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A major story to watch in 2011 is the UFC/Spike negotiations as the contract expires at the end of the year. Spike’s identity is based on UFC and losing that would be a big blow, even though ratings for UFC dropped a lot in the past year. Some say UFC won’t be able to grow past the level they are at as long as they are a Spike property, but I’m not sure of that one. They need television on a station with good penetration, and Spike fits that bill. Network vs. cable means less now than ever before, and the gap is going to continue to narrow. The idea of moving to an ESPN has advantages and major disadvantages. UFC on Spike is a great deal because UFC can get shows on for the most part when they want and Spike promotes it as its top priority. On an ESPN, yet you’d probably get more Sports Center coverage which will lead to more acceptance of it in the mainstream media, but it’ll never be promoted anywhere near as hard on a station that has major league sports on it that will always take priority. And UFC doesn’t have to sign an exclusive with Spike as they already are on Spike & Versus, and the idea of some ESPN and some Spike would be even better. ESPN has been hot and cold on the product over the past two years, but were very close to a deal in 2009 at one point, even to the point ESPN had a name for the show.
Some sort of ESPN deal, non exclusive or otherwise, would siginificantly up the profile of the UFC, and in reality, help the entire sport. The MMA coverage on the network would mutiply significantly, and the proof is the hockey coverage that skyrocketed when the NHL was a ESPN property, then declined to almost nothing when ESPN dropped the NHL. They push what they air.
I think an ESPN deal would even be bigger & better long term than getting on a network. Networks bring more eyeballs, but as EliteXC and Strikeforce have found out, they are fickle. Plus, networks are slowly dying, due to cable and the internet, and networks won't be the media kings anymore a generation or two down the line, which is really where UFC (and MMA) should be aiming, because this generation will never be completely won over.
If I could land ESPN, i'd offer Spike a non exclusive, and if they passed (they wouldnt), i'd thank them and say goodbye.
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