MMA-URLS

In the world of advertising, maintaining a carefully crafted image is the single most important thing in the business. In recent news, the UFC has been warned by Bud Light that certain fighters have crossed the borders between acceptably edgy and offensive too many times for Bud Light to feel comfortable with the UFC's image. Now, the advertising and finance-specific magazine Business Insider has decided to springboard off the Bud Light/UFC relationship by scaring current and future mixed martial arts advertisers and consumers by purportedly listing the "unprofessional conduct" of the UFC and its fighters. The article, written by Jim Edwards at Business Insider, pushes a group of incidents in the past of the UFC together with the controversial Brandon Saling issue front and center to create a condemnation of the Zuffa-run organization and the sport of mixed martial arts itself. Edwards writes: [The open statement Bud Light delivered to the UFC] is almost unheard of in sports sponsorship, where advertiser displeasure is usually delivered to media partners behind closed doors. It came after UFC president Dana White used the word "faggot" in a video; presenter Joe Rogan used the C-word to refer to a female blogger; and one fighter, Brandon C. Saling, was allowed to compete in a UFC-affiliated event, according to Big Lead Sports, even though he is a convicted sex offender who wears Nazi tattoos. The picture above is Saling's police mugshot, taken after he was accused of raping a 12-year-old girl. The UFC is an extreme case. While the sport can't be expected to be a bastion of Edwardian manners, it is not until you see a collection of the kinds of things said by UFC pros that you realize just how unprofessional the organization is. What follows is a slideshow of incidents in which offensive language and behavior is used in the UFC. We don't publish it to be sensational-although we're not against that either. We do so because parents ought to know what their kids are watching. Related Link: Tim Burke's notes on the Bud Light/UFC relationship To refresh the common memory, Brandon Saling is the convicted sex offender with the tattoos that are linked to white supremacy beliefs who fought in Zuffa-owned Strikeforce for one bout. Saling took the fight against Roger Bowling on short notice and lied on his fight license application to cover up his prior convictions for felony sexual assault of a minor and for domestic violence. His license to fight in MMA has been revoked and it is extremely unlikely that he will ever fight again in a commission-regulated MMA event. Saling is a regrettable example of how fighters can manage to slide by the appropriate legal barriers against such individuals ever gaining a license to fight, much less appear on a national level MMA show. He has been dealt with and the fan outcry was targeted more at his own deplorable beliefs and actions than at Strikeforce or its advertisers. There is no doubt that UFC employees have said and done things that are not at all acceptable in today's world. However, what Jim Edwards actually writes about is not a true and comprehensive expose of those things. What he actually writes is a sideswipe that bashes the UFC, Strikeforce, the fighters and the sport itself in the name of formenting outrage among a very specific crowd. "What follows is a slideshow of incidents in which offensive language and behavior is used in the UFC. We don't publish it to be sensational-although we're not against that either. We do so because parents ought to know what their kids are watching." This is an article that puts together a cherry-picked selection of incidents clustered together for page hits by outraged moms and dads. This is not at all a true damning of the sport of mixed martial arts, the UFC or anything of the kind. Edwards wrote this article with the full intent of making worried parents out there even more irrational and concerned about boogeymen that do not exist or are wildly exaggerated in their actual significance. Unfortunately, these are the same types of marketing segments that advertisers want their products to be presented to in a nice, wholesome, athletically edgy light. This is a scare-mongering column that should not work in an ideal world. For better or worse, we do live in this world and this column is going to unsettle the advertisers connected with Zuffa and by extension the larger world of MMA. All it takes for the advertisers to decline to renew the valuable contracts is the hint of scandal. Somehow the occasionally stupid or impolite actions or words of two or three of 400+ athletes under contract combined with Brandon Saling lying his supremacist/felon patootie off creates that distinctly odiferous, anti-advertisers whiff. The inoffensive, funny, smart or even admirable actions of the other 400+ Zuffa employees somehow cannot cover up or drown out this whiff. It is too bad there there isn't anyone covering these issues in depth or explaining their actual context and significance? Oh wait - that's what we do here at Bloody Elbow - and what they don't do at Business Insider. Corral your rage and show these concerned parents around you that MMA can be enjoyed safely, smartly and without connection with the detritus of the world like Brandon Saling. Only then can the advertisers relax and continue to fund this sport we love so much.

