Short version: Something about TV rights, ghouls and dating the elderly.
Long version: So firstly, WME 'got their 300 million. Wow. Ari Emmanuel and Shapiro did it' deal, as the other thread starts with. And they did do pretty well - there were several pessimistic reports that it was going to struggle to get to $250 mill.
But the problem is that the narrative about 300 million was already the revised target - not the original target of 400 million per year that was the basis of the sale price. So they didn't get what they initially wanted. And we haven't heard what's going on with Fight Pass - if this deal means that ESPN+ totally subsumes it - which would make sense - then the deal gets even less sweet.
What we don't know is how much WME would've got if they hadn't screwed the business up since taking over. The fact remains that ratings, PPV numbers and attendances are in serious decline.
The WWE (yes, WWE wrestling, not WME) deal shows that these massive new TV deals are not the result of business improvement, but in spite of it. WWE has lost more than a million weekly viewers since its last TV deal, yet its TV rights more than doubled from almost the same as the UFC's to 450 million. If WME are genius negotiators, what the fuck does that make Vince McMahon and co?
We are still in a sports media rights bubble (and likely a more general economic bubble), fueled by fierce competition and new services to accommodate changing viewing habits that doesn't necessarily reflect the real value of the properties. Nearly every sports property is getting massive new deals despite declining viewership. But ESPN could still get fucked by this deal if UFC ratings continue to decline and if the bubble has burst before the next round of negotiations, there will be no TV deal to the rescue.
At some stage the amount of eyeballs actually watching the product will matter.
Long version: So firstly, WME 'got their 300 million. Wow. Ari Emmanuel and Shapiro did it' deal, as the other thread starts with. And they did do pretty well - there were several pessimistic reports that it was going to struggle to get to $250 mill.
But the problem is that the narrative about 300 million was already the revised target - not the original target of 400 million per year that was the basis of the sale price. So they didn't get what they initially wanted. And we haven't heard what's going on with Fight Pass - if this deal means that ESPN+ totally subsumes it - which would make sense - then the deal gets even less sweet.
What we don't know is how much WME would've got if they hadn't screwed the business up since taking over. The fact remains that ratings, PPV numbers and attendances are in serious decline.
The WWE (yes, WWE wrestling, not WME) deal shows that these massive new TV deals are not the result of business improvement, but in spite of it. WWE has lost more than a million weekly viewers since its last TV deal, yet its TV rights more than doubled from almost the same as the UFC's to 450 million. If WME are genius negotiators, what the fuck does that make Vince McMahon and co?
We are still in a sports media rights bubble (and likely a more general economic bubble), fueled by fierce competition and new services to accommodate changing viewing habits that doesn't necessarily reflect the real value of the properties. Nearly every sports property is getting massive new deals despite declining viewership. But ESPN could still get fucked by this deal if UFC ratings continue to decline and if the bubble has burst before the next round of negotiations, there will be no TV deal to the rescue.
At some stage the amount of eyeballs actually watching the product will matter.
