The MMA Thread: DON'T ASK 4 STREAMS & NO GIFS- Cannonier, Imavov, Reyes, Rosas on NOW

[アミーゴ]

JESUS they have done only 2 1M buys in the last 16 months

 

[アミーゴ]

Dana is always one step ahead

I'm sure if ESPN doesn't renew they'll somehow strike a deal with someone else that's even more lucrative. Think about all the new streaming stuff going on

Amazon wants NBA. Apple lurking

He really hasn't had one misstep business wise

In fact I just Googled, there's already an article saying that at the end of their deal in 2 years, ESPN could have competition

https://www.sportspromedia.com/news/ufc-disney-espn-broadcast-rights-renewal-usa-endeavor-mark-shapiro/#:~:text=The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC,US$1.5 billion from 2019.

Bro WHO THE HELL is sportspromedia.com

 

[アミーゴ]

McGregor did 1.3M in buys WITH CERRONE

Don’t tell me they don’t miss the man

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

It’s a 300M annual deal - again, that’s nothing, and ONLY 5 years.

Tell me how that makes up for this

Breh, they literally gave Nate Diaz the middle finger and didn't give one single damb about bringing him back

They don't need a damb thing

UFC business folks are genius. Their newer owners have ties everywhere too. They're not just gonna lose out on their investment

If they have to w hore themselves out again in 2 years, ok. But at this moment they do not need Conor or anyone else. Business for them is great

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

Bro WHO THE HELL is sportspromedia.com

McGregor did 1.3M in buys WITH CERRONE

Don’t tell me they don’t miss the man

Lol, come on breh. They are including quotes and facts. Not speculation

Conor is icing on the cake, of course they would love to do business with him. That does not equate to needing him

 

[アミーゴ]

Breh, they literally gave Nate Diaz the middle finger and didn't give one single damb about bringing him back

They don't need a damb thing

UFC business folks are genius. Their newer owners have ties everywhere too. They're not just gonna lose out on their investment

If they have to w hore themselves out again in 2 years, ok. But at this moment they do not need Conor or anyone else. Business for them is great

They need him NOW - sure we can’t see the books but everything for them is DOWN. EDR STOCK IS AT AN ALL TIME LOW!

 

[spiderjericho]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think the UFC's deal with ESPN was that long term? I think it was only a 5 year deal they signed a few years ago. With all the "big name" champs aging out and no one really capturing that mainstream attention I'm curious to see what their next contract will look like or if ESPN decides to move on.

In 2019, ESPN struck a deal with UFC television for a five-year, $150 million a year deal, as well as a separate digital rights deal to carry 15 UFC fights per year on its new ESPN Plus streaming service. Altogether, it was a $300 million annual deal for linear and digital UFC rights to carry 42 live events per year.

That’s a Billy deal.

UFC definitely came through during COVID. They had three Conor cards do a milli. They might have had that Usman/Masvidal do a million. Khabib/Gaethje was definitely a million.

Not saying it’s not a gamble. It is. Who knows where the landscape is by then. But if Amazon is throwing big money at One. Showtime continues to allow Bellator to operate in the red. And ESPN has a contract with PFL. Content is king right now.

Star wise. Yeah they haven’t done themselves any favors in that department.

But we got Masvidal, Covington, Jones, McGregor, Adesanya, Chimaev on the horizon. I think the future is bright for Zuffa/Endeavor/UFC.

I, personally, think they just need to tweak by having a “street” (I mean social media team) crank out shorts on YouTube, highlights, and short features. Pump these guys up. They have a ton of folks on their rosters that can be names.

Their talent is way higher than the dudes of old like Ice Man, Forrest, Tito, etc.

 

[アミーゴ]

That’s a Billy deal.

UFC definitely came through during COVID.

Not saying it’s not a gamble. It is. Who knows where the landscape is by then. But if Amazon is throwing big money at One. Showtime continues to allow Bellator to operate in the red. And ESPN has a contract with PFL. Content is king right now.

Star wise. Yeah they haven’t done themselves any favors in that department.

