Timing: It’s Everything
A task for the UFC is to take care not to grow too fast for the fan base. Sport leagues, like the NFL or NHL, have long seasons and more frequent events, with off-seasons. Not so with the UFC.
The UFC of late has held events roughly every 3-4 weeks. Unlike a hockey or football game, which can be as free as you want it to be if you watch at home on TV, the UFC will cost you (despite the odd TV event), even if you’re just at a bar buying beer in order to validate your being there.
In spite of the UFC costing fans out-of-pocket, you get what you pay for with PPV. Other sporting events, that are 60 minutes in length of actual game time, cause you to sit through two and a half hours more of commercial bullshit. With PPV UFC events there is banter amongst the fights, but few commercials---only the odd movie or event promo. Even though the entire time isn’t fights, you’re getting event, not insurance or car ads.
It depends upon the individual, but I like the fact that there isn’t a fight every 3 days or every week or two. Fans get a decompression from the latest event, and a build up to the next. Added to the fact that the UFC fights are almost always stellar, this might be why MMA is the fastest growing sport in the world: the emotional and time commitment is more palatable. There’s nothing worse than watching your favorite team play every week, all season long, only to lose in the last game due to crappy refereeing (Ah-Seattle-hem!).
That said, UFC events are happening every weekend for four weeks starting this month: September 17 th, 24 th, October 1 st and 8 th. As the UFC expands out like an inflating balloon, it needs to take care that it doesn’t burst. Fans can easily enough pick and choose the cards to watch, and it’s doubtful Dana White plans to keep up that pace regularly, but if he does, many fans may pull out of the loop. Fight cards every week or two will drastically change how fans ingest the sport.
Like a restaurant, if you create a menu people like, they will come, but they don't want to eat there all the time. So far, the UFC’s Chef, Dana White, has succeeded in stellar fashion, mixing the ingredients---PPVs, free TV with some TUF mixed in--just right. And the UFC has been successful, till now, to not cook too fast while reaching out to other weight divisions, countries and continents.
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It’s a delicate balance for Dana White, one that MMA pundits are always ready to criticize. But White has been a great student of boxing’s multitude of errors, namely too many promotions, fixed fights, and Don King. So far, he hasn’t slipped up.
In November, Fox will show the heavyweight tilt between Velasquez and dos Santos. This event will only be an hour long, however, if successful, more frequent and free events will drastically alter the experience with commercials. Take heed, UFC. In the fight game, timing is everything. Just ask Anderson Silva.
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By Renko Styranka
ProFighting-fans.com MMA Staff Writer