Community Journal Entry: UFC & ESPN partnership, does the fan win or lose?
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ENTRY #9
March 24, 2019
Last year, ESPN announced a five-year, $1.5 billion pact to stream UFC fights on ESPN+ and show bouts on its cable channels.
As a fan of the UFC, I was very excited for the organization’s move from FOX to ESPN. The reason behind my excitement was simple, ESPN was a sports channel and would give the UFC resources while backing it as deserved (not saying that they didn’t get that from FOX). Also, I felt that ESPN would provide a broader platform for fans to view fights. ESPN has a plethora of channels to show fights and the parent channel of ABC could be used if needed (I doubt ABC would ever air a fight due to language).
Upon the UFC moving to ESPN, we could only view fights if we signed up for ESPN+. ESPN+ is a platform that ESPN is trying to get more eyes on. ESPN+ airs documentaries, live events, some talk shows, replays of previously aired sporting events and international sporting events. My initial thoughts were ESPN+ would be used to view past fights from the UFC library. The catch to ESPN+ being used as the primary platform for the UFC is the fan must pay a monthly cost of $4.99 on top of their subscription for Fight Pass.
When the UFC was on FOX, prelim fights would air for “FREE” either on Fox Sports 1 or 2 (FS1 or FS2), FX or FOX. They also aired the weigh-in shows the day before all Fight Night or pay-per-view (PPV) cards. FOX gave the UFC a means to increase viewership by offering “FREE” events to the viewing public. UFC Tonight was a weekly staple as part of the UFC programming on FOX and the show offered insights on upcoming events, addressed the latest news/rumors and had fighter interviews. Let’s not forget, the UFC reality show The Ultimate Fighter, which many believe the season one finale saved the sport.
Even though FOX was the outlet for the “FREE” events, the UFC still had their PPVs. The PPVs would air at UFC sponsored bars and restaurants usually for “FREE” or a small cover charge. Under the ESPN flagship most bars and restaurants will not pay for ESPN+ meaning that fans must now download the app themselves or miss out on viewing the fights. The app can be downloaded and used on your smart TV not just your phone.
This is non-sensical to me because of all the platforms ESPN has available to offer viewership for the fans. ESPN+ is a good idea for new programs and documentaries but shouldn’t be used for the UFC, an established world renown sports organization. The fan was spoiled with UFC on FOX due to the availability of “FREE” UFC TV programming outside of the PPVs.
Earlier this week, the UFC announced that PPVs could only be purchased through ESPN+. According to MMAFighting.com, “beginning next month with UFC 236, all UFC PPV cards will only be available for purchase on the ESPN+ digital streaming service in the United States.” For fans to buy PPV cards they must subscribe to ESPN+ and the price will be slightly discounted from the norm. Furthermore, the UFC and ESPN extended their multi-billion dollar pact for two more years, until 2025.
An ESPN+ subscription costs $4.99 per month or a yearly rate of $49.99. Current subscribers have access to the monthly UFC PPV events for purchase (in addition to the 20 UFC “Fight Night” cards ESPN+ is already airing and all the other sports on the platform). The PPV cards will be $59.99, down from their current price of $64.99. For new subscribers, ESPN is offering new subscribers one year of ESPN+ and one UFC PPV event for the price of $79.99. That’s $30 more than the usual yearly price for ESPN+, which represents a discount of about $30 on one UFC pay-per-view card.
I know the UFC is about making money and this move to ESPN is a great business decision. I think sometimes the fan is forgotten. Without the fanbase the sport is a failure! I think with this new ESPN venture the UFC has turned from being fan-friendly first organization to one that is chasing money. I understand that the business main objective is to make money, but should you risk losing fans in pursuit of chasing the bag?
Maybe I am being a little emotional about this and we as people are normally resistant to change. I feel this change benefits ESPN and the UFC but we as the fan suffer. Hopefully the fans will rebel against this and the UFC will see a dip in viewership, facing them to rethink this.
I love the UFC but I hate the way they are forcing me to watch their product.
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Ya but the rate they’ve been offering fight night cards plus the quilty has been through the roof I have no problem with the 5 dallor a month for the volume and quality of cards they be out on
I don’t mind it either, I think I might cancel my Fight Pass subscription since ESPN+ seems to be the same thing. Fight Pass used to give us Dana White’s Looking for a Fight and Contender Series, but they have been slow to update.
I think the ESPN app does crash sometimes. But I’m looking forward to the future of ESPN & UFC.