MMA-URLS

In 1993, some of us got a 'first look' at Gracie Jiujitsu at UFC 1. We saw a young Royce Gracie stepping into the cage and defeat opponents who were bigger, stronger, and had the striking ability to end fights with their arms and legs that he didn’t. Nineteen years later, NBC is getting around to discovering how cool it is. Not sure what NBC was doing in that nineteen-year span, but I think it had something to do with catching pedophiles seeking out children in chat rooms and publicly humiliating them on television. Consequently, jiu-jitsu accomplishes the same thing if you start at a young age and master it by the time you discover the internet. We don’t care if it’s their first look or not, we’re just happy that MMA and jiu-jitsu are finally getting the attention they deserve. Here’s a video of what Maria Sansone discovered in her first class with Rener and Rorion Gracie.

Posted in: gracie, nbc, jiujitsu, gracie jiujitsu, maria sansone

Read the full article at Middle Easy

Sizing up the TV coverage from the WGC-Cadillac Championship ... and away we go. NBC has apparently found a new use for the MetLife blimp, after the network took advantage of the aerials shots and tracked Tiger Woods' every move following his WD from the Cadillac Championship. We've seen some bizarre shots from the golf course over the years, but this ranked right up near the top. After NBC got word of Woods' decision to pull out of the tournament, after 11 holes, the blimp immediately started following Woods as he drove in a golf cart to his car. No big deal, right? The problem was the overhead coverage didn't stop there. Trying to give viewers at home as much Tiger coverage as possible, the blimp continued to track Woods as he received ice packs through the window of his Mercedes, to the moment his car left the parking lot ... and started down the freeway. "The MetLife blimp has got it covered," NBC's Dan Hicks said, as the blimp continued to track the car as it whizzed past other motorists. "Right above Tiger as he drives away.  ... But we still don't know the extent of the injury." What made the moment even more incredible was that we almost got the quote of the year from NBC analyst Peter Jacobsen. After returning from a commercial break, Jacobsen could be heard saying that Tiger "better not pull into a puh..." before cutting himself off right before he finished the sentence. Now, we don't like to make assumptions around here, but that "puh" sounded like he was about to say "a Perkins," but that would have been too perfect, right? I'm sure it was the "Pub"restaurant in Miami. Yeah, that's it. Regardless, I guess we found out the blimp has a place at tournaments after all. More follows ...

Posted in: right, tiger, nbc, wood, blimp

Read the full article at Yahoo! Sports

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

Read the full article at MMA Payout

Friendly reminder: Fear Factor 2.0 with the UFC’s Joe Rogan premieres tonight on NBC at 8/7c.

Posted in: joe, premiere, rogan, nbc, factor

Read the full article at MMA Convert

Boxing will be a new addition to NBC Sports programming in 2012. NBC Sports Network (now known as Versus until 2012) will debut NBC Sports Network Fight Night on Saturday night January 21, 2012 from Philadelphia. The Fight Nights will be produced on a quarterly basis with fight nights in January, March, June and December in 2012. Via NBC Sports Network press release: NBC Sports Group will work with Main Events (Promotions) and Hall-of-Fame matchmaker J Russell Peltz on a multi-promoter strategy for NBC Sports Network Fight Night designed to produce the best quality fights. It is a strategy in which any promoter can participate to get their boxers involved in these programs. “This is a unique approach to have multiple promoters competing to put fights on NBC Sports Network,” said Jon Miller, President, programming, NBC Sports and NBC Sports Network. “That, coupled with the legendary matchmaker J Russell Peltz serving as our quality control expert, ensures that boxing fans will enjoy exciting and competitive matches.” (H/t: Bad Left Hook and Boxing Insider) Payout Perspective: It was once rumored that the UFC would land with NBC/Versus. It looks like NBC Sports has chosen boxing to bolster its sports content for 2012. This will be interesting to see how it will compete with HBO, Showtime and ESPN offerings of boxing programming. The multi-promoter approach will be another interesting component of its Fight Nights. How much will NBC Sports Network be able to promote these fighters for a casual audience to tune in? Will NBC Sports invest programming to market the fighters prior to the Fight Nights? We will see how successful these programs will be for the NBC Sports Network and whether it will expand in the future.

Posted in: fight, night, sport, network, nbc

Read the full article at MMA Payout

NBC has released a trio of new promos for the upcoming Fear Factor reboot. The show returns Monday, Dec. 12 on NBC.

Posted in: promo, fear, nbc, factor, trio

Read the full article at MMA Convert

Fear Factor is back on NBC starting Mon., Dec. 12, 2011, with the same host as before, UFC color commentator Joe Rogan. Apparently the show is "crazier than ever." At least now we get to see what Rogan was up to that caused him to miss UFC 134 back on Aug. 27. Anyone marking the calender to make sure they check out the reboot? Thoughts on the trailer?

Posted in: rogan, fear, reboot thoughts, nbc, factor

Read the full article at MMA Mania