Posted in: ufc, world, sport, saling, advertiser

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The Sports Business Journal reported on the drop in ratings of NBC Sports Network as it rolled out its new name and brand last month. The article also comments on the fact that NBC found it difficult finding advertisers for the UFC when it was on the network. For those that don’t know, NBC Sports Network was known as Versus prior to its re-branding at the start of the year. The SBJ article (subscription required) stated that NBC had a hard time finding advertisers for the UFC. Yet, UFC programming averaged 124,000 viewers on Versus. These ratings doubled the average for the channel. The article also states that the loss of the UFC has hurt NBC Sports Network ratings. Still, NBC described the UFC as “off brand,” a show that brought ratings but the network had a hard time finding a way to monetize it. Payout Perspective: While the UFC portion of the NBC Sports Network article was a small example compared to the overall theme of the article which was the slow start for the network, its an interesting take of the pull of the UFC. Its also an example of the obstacles the UFC still faces in trying to appeal to mainstream advertisers. We will see in the coming year if the UFC has problems on Fox, FX or Fuel with retaining and obtaining mainstream advertisers.

Posted in: ufc, sport, network, nbc, advertiser

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Posted in: mattyblayze, nate quarry, quarry, mattyblayze link, advertiser

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Yesterday, MMAJunkie.com, citing industry sources, reported that the UFC's debut on Fox snagged a peak viewership of 8.8 million viewers, surpassing Kimbo Slice's historic peak of 6.51 million viewers at EliteXC: Primetime in May of 2008. As expected, many fans jumped the gun on what these numbers actually mean. Similarly to Sunday's news that the UFC pulled in 5.7 million viewers on average throughout the one-hour broadcast, the reaction was the complete opposite of what more informed fans and analysts felt were the actual takeaways from the news. The details surrounding the numbers spotlight a solid argument that casual sports' fans were curious to see Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos walk the walk, but not talk the talk. According to a report from SI.com, the broadcast began at 5.2 million viewers, but steadily lost viewers during the half-hour leading up to the fight, which included interviews cut from UFC Primetime: Velasquez vs. Dos Santos. Viewers tuned out only a few minutes after the sixty-four second knockout, dropping off an estimated 2.9 million viewers to 5.9 million viewers. What exactly can we glean from those statistics? Fans tuned in to see the action, but the long-winded analysis, interviews, and stories weren't sought out by fans. Why? Because those pre-fight packages didn't include the very thing that fans were tuning in to watch -- the violence, i.e. entertainment, that live MMA provides. The disconnect between the reaction and the reality of the reports is that a peak number of 8.8 million viewers means nothing in the span of only three or four minutes. Advertisers are the paying customers while the product's goal is to entice viewers, maintain their attention, and give advertisers an audience. The UFC's debut on Fox fulfilled that goal, bringing in a reported average of 5.7 million viewers. During that very small bump in viewers, however, the only advertisers "winning" were those who had logos on the mat or around the Octagon. Most of those advertisers aren't paying over $100,000 per thirty-second spot. The advertisers who are saw no benefit to the event lasting only sixty-four seconds, which leads to a conclusion that the UFC and Fox need to find a way to heighten the average over a longer period of time. Casual sports' fans are curious about the UFC, but if you can't maintain their attention -- where's the benefit to advertisers? UFC ringside commentator Mike Goldberg confirmed with MMAFighting.com's Ariel Helwani during Monday's MMA Hour that the UFC will, in fact, run with a two-and-a-half hour broadcast for their next show. With the correct promotion and match-ups, the event could reach the goal of a higher, prolonged average viewership number. If they can pull off a larger average, it could go a long way to the UFC's product gaining more lucrative advertising dollars, higher-profile sponsors, and more prominence. Peak ratings are really nothing more than a barometer for what exactly interests the demographic the product is trying to lure. In this case, we already knew what that was. When Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos touched gloves, 8.8 million people were fixated on the combat that was about to unfold in the cage. During a schoolyard fight, when do the most people rush to the action to get a glimpse? When the fists start flying. The grandiose reaction to the news by many fans reeked of misinformation. I doubt those fans were celebrating the fact that the UFC had just obtained a vital piece of information to a puzzle that many sports haven't been able to solve. For many of those fans, the puzzle had been solved. In reality, the valuable information gleaned from the numbers will help the UFC strategize and pull in bigger numbers in the future. Let's not sensationalize what an 8.8 million viewer peak means for the UFC and the sport. It doesn't mean much when it lasts only sixty-four seconds. SBN coverage of UFC on Fox 1: Velasquez vs. Dos Santos

Posted in: ufc, fan, viewer, number, advertiser

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