But we got Masvidal, Covington, Jones, McGregor, Adesanya, Chimaev on the horizon. I think the future is bright for Zuffa/Endeavor/UFC.

I said Masvidal today to xbiker47 and he was like absolutely not, no one is checking on him.

Again - these dudes are close to end of career (for the most part). Hell, has Izzy ever done 1M in buys?

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

They need him NOW - sure we can’t see the books but everything for them is DOWN. EDR STOCK IS AT A 5 YEAR LOW!

Ok man they would definitely be acting more desperate for money fights and doing other crazy things... but they have not

They didn't care about letting Francis go. They didn't care about getting Jon back into the cage. They spit in Nate's face. They aren't sucking off Conor to get him back. I could go on

 

[アミーゴ]

Ok man they would definitely be acting more desperate for money fights and doing other crazy things... but they have not

They didn't care about letting Francis go. They didn't care about getting Jon back into the cage. They spit in Nate's face. They aren't sucking off Conor to get him back. I could go on

Bro they just did today lmao

Making this a title fight? I understand it but watch what the buy will be

Francis isn’t marketable man - Jones is a different story.

Conor? Bro they have done EVERYTHING for the man. They give him whatever he wants (as they should)

Again the stock is at an ALL TIME low so let that sink in a bit

 

[spiderjericho]

I said Masvidal today to xbiker47 and he was like absolutely not, no one is checking on him.

Again - these dudes are close to end of career (for the most part). Hell, has Izzy ever done 1M in buys?

Masvidal? As a headliner on a card? In the right type of fight? They literally fed him twice to the former P4P King and the one guy who would be on top of WW if he didn’t exist. He needs scraps not Labor Day Clinch a Thons. It’s the same insane asinine behavior that led to Conor constantly taking these Ls.

Again the stock is at an ALL TIME low so let that sink in a bit

Which stock are we talking about? The Endeavor? As a company they were in the red when they bought the UFC. UFC is literally the only silver lining to that company. It’s probably why UFC operating in the way they do right now. Low operating expense, high mark up and revenue.

 

[xbiker47]

Tell me a fight any of your casual friends are talking about?

That should show you what’s going on right now

 

[xbiker47]

Masvidal/Colby fight should have happened after each one of them took an L from Usman the first time. Instead we watched masvidal the BMF get KOd of the year by Usman in there second title fight then Colby wrestle him for 5 rounds after that and now we’re gonna wait over a year for him to come back again. The last time masvidal won a fight was before covid against a fighter who is no longer even in the ufc.

 

[アミーゴ]

spiderjericho the stock is down 25% since they acquired the rest of the shares - look I loved the deal for them long term (my boy from B school worked on it for the UFC) but the stock is crushed from the opening.

The original point remains - the UFC needs Conor

 

[spiderjericho]

Tell me a fight any of your casual friends are talking about?

That should show you what’s going on right now

Lately? Sure.

But we’re all saying that is a result of WME/Endeavor ownership (which is actually ridiculous considering what they do). Crank out content to satisfy a $300+ million contract.

When they were independent, the product was better. And Dana gave more of a duck. And they had stars.

But now we’re operating on the cheap and have to crank out cards/content every week.

No, UFC needs to get the duck away from Endeavor. They’re losers. Their stock sucks. And on the low they probably have their mom out there on the Hollywood strip.

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

Bro they just did today lmao

Making this a title fight? I understand it but watch what the buy will be

Francis isn’t marketable man - Jones is a different story.

Conor? Bro they have done EVERYTHING for the man. They give him whatever he wants (as they should)

Again the stock is at an ALL TIME low so let that sink in a bit

What exactly did they do today lol

They made 1 billion from April 2021 through April 2022. Conor fought once in that span

In June they did a deal with some logistics chain for 100 million. Who knows what other irons they have in the fire

Again- Conor is always great for business. They will find a way to get him back of course, they will probably fake all of Conor's USADA tests too. But they aint losing sleep over him not fighting

I think there's also a few subtopics within this as well- Dana and probably a circle of others have been paid out. They're living the great life. The new owners who invested into the UFC could be the ones more desperate to have the roi, but who knows really

Can only go off how they're match making and overtures they're making towards needing "stars". If they were desperate to build stars they're not showing it and they're definitely not making an effort to do so

 

[アミーゴ]

Conor is their only guaranteed ticket (MAYBE Jones??) for a $100m++ card. The math is simple

The fight game is and will always be about stars. Hell Jake Paul did 1.3-5M vs Askren

And yes, EDR will be at some point - they report to us, the share holders, don’t forget.

