Fuck ESPN
 

So I remember back in 2007 when they were all over the Rampage/Liddell fight then they started ESPN's MMA Live.. Well, that show is now on at like 2am on Friday mornings.. The only time I've seen them talk about UFC was a few interviews with Sonnen and a glancing mention of GSP's comeback.. This is ridiculous cause they fill their day with reruns and multiple discussions of the same stories.. Today they have 16 year old African girl chess champion playing their analyst in studio..

Really??

You couldn't have a 3 minute segment about the biggest network card in the history of MMA??

:nono:

Yet they cover spelling bee's, NASCAR, poker, pool, bowling, and now chess, I guess..

:foc:

fuck you

Doesn't help that Dana blasts them all the time though, hes always dogging that Josh Gross guy.

fuck Josh Gross

Spillfuck

This is a factor.

Maybe if Dana White was more of a professional, instead of a profane, overreacting trash talker, his company would get more respect.

Can you blame ESPN for not covering sports that they dont broadcast on any of their networks?

"HEY GUYS LETS PUMP UP THIS EVENT THAT WILL CRUSH OUR SATURDAY NIGHT PROGRAMMING".

ESPN is a business.

Bingo.

MMA isn't mainstream yet, and it won't be until the most powerful man in the sport quits acting like a drunk frat boy who thinks somebody hit on his girlfriend.

They had a good working relationship 5 years ago that by all accounts ESPN ended.. Pretty sure Dana wasn't "blasting" them during that time period..

ESPN was in the talks to "buy" UFC rights and have live events on ESPN.. From what I remember, they wanted to take over "creative control" which Dana wasn't gonna give up..

If they treated it like a legitimate sport and gave title shots on merit and not "who can draw" then it wouldn't have been a big deal.

Creative control probably just had to deal with promotional aspect of things and given better cards than other networks.

Oh, and not having shitheads like Diaz or Lesnar go apeshit on live television.

lol

They show/cover boxing which has been doing this for well over a century..

ESPN ate up the Lesnar UFC 100 postfight antic, bro..

But it didn't happen on their network. How positive was their coverage of Brock's stunt? They show Suh kicking people in the balls and stomping on skulls a lot too.

Yes. Boxing is also getting horrible coverage and show times because boxing is dead barring a handful of fighters.

I can get MMA updates and results sent to my phone through ESPN, but not boxing.

The boxing portion of ESPN.com is a subpage in the MMA section..

Isn't boxing part of the mix in mixed martial arts?

Yes but ten years ago, ESPN had a Boxing section with no MMA..

Now it has an MMA section with a boxing subsection..

Boxing is a dead sport..

ESPN don't give a shit about boxing, all they do is cream over Pac/Floyd.

Even when Marquez KO'd him none of the talk was about the fight, just crying about how it means the 'superfight' aint gonna happen anymore (like it was gonna happen anyway)

Used to like MMA Live when Anik and Sonnen/Florian presented but now it sucks...Rivera is a shit analyst guy

Yeah it is absolute shit.. The main reason IMO isn't that Anik is gone, cause Todd Harris is OK, but it more of the fact that the analysts are shit.. That's because Dana got tired of ESPN so you don;t get KenFlo/Sonnen/Rashad, you get Pat Militiech, that black guy espn.com writer who always asked stupid questions at pressers, and that guy that looks like Jeremt Horns retarded uncle..

ESPN didn't fold boxing into an MMA subsection. They're two separate pages under the "More Sports" tab and boxing is ahead of MMA unless I'm retarded and missing something.

Love how Brits like my homie MoFo say presented instead of hosted. British lexicon is so proper.

Must be how I have mine personalized..

:o

a dead sport making 10 times what the UFC does a year.....

The fight this past Saturday had 1 million ppv buys.. The UFC on FOX had 6 million views..

The only boxers that draw are Pac and Mayweather and one of those dudes isn't gonna be a draw after this past Saturday.. Boxing stopped creating new superstars in the late 90's when the UFC started making theirs.. Boxing is on the way out..

Boxing will never die. MMA is predetermined just like wrestling.

MMA is fake. Besides I don't agree with martial arts mixing. They should stick to their own.

