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DAMN iNATOR
03-01-2007, 11:21 AM
Ultimate Fighting matches WWE for top pay-per-view events' revenue
By Adam Goldman, Associated Press

NEW YORK -- In the tough business of putting on pay-per-view events, Ultimate Fighting Championship is no longer getting counted out.
The upstart company that specializes in mixed martial arts matched the once dominant World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. in pay-per-view revenues during 2006 and surpassed boxing-titan HBO. The three companies make up the bulk of the pay-per-view business.
"It was a killer year," UFC president Dana White said.
UFC, a privately held company owned by Zuffa LLC, does not release financial results and White would not discuss them. But an industry executive familiar with the results said the company's 10 pay-per-view events generated more than $200 million in customer retail revenue.
WWE said it had 16 events that generated approximately $200 million in revenue and HBO had 11 events, reporting revenue of $177 million.
Typically, the companies take home about half of hose customer retail revenues with cable companies getting the rest. The cost of the fights vary. People paid $39.95 to see UFC fighters pummel each other while WWE's brawls ranged between $34.95 to $49.95. HBO's most expensive events cost $49.95.
The performance marks a significant turnaround for the Las Vegas-based company -- once maligned as nothing more than a money-losing venture that promoted brawlers in a cage. UFC fought back using a television show on Spike TV, getting more states to sanction the fights and drawing huge crowds to the live events.
The strategy has appeared to work in a big way, helping spur more PPV buys -- sales of one event per household -- thanks to the popularity of UFC fighters such as Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell. UFC has a major PPV fight Saturday in Columbus, Ohio, where heavyweight champ Tim Sylvia and Randy Couture will slug it out.
"UFC has reinvigorated the pay-per-view category," said Deana Mears, a senior analyst at Kagan Research LLC that tracks the industry.
To spark interest in pay-per-view events, WWE and UFC also air bouts on various networks. WWE's shows -- "SmackDown", "RAW" and "Extreme Championship Wrestling" -- have been the top rated shows on their respective networks. HBO helps promote its fighters on "Boxing After Dark".
One big difference between WWE and UFC is their audience. Thirty-nine percent of WWE's buys came from international viewers. UFC doesn't have a slice of the international arena but intends to grab market share from WWE when it holds its first pay-per-view fight in Manchester, England on April 21. White noted UFC has initiatives in Canada, Mexico and England, where it recently opened an office in London.

Discuss.

Ninti the Mad
03-01-2007, 11:28 AM
I dont know what there is to discuss. I honestly dont care about PPV revenue.

DAMN iNATOR
03-01-2007, 11:31 AM
Fine. More specifically, discuss how this could begin to have a larger and larger impact on WWE's "slice of the PPV pie". Is UFC destined to become the "WWE killers"? Will they both remain players for some time to come? I just want people's opinions about that mainly.

.44 Magdalene
03-01-2007, 11:35 AM
Everything will go back to normal once people find out UFC is fake.

Theo Dious
03-01-2007, 11:37 AM
I don't think the overlap is significant enough to greatly impact the way WWE does things. I may be wrong, but I can't imagine there are a lot of people who would order one instead of the other.

Ninti the Mad
03-01-2007, 11:41 AM
I dunno. They are two different products.

I would blame the lackluster PPV buyrates of the WWE to their shitty PPV programs and oversaturation of PPV's.

Theo Dious
03-01-2007, 01:14 PM
This kind of thing does make me wonder why nobody has ever compared wrestling's PPV revenues to, say, boxing's.

Ninti the Mad
03-01-2007, 01:35 PM
My guess is because its on Spike and Spike is bitter the WWE left?

dunno

Xero
03-01-2007, 01:53 PM
This kind of thing does make me wonder why nobody has ever compared wrestling's PPV revenues to, say, boxing's.
You know, that's interesting. Everyone's on about WWE vs. UFC's buyrates, but you never hear about WWE vs. Boxing, or any other MMA event for that matter, it's always UFC, even before it became "WWE-style mainstream".

I don't think it's fair to compare WWE to UFC and not compare UFC and WWE to boxing, which I wouldn't be surprised has at least some strong numbers.

DAMN iNATOR
03-01-2007, 02:43 PM
Yeah, and you know what else...nobody ever compares the WWE PPV buyrates, revenues, etc. with TNA even...maybe it's all just a big publicity stunt or something for UFC and WWE (kinda doubt it but crazier shit has happened...)

Stickman
03-01-2007, 02:55 PM
UFC does put out better ppv product.

Theo Dious
03-01-2007, 03:10 PM
I'm reminded of a really old Simpsons episode:

Lisa: You're taking us to a doctor who advertises on pro wrestling?
Homer: Boxing, Lisa, boxing. There's a world of difference.

A lot of people just look at pro wrestling, shoot wrestling, boxing, anything that involves fighting in an organized fashion really, and lump it into the same category. So of course they compare those things to each other, even when there's no real similarity.

I would bet that the comparisons between WWE and UFC originate mostly from UFC and its fans. WWE undoubtedly made the jump to a mainstream presentation a long time ago and has more or less maintained that status ever since. The idea would be, if UFC can make people associate them with a similar model of success, it doesn't necessarily matter if the whole business is an apples-to-oranges deal.

Corkscrewed
03-01-2007, 04:00 PM
Interesting that UFC has a better per-PPV drawing rate than the WWE.

St. Jimmy
03-01-2007, 05:39 PM
Hogan says UFC is a shoot. That's good enough for me.

Dave Youell
03-01-2007, 06:25 PM
This is only based on the US markets, WWE kills UFC based on all sales worldwide.

But again it's a different product.

It's like comparing the ratings Monday Night Football gets compared to Friends

Who the fuck cares?

McLegend
03-01-2007, 09:34 PM
Boxing had one of its best years in recent memory.

Also WWE and UFC are after the same demograhpic and PPV money is like the way both companies make the majority of their money.

Let's not be like the WWE here and think just because UFC is real sport it's not any competition, becasue it is.

FourFifty
03-01-2007, 10:22 PM
Somehow the idea that UFC's ppv buyrates are just as good as WWE's sounds sorta.... Kurt Anglish....

Theo Dious
03-01-2007, 11:13 PM
Great, now "Anglish" is going to become a synonym for "possessing the quality or condition of an insane or egomaniacal rant claiming that your organization owns all others based on little or no imperical evidence."

Rob
03-02-2007, 05:43 AM
You know, that's interesting. Everyone's on about WWE vs. UFC's buyrates, but you never hear about WWE vs. Boxing, or any other MMA event for that matter, it's always UFC, even before it became "WWE-style mainstream".

I don't think it's fair to compare WWE to UFC and not compare UFC and WWE to boxing, which I wouldn't be surprised has at least some strong numbers.

Of course it's fair. If there are 4 PPV's a month (TNA, UFC and either 2 WWE or 1 WWE and a boxing show), most people can only afford to pay for 1 show so you are already competing for that one persons money. And the numbers are clearly showing more people are prefering UFC to WWE. TNA isn't even a blip.

Xero
03-02-2007, 07:16 AM
What about boxing though? How small is that "blip"?

As far as main stream goes, boxing is miles ahead of WWE, TNA and UFC.

McLegend
03-02-2007, 07:36 AM
UFC is more popular then boxing right now.

Xero
03-02-2007, 08:06 AM
Anyone got the numbers to back that up?

I'm not denying it, I'd just like to see a comparison between the three.

Xero
03-02-2007, 08:08 AM
Shit, should have read the article, it does mention boxing...

Theo Dious
03-02-2007, 08:24 AM
When did UFC start, anyways?

Xero
03-02-2007, 08:35 AM
1993

Theo Dious
03-02-2007, 09:34 AM
Wow, I have to give it up for them, I never thought they'd last.

Stickman
03-02-2007, 01:52 PM
Didnt' a recent boxing ppv bring in like 65000 viewers?