WME received $25m first year as "management" (before profits)

[FrankieNYC]

Found out that before ownership profits are divided, that WME received $25m salary to manage UFC
A lot don't realize that as of 9/17, WME did not even own 50% of UFC.
When they put the deal together with their partners, they arraigned to be paid $25m upfront.

 

[mmadotcomisufcdotcom]

The purchase was and is a cash grab. The Fertita's set it up so their huge payouts rolled over to the new owners and remained business as usual.

Question: Will there be a time that in order to support MMA and fighters fans will have to move on from the UFC? Or, has the UFC been succesful their marketing that MMA is UFC and vice versa?

 

[jason73]

The purchase was and is a cash grab. The Fertita's set it up so their huge payouts rolled over to the new owners and remained business as usual.

Question: Will there be a time that in order to support MMA and fighters fans will have to move on from the UFC? Or, has the UFC been succesful their marketing that MMA is UFC and vice versa?

In north america by and large ufc = mma. Worldwide mma>ufc .the rest of the world doesnt want to watch wrestle boxing.they want martial arts.they want russian stars in russia and asian stars in asia.

 

[member 3289]

In north america by and large ufc = mma. Worldwide mma>ufc .the rest of the world doesnt want to watch wrestle boxing.they want martial arts.they want russian stars in russia and asian stars in asia.

I think the biggest reasons that UFC /= MMA in other countries are because of the timing and the language (it's primarily delivered to English-speaking audiences).

Even in Australia, time doesn't matter bc the country is Anglophone. People wake up early on Sunday mornings to go to the pub to watch a UFC event. And drink and get drunk, on a Sunday morning.

@Joemacka has told me that for most events (and especially bigger ones), the pubs are packed and he has to get there early to get a seat with a good view of the TV.

 

[member 3289]

^Oh and @Joemacka lives in Western Australia (lol), so I imagine it's even bigger in a more civilized state like New South Wales or Queensland.

 

[Sheepdog]

I think the biggest reasons that UFC /= MMA in other countries are because of the timing and the language (it's primarily delivered to English-speaking audiences).

Even in Australia, time doesn't matter bc the country is Anglophone. People wake up early on Sunday mornings to go to the pub to watch a UFC event. And drink and get drunk, on a Sunday morning.

@Joemacka has told me that for most events (and especially bigger ones), the pubs are packed and he has to get there early to get a seat with a good view of the TV.

I can usually semi-accurately predict how many North American PPV buys there will be by the amount of people that are watching the UFC on a Sunday morning at various pubs in Australia.

I can't speak for the 3rd World Banana Republic that is Western Australia, but in the normal part of the country it's certainly not true that for 'most' events that the pubs are packed. People here might be drunks but we're not completely retarded, and for garbage events like 224 there will just be a core group of fuckwits that you see at every event. But obviously if Conor is fighting, you can't even move in the venue.

I think perhaps the only difference is that stacked cards will get a big turnout even if there is no marquee name to drive PPV buys at the top, so in that regard it seems like a slightly more 'hardcore' and informed market. And there's other exceptions that can occur due to marketing differences. For example, UFC 220 seemed like a pretty massive card here but only did 350k PPV buys in North America, and that was based not on it being a particularly stacked card, but for some reason the Ngannou hype-job was more effective in Australia.

 

[member 3289]

I can usually semi-accurately predict how many North American PPV buys there will be by the amount of people that are watching the UFC on a Sunday morning at various pubs in Australia.

I can't speak for the 3rd World Banana Republic that is Western Australia, but in the normal part of the country it's certainly not true that for 'most' events that the pubs are packed. People here might be drunks but we're not completely retarded, and for garbage events like 224 there will just be a core group of fuckwits that you see at every event. But obviously if Conor is fighting, you can't even move in the venue.

I think perhaps the only difference is that stacked cards will get a big turnout even if there is no marquee name to drive PPV buys at the top, so in that regard it seems like a slightly more 'hardcore' and informed market. And there's other exceptions that can occur due to marketing differences. For example, UFC 220 seemed like a pretty massive card here but only did 350k PPV buys in North America, and that was based not on it being a particularly stacked card, but for some reason the Ngannou hype-job was more effective in Australia.

Unrelated but can you guys stop doing "shooeys"?

That shit is gross.

 

[Sheepdog]

Unrelated but can you guys stop doing "shooeys"?

That shit is gross.

Shooeys are as Australian as racism and shit internet.

 

[jason73]

it is hard to even find a pub that is playing the ufc in canada anymore especially while the nhl playoffs are on. there may be a few that are playing it on a secondary screen but it is not like back in the GSP era when all pubs and some restaurant chains played every ppv . there are sports bars with 20 tvs that play the ufc but they also play soccer and other gay shit. i can only think of 1 place in my town that plays all ufc ppvs and a handful in the city next to me