Did Bobby Jaggers ever fight GSP?

Bobby Jaggers would kill GSP, whoever the hell that faggot is. Also what's the deal with those affliction t-shirts?

That's not really an accurate comparison Kris P. 1 million pay per view buys is a huge number considering that pay per views cost 60 bucks a pop. Also, 1 million pay per view buys doesn't mean only 1 million people watched considering most people watch these fights with friends or at bars that order these pay per views.

The UFC should do 6 million views on t.v. when they're offering a PPV caliber card and to be honest, Pacquiao/Marquez on free t.v. probably would have smashed that number.

Glad to see Gertner and Shisen have put the band back together.

I understand the difference between PPV and free tv ratings but 6 million is a HUGE number for any sporting event barring the NFL or MBL playoffs.. Look at it this way, the NBA on ESPN is averaging 350,000 views per game, with the TOP BILLED games barely making 2 million.. I'm not saying ESPN should drop the NBA cause the rating are actually up this season, but, tonight they are showing girls college volleyball, had they signed the contract before FOX, they could be doing a build up for tomorrow nights fights.. And show the fights tomorrow night and prolly pull better ratings tonight and similar ratings tomorrow night..

I am super happy with the FOX deal as it is the biggest step for MMA since the sanctioning, but I really think ESPN dropped the ball and continues to do so by not covering the fastest growing sport in the world..

Patriots/Texans got 14.5 mill, but I'm pretty sure Jets/Titans this monday will be much closer to the number the UFC put up saturday night..

Comparing NBA/NFL regular season games to championship fight cards isn't really accurate either though. An NBA team plays 85 games a year and the regular season really doesn't matter and the NFL getting 6 million for a matchup between two teams that aren't going to make the playoffs probably wouldn't bother them either, even though I expect that number to be higher anyways. A more accurate comparison would be between that Fox number and the ratings for an NBA Finals game.

The UFC had to put together a PPV caliber card to get that number and Dana has said on several occasions that they lose more money than they make when they stack cards like that for free tv. Plus, ESPN wanted to be able to control the production and Dana wasn't going to give that up.

I'm a big fan of MMA as is known, I just think the nature of combat sports and how it's viewed by the public means there is a ceiling and people who think the UFC will ever be on par with the NBA, NFL or MLB are a bit off. There will never be enough stars or fighters with exciting enough styles for the UFC to have every PPV and free show be compelling. That's just how combat sports work. The mainstream audience might tune in for a championship fight or a PPV card featuring the biggest stars because of the event like status... the TUF finale... not so much.

I know it will never be on par with the NFL I just think ESPN waste alot of time with filler and shows absolute bullshit (poker, bowling, etc) when there is material out there that is much more compelling to the demographic they are geared toward..

And, to be fair, there are 9 belts now, including the women 135 title, so that's three quarters of yr year just having a title fight a month..

Yes and only three of those titles (HW, LHW and WW) are consistent draws. As great as Anderson is, unless he was stacked on a card with another champ like B.J. Penn, people weren't buying PPVs until the feud with Sonnen and if the last PPV buyrate was any indication, those numbers were purely related to the Sonnen feud.

155 PPV numbers are always poor and mainstream interest in 145 and 135 is pretty much non-existent. We'll see how Rousey draws. MMA is just like boxing in the sense that having a title fight isn't enough to be a major draw no matter how popular MMA gets or how it's promoted compared to how boxing was promoted at its peak. There's always going to be a few major draws whose fights are events that draw the public in and every other fight is going to be dependent on the matchup or just serve as filler.

The 155 title just drew a huge number.. I realize it was on free tv but it negates alot of what you are saying..

Also, the feather, bantam, and flyweights are all relatively new for the UFC.. Give them a few years to build the divisions and they will also draw..

Anderson wasn't drawing because of his competition.. Let Bisping beat Belfort and I bet you Bisping/Silva will prolly be one of the best buyrates for next year (behind Jones/Sonnen and GSP/Diaz)..

I agree with what you are saying, I just think ESPN wasted a huge opportunity and constantly show garbage while all but ignoring MMA..

