Especially when the translator is of a different gender then both of the people she is translating for.
Couldn’t they have found a male for this?
Fedor can’t come up with a single person he wants to fight. Ugh, Eddie Goldman.
Loretta stirring the pot.
Shocking questions by Loretta Hunt. She typically is the weakest interviewer in the sport. Not today.
Ariel on the horn.
Good jab from Vadim, basically saying (through the translator) that Brock is a product of UFC marketing with no real standing.
Ho ho, Showtime upset that there are questions about M-1s other cards. What did you expect when you decided to co-promote/
Notice as soon as the M-1 questions were asked, Vadim wasn’t around…
They purposely avoid questions and remove themselves from the call when the going get’s tough.
Scott Coker must be crapping himself right now.
M-1 has been around a long time? How long?
Strikeforce is going to have a call at 2PM ET on Monday for the Carano fight.
Josh Gross checking in.
Another teleconference! More nothing is learned! EXCITEMENT~
Vadim is dying on the phone.
“Vadim??”
*dog barks loudly*
Couldn’t they have combined these two?
Gina ain’t exactly a good interview either. She talks like a Middle School girl…. Um yeah, okay, like totally awesome!! Not to mention the immature awkward laughs every 10 seconds.
Fluyid, you may remember M-1 better as Mixfight. Their early shows were in the 90s.
I hope every website realizes sooner rather than later that every time they do these SUPER TELECONFERENCES that all they’re doing is keeping M-1 and Fedor’s name out there ahead of actual stories. Like, take today – no opponent. No real insight. No discussions of anything. But announce a press teleconference, and hooboy, everyone rushes in with precall discussion, LIVE BLOGGING OF THE CALL (!!!!) and then post call analysis. Just beyond.
Are you actually listening to this train crash though, Alan? This is serious entertainment here.
Did they give Coker’s number to everybody?
This is a trainwreck…
Alan,
Sadly, every website has bought into this for years. They are schills for anybody who puts their name out to the press. They should be a filter, not an echo chamber.
“From my viewpoint, the UFC does not have the proper attitude for fighters. They do not consider fighters to be normal people, human beings.”
– Fedor
Ah, thanks for that, Jeremy (not that Jeremy). I do remember.
Should I call in and make a bunch of fart noises?
All of these calls are, some more than others. The difference is that up until last week no one gave a crap. BJ Penn got pranked like, what, 2-3 weeks ago during the UFC 101 call?
Wait for the audio, there are loads of fart noises, loud kids, dogs, and Vadim dying.