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Media Man PPV Blog: Combat Sports
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Combat Sports News
UFC vs PFL vs ONE Championship
Where were we?! We just had a first major mishap using Twitter/X Blue since signing up for the upgrade back in circa July of this year. We wrote about 1500 charactures into X primarily on the subject on our involvement of the PPV selling of combat sports packages in our Optus Vision/Communications days, as well as some contract and confidential work at FOX (Tel), and we lost that work when we went to publish it! That will teach us for doing such a long and detailed scribe on the smartphone directly without backing up onto a laptop first. Anyway, back to the story.
The compeition has heated up in the professional mixed martial arts world. That can be seen largely as a positive for fighters and fight fans. More options right.
We worked full time in the Aussie subscriber TV including pay-per-view industry in what I call the glory days of pay televison of Australia circa 1996. I headed up the retention of PPV with 5 people under me, and we worked with clients who has issues with programming, but who mainly loved sports and often combat sports. I created the PPV Liasion department of Optus Vision/Comms. I worked quite closely with the marketing department up a few levels about us at the Zenith Centre, Tower B, at Chatswood, Sydney. Used to get the raw PPV data and it was ultra impressive. Especially the numbers for pro wrestling.
From primarly Aussie shores we witnessed the growth of the UFC over the past three decades. We actually used to bring in the UFC tapes from the U.S in NTSC format before Optus and Main Event TV started carrying the UFC fights on their PPV broadcasts. The knowledge I gained actually helped get the full-time job at Optus which as for 5 years. Restructure came to the firm and I took generous voluntary redundany money and jumped ship to Telstra. I found the extra money too hard to refuse, plus there had been a management change at Optus as it wasn't as enjoyable or as lucrative work work there any longer. Still miss it however, but it just shows you how much management, moral and remuneration matters to hard working people!
Bean counters are employed by all sorts of companies, mixed martial arts firms included. They crunch the numbers, allocate budget to varoius arms of the operation including fighter pay and bonuses, work our PPV and merch revenue forecasts etc etc.
To state the obvious, MMA and professional fighting in general is a performance based profession. The champion mixed changes from time to time, and injuries and real life situations with competitors happen from time to time. It's all part of the fight game.
Many MMA insiders are pondering if the UFC (now part of TKO Group) business model has peaked, at least in the traditional way. We know that there's talk and possible plans to have company sports weekends in cities in the U.S for a start, where the WWE will put on a show, and then the UFC soon after for example, at the same venue, and this will help with cost efficiency. In additional, TKO Group for example can negotiatie with the host city while offering not 1 but 2 special PLE/PPV events, which do enjoy some cross-over audience. The cross-over numbers get disputed but its different at present than when Brock Lesnar and Rhonda Rousey were doing their thing back and forward. You get the point fight.
Most fans of WWE are casual and semi-hardcore. I think most UFC/MMA fans are most hardcore in nature. Of course, the internet has opened up the world of shared combat sport info (like figher PPV pays and bonuses, contacts etc)...like the release of data per court case and freedom of information related and the like. Talk about pulling back the curtain on the industry. Pros and cons related to that, but the genie is out of the bottle.
So, where from here? Fighters and fans have more options. More of the general public at large will become aware of the other promotions rather than just have UFC more deer in headlights in their minds eye.
The fight out of the cage is on for the fans imagination and entertainment budget. Business models can and do need to change and the events from the past week or so are disrupting the business of combat sports globally. Just look at the amount of balaned and largely postive news headlines the PFL (and ONE) news releases generate. How much converts to paying fans remains to be seen.
Us, we are used to getting free and heavily discounted tickets to sports and entertainment events, but we don't get free hotel rooms (not lately anyway), and we also currently have to pay for own our airfares. This makes us more selective as to what live sports and entertainment events to attend in person, no matter what part of the world. We'be been ringside for Thai Kickboxing in Bangkok, Thailand ages ago (get that Chatri Sityodtong). We knew than how exciting it was, but it was never broadcast on Aussie TV, but it did get some decent network TV time in Thailand, mainly on the weekends and sometimes late-ish at night from memory. There was also a strong VHS tape buying, selling and trading scene. We were also involved in the scence but internationally but more with pro wrestling and MMA fights from primarily the US, Canada, Europe (Germany and Austria), Japan and New Zealand. Combat sports fans are known to go to great lengths to get what they are seeking.
Back on point, compat sports business is ultra competitive and will continue