They could have gotten Bellator.. Had a live show once a month and do build up "behind the scenes" shows, etc.. Would have been alot better than featuring a chess champion and showing the World Series of Poker...

It doesn't negate what I'm saying at all considering the fight was free, heavily promoted on Fox and also featured B.J. Penn (a guy who was a big PPV draw for the company in his prime) and Shogun Rua. Also, despite Steele feeling otherwise about Nate Diaz, Nate being the challenger also helped considering the popularity of the Diaz brothers.

And again, Zuffa doesn't make money from those free fights so it's not necessarily in their best interest to have to stack a card like that in order to support a champion that isn't a PPV draw.

4.4 million for the show, 6 million for the main event..

Why couldn't ESPN heavily promote fights?? Or any network they are on for that matter??

Possible because they view MMA as too risky for their network because some shithead might start flipping everyone off or Dana White start cussing out fighters in the post-show presser. Remember, ESPN/ABC is owned by Disney.

Like this??

http://blacksportsonline.com/home/wp...rd-300x224.jpg

Or this??

http://www.conservativecommune.com/w...Flips-Bird.jpg

Or this??

http://cdn.sportsmemorabilia.com/spo...841187-500.jpg

And that guy works for ESPN..

GTFO of here with yr incessant garbage..

Just because shit happens doesn't mean they approve of it and desire it on their network. The NFL also has much more pull than the UFC as they are already on their network and are easily the most profitable brand in sports. Quit being such a defensive asshat.

Stop using Nate Diaz flipping people off as this supposed dagger that is the end all of MMA ever becoming mainstream.. There has been the exact same thing in all other major sports.. Cussing, flipping the bird, fights, etc happen pretty much every major league game ever played..

"Disney owns ESPN", yeah whatever.. They were all over Gronk posting pictures with a porn star, Andre Johnson and Cortland Finnegan fighting, Ndomakong Suh's stomping peoples balls, and ANY other scandal that equals ratings..

Stop acting like Diaz raped a baby..

You keep missing the entire fucking point and just keep pointing to other athlete's bad behavior.

All those other leagues are well established. UFC is trying to establish itself as more than Boxing 2.0 and as a viable year round sport for networks to air and shed it's negative image from years of bad press. These incidents do not help them do that. What is so fucking hard to understand about that point?

What's so hard to understand that these type of things happened during the growth of said pro leagues, not just after they were already popular??

You act like ESPN is airing Suh kicking people in the head and screaming "THIS IS WHY I LOVE FOOTBALL!!" No, they are condemning it and destroying his character. You bitch about ESPN not giving UFC a fair shake, but when the only notable thing out of UFC the past year or so was not about the competition but the bullshit circus surrounding the fights.

I've never denied they didn't, but UFC need to do something about it like the other leagues do. UFC is also developing in the 2000s and not the 1940s.

WTF are you talking about??

Why shouldn't they do the same to Diaz??

Are you fucking retarded??

I am sure that if FOX had complained then Dana White would have fined Diaz, or will fine fighters/cornermen if they do shit like this on live broadcast tv..

**Not to the point of Goodell football overlord levels, but you know what I mean. Fighters should know that if they are dumb enough to pull the kind of shit Silva, Diaz, or Ortiz, etc. have pulled over the years in the main event of a network special they will pay for it.

It shouldn't take Fox complaining to get Dana to fine him. It should be a standardized thing. What if Silva pulled his stunt like he did awhile back in the main event of a Fox Special (I know he will only ever be on PPV but work with me) then what? Fighters should have the fear of God of doing stupid shit that hurts the sport.

But on the contrary, ESPN was in negotiations with Zuffa for UFC programming. There was one big hang up: ESPN wanted full production control during live events. Fox let Zuffa keep that.

Wonder why ESPN would want full production control during live events?

But that is why yr point is moot, FOX came out and said they were happy with the way UFC production handled it and had ZERO complaints..

That is great, but it still happened. The fact it happened is the whole issue. Just because Fox has no complaints doesn't mean nothing should be done about it.

Next Big Thing gets it.

Exactly.

Zuffa rolled out a once in a lifetime card for Free TV to try to grow its brand. They cannot do this very often. but it was a wise move. And yes, lots of viewers. Now we need to see if it increases PPV buys and the UFC Brand.

