Well, to me it's obvious ESPN ain't gonna go for it, because the price the UFC is asking for ain't worth the money it brings to ESPN. Remember, it was the same situation for Fox, they didn't renew the deal with ESPN and it was the same with WWE when they had Smackdown for 5 years.
Yea UFC doesn't have a track record of sticking with partners. On the other hand they did extend the ESPN deal for 2 years. Also they need to stay on good terms with ESPN because ESPN could really damage them with honest reporting.
Well, it doesn't help that the UFC keeps asking for an exorbitant price for each of their deals. The problem with all those media deals is that networks don't really think if the partnership really brings lucrative revenue for them. Is the UFC deal really making ESPN a lot of money? I'm not really sure that's the case, no matters how boastful executives are. Fox found that out the hard way twice. One Youtuber made a video about the Reebok deal and called it "The Failed Reebok deal". I made a comment saying if you really look at it, that deal benefitiated one party and that was the UFC, it sure as helll did nothing for Reebok and it was negative for the fighters.
This is really the first extensive UFC media rights negotiation where you don't just consider content if you're a buyer -- you have to consider all of the high finance tentacles. Wall Street, big institutional players, government contracts, government connections.
Ari Emanuel has created a Frankenmonster in which he can get people to take his calls who otherwise wouldn't because they know that he can flex such muscle at any time that if people play hardball with him, he can play hardball right back.
We're not really dealing with fight sports any longer for business. That's the shocking transformation that a supermajority of people can't grasp and may never do so.
Well, tbh, most people don't take into consideration the business aspect of sports. They only care about how much such and such athlete is making, but they don't see beyond anything else or don't want to, because it's not really entertaining. That interests me because Accountancy is my regular job.
Watching ESPN experiment with non-traditional sporting/entertainment plays like TGL or shows that are adjacent to popular sports signals to me that keeping UFC will be extraordinarily challenging.
Fox is streaming the Super Bowl on Tubi. Youtube remains a major heavy. Netflix is king. When Trump hits office next week, Mergers & Acquisitions will be fast and furious for 2025.
Well, to me it's obvious ESPN ain't gonna go for it, because the price the UFC is asking for ain't worth the money it brings to ESPN. Remember, it was the same situation for Fox, they didn't renew the deal with ESPN and it was the same with WWE when they had Smackdown for 5 years.
Yea UFC doesn't have a track record of sticking with partners. On the other hand they did extend the ESPN deal for 2 years. Also they need to stay on good terms with ESPN because ESPN could really damage them with honest reporting.
Well, it doesn't help that the UFC keeps asking for an exorbitant price for each of their deals. The problem with all those media deals is that networks don't really think if the partnership really brings lucrative revenue for them. Is the UFC deal really making ESPN a lot of money? I'm not really sure that's the case, no matters how boastful executives are. Fox found that out the hard way twice. One Youtuber made a video about the Reebok deal and called it "The Failed Reebok deal". I made a comment saying if you really look at it, that deal benefitiated one party and that was the UFC, it sure as helll did nothing for Reebok and it was negative for the fighters.
This is really the first extensive UFC media rights negotiation where you don't just consider content if you're a buyer -- you have to consider all of the high finance tentacles. Wall Street, big institutional players, government contracts, government connections.
Ari Emanuel has created a Frankenmonster in which he can get people to take his calls who otherwise wouldn't because they know that he can flex such muscle at any time that if people play hardball with him, he can play hardball right back.
We're not really dealing with fight sports any longer for business. That's the shocking transformation that a supermajority of people can't grasp and may never do so.
Well, tbh, most people don't take into consideration the business aspect of sports. They only care about how much such and such athlete is making, but they don't see beyond anything else or don't want to, because it's not really entertaining. That interests me because Accountancy is my regular job.
Watching ESPN experiment with non-traditional sporting/entertainment plays like TGL or shows that are adjacent to popular sports signals to me that keeping UFC will be extraordinarily challenging.
Fox is streaming the Super Bowl on Tubi. Youtube remains a major heavy. Netflix is king. When Trump hits office next week, Mergers & Acquisitions will be fast and furious for 2025.
Especially with Lina Khan no longer around.