 

[spiderjericho]

UFC isn’t a publicly traded company. Endeavor is…

So their stock price is based on several factors. If UFC was their only business, I’d completely understand.

And prior to the sale, UFC had Jon Jones, Ronda Rousey, Conor McGregor, had Brock pop up once.

Khabib became a star especially in the Muslim world.

Issue with Khabib or a Zhang Weili is they were “stars” of post WME UFC.

The model right now is low operating costs and constant content for their broadcast partner. It’s why most of the cards are in the APEX. TUF takes place in Vegas. Looking for a Contender. Reason why Stipe didn’t fight is because they didn’t want to pay him.

Ronda and Conor are generational combat stars, legitimate one million PPV draws. The UFC has always had elite athletes but the draw of the cards were the quality and entertainment. Boxing is completely too heavy. A boxing card is completely propped by the stars at the top.

And really…what was the last Million buy boxing PPV? We’re past the Floyd and Manny hey days.

Like Vince said, UFC is a successful company between the PPV gates, ESPN deal, TSN deal, BT Sports, Abu Dhabi “arrangement”, the ones they’ve struck with venues (like the Toyota Center), Monster, etc.

Worst case…the stock owner sells UFC to an organization more competent.

 

[steevoo1]

Honestly, don't think the ufc cares about PPV numbers anymore because of the espn deal. All espn care about is the ESPN+ subscribers. Ufc making mad money off their espn deal + their deals of sports washing in Abu Dhabi.

If they gave a damn about cards and numbers they wouldn't have had these bum *** apex cards on. We're coming up on a card in Brazil headline by ******* flyweights too lol, they definitely don't give a damn.

 

[steevoo1]

Hate to hear the news about my guy Jiri man smfh. Shoulder injuries are tricky, **** may never be the same. Hope he recovers fully, might not see him until mid 2024 smh.

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

they don’t care about you Glover. They don’t care about anyone really lol

 

[xbiker47]

Honestly, don't think the ufc cares about PPV numbers anymore because of the espn deal. All espn care about is the ESPN+ subscribers. Ufc making mad money off their espn deal + their deals of sports washing in Abu Dhabi.

If they gave a damn about cards and numbers they wouldn't have had these bum *** apex cards on. We're coming up on a card in Brazil headline by ****ing flyweights too lol, they definitely don't give a damn.

I was super shocked they didn’t get nunes, glover, costa, and Olivera for the Brazil card. A lot of options besides figgy

 

[アミーゴ]

spiderjericho listen man, I think you know I’m in PE - I’m the first to start a hostile takeover or line up a buyer…

Point remains, stock is down, PPV down, superstars down. I’d guess the category is flat-ish with the ESPN deal - I still don’t know any casual fans tuning in. The growth of UFC is where I’m concerned.

 

[spiderjericho]

Bro, I’m not attacking you. Your competence at your job. Etc.

I’m just saying UFC is doing great, considering the lack of big name value.

Like Vince said, December cards which used to be a big deal is headline by Ankalaev and Jan. Who?

And the Brazil card isn’t headlined by major names like Charley Olives, Amanda “Lioness” Nunes, Glover, Costa, etc.

Their first “real” cards are Perth and then Vegas then UK.

In the past, the company would have to worry about the gate or PPV buys. No worries, ESPN gave them a guaranteed 500K revenue. Why do you need stars?

Plus they got Conor coming back next year. Conor/Chandler can easily headline a lackluster card.

Your issue is with Emdeavour. No one in this thread pays attention to that company. They just focus on the product of the UFC.

It’s like the Xbox thread. No one cares about Microsofts Cloud, Windows, or hardware business.

 

[Vincent Van Goat]