But to compare Boxing and MMA, Krispy if you actually beleive anything you are saying, must be crazy.

Pac Man made more on this one fight alone (Not even considering the money made by the venue, opponent, and promoters) than the UFC makes on a few events combined.

Yes but other than him and Mayweather, who is a boxing draw??

Also, you have to consider it's been 12 years since MMA had full sanctions, while boxing has been around since the 1800's..

Are you a moron? You are claiming MMA is more viable right now than boxing then keep pushing out these completely irrelavant facts?

YEAH, MMA IS NEWER! So being smaller than big money boxing isnt a bad thing. You have such a napoleon complex about a FUCKING SPORT.

You might not consider anyone major draws, but the next title fight is going to out gross UFC. Doesnt fucking matter.

the UFC is growing every year. They arent going to catch boxing overnight. Give it up.

Kris P logic

"Papa Johns is bigger and better than Pizza Hut"

"Actually Pizza hut has more locations and higher revenue"

"Oh well Papa Johns is newer on a National Scale".

"OK....Has nothing to do with the subject".

And yes, I used Pizza as an analogy because you are fat and I thought it might help you understand.

Calm down..

First of all MMA is more viable than boxing and in the next 10 years will def over take it in buyrates and revenue.. Ten years ago you had like 6 boxers who were a big "draw" and now that number is down to TWO.. Really after saturday night, the one big money match boxing had left is now null and void due to ONE of those TWO big time draws getting KTFO.. Boxings main problem was they milked guys like De La Hoya for all he was worth, while not developing new talent..

All this is besides the point..

The point is, you have a popular sport that is drawing bigger numbers than the NBA, NHL, and MLB and it's not being discussed on ESPN "the worldwide leader in sports" all because of politics, while they fill their airtime with bowling, poker, spelling bee's, and chess champions..

If you read the thread, boxing was brought up because James Steele claims that the reason UFC isn't mainstream, is because they gave Sonnen a title shot cause he is a draw.. I merely said boxing had been doing that for over a century.. Then the comparisons about boxing draws to MMA started.. Sure boxing still draws more NOW, because it is a 150 year old sport, while MMA is only 19 years old.. Granddad's still order boxing PPV's, but in a few years those granddads will not be around to continue to be fans..

You realize the demographic all these sports are geared towards is 18-40 year olds right?? I can't name a single person that ordered that PPV saturday night, but I sure can name like 30 of my friends who watch the UFC and that;s not just because it was on free tv..

Bottom line, ESPN is missing out on a pretty large chunk of fans who would watch just for MMA who don;t even watch non combat sports.. Don;t really think Bowling can say the same..

ESPN isnt missing out, because they didnt end up with the UFC contract. Its the same reason there is no NHL coverage.

They arent ever going to promote or cover a sport that competes with their programming. Then things keep going in circles.

They do cover NHL on SportsCenter, when there is a season..

And they are losing out because they made poor business decision by not signing the UFC contract..

http://cdn.bleacherreport.net/images...jpg?1266347803

That guy is on SportsCenter all the time as their NHL Analyst..

Or is UFC missing out because they didn't want to give up production?

They should probably close down UFC. That's very rude and the only people who watch the UFC are these stupid ass people who think they are ultimate fighters and wear sparkly shirts. Its way gay than My Little Pony.

UFC missed its chance to become mainstream. Now it's just a niche sport. About half the people care about MMA than they did 4 years ago.

There weren't 12 million people watching fight nights in late 2008..

It's pretty much over. Not too sure what douchebags are gonna do with their neck tattoo's and TAPOUT shirts when the company goes bankrupt in a couple years.

lame

Affliction Shirts are the way to go. They're shiny!

None of those even happened on ESPN............

ESPN may be losing business but do you think they care? ESPN will be just fine without UFC but will UFC be just fine without ESPN in 10 years?

Where did I say both teams would fold if they didn't merge??

Also, the Diaz fight didn't happen on ESPN just like those examples of bird flipping.. James Steele is saying they won't cover it because of this but all those happened during NFL games and ESPN still covers them..

You guys are kinda missing the point here..

You keep missing the point.

NFL and other sports already got TV deals and have had them for decades. UFC is the one trying to get to that level. Night Train Lane wasn't flipping people off.

UFC has a better tv deal than if they had signed with ESPN, you fucking dolt..

I am saying ESPN should cover MMA rather than bowling/poker/chess/spelling bee's..

Obv you like these things on the worldwide leader in SPORTS..

So, you are bitching about ESPN's lack of coverage but then you trumpet how much of a better deal UFC has than if they had signed with ESPN. Quit bitching.

Obviously, those things pull in ratings. I do wish ESPN would quit doing so many replays of Sportscenter, but that is the main reason watch ESPN is for the summary of the sports day.

I enjoy the NCAA Division I Softball Playoffs.

"Thick bottomed girls"

More people will watch the Little League World Series than a UFC card.

...and only the Taiwanese kids would potentially flip the bird on live TV.

Are you retarded?? Serious question..

FOX is a national channel with three subchannels. they pretty much made FUEL TV "UFC TV" and it is great.. Much better than if ESPN had gotten the deal and took creative control from the Zuffa brass.. A national tv deal is a much better gig..

How do you not understand that??

Also, how do you not understand why I would want "the worldwide leader in sports" to cover the fastest growing sport in the world rather than card games, board games, and a "sport" that you can eat nachos and drink beer while "competing"??

FuelTV. FuelTV is great for hardcore MMA guys, but how many casual fans is UFC gaining from FuelTV programming?

TUF is getting worse ratings on FX and only gets to be on the big boy network once in a awhile. Does UFC have any programming on the Fox Sports Net channels?

Is it possible ESPN doesn't cover it more because UFC isn't as "hot" as you think it is because of their jackass president and thug fighters who turn off a large chunk of potential viewers and have prematurely capped their growth?

ESPN doesn't need UFC and isn't going to put up with Dana's shit just to get clip shows and small cards nobody will watch and for the occasional big card. No doubt they'd like to have UFC on their network, but it isn't like an NFL/NBA/MLB/NCAA contract that would actually cost them a shitload of money if they didn't work it out.

No, dude.. ESPN doesn't cover because of politics, as already mentioned in this thread..

TUF is down on ratings cause no one wants to watch it on friday nights.. They need to move it back to weds.. Also, this coming season will have huge ratings cause of Jones and Sonnen..

Also, 4 events a year on FOX and 4-8 events on FX/Fuel, on top of the 12 PPV's a year is not minor league dude.. They are putting out twice the product they had before the FOX deal.. Also, they own Strikeforce so Zuffa is also on Showtime..

And yes, FSN shows the same things Fuel does (Unleashed, Ultimate Insider, UFC Tonight) they just show it like 3 days a week, not 7..

I never realized James Steele was an ESPN executive..

To be such a fucking idiot, that sure is a sweet job..

I DONT WANT CARDS ON ESPN

I just don;t understand why they would rather show the bullshit filler I have mentioned numerous times, rather than covering MMA..

ESPN doesn't give a fuck what you want. You'll watch Monday Night Football, a bunch of Bowl Games, NBA games, MLB games, and the NCAA Cricket Finals and fucking like it.

Perfect example, at noon CST, ESPN will be showing bowling.. There were two events this weekend, one last weekend, and a PPV in 2 weeks.. Why would they not do MMA Live during this time?? I know plenty of guys who love MMA but don't watch football..

Doesn't make any sense to me..

I know a bunch of guys who watch football, but do not give 3 drizzling shits about MMA.

BUT EVERYONE LOVES BOWLING, POKER, AND SPELLING BEE'S

They do them every year for a reason.

Yeah, as filler.. I know..

MMA is fading in popularity. All the douchebags ran out of money buying Affliction t-shirts and realized neck tattoo's are for fags. Plus they all got beat up by real tough guys. It's just a niche sport and it'll fade like Poker has.

Can we close this thread? This argument is terrible to read.

Don't read it, bitch.. Not like you add anything to conversation anyway..

Better watch out Stickman. Krispy wears Tapout shirts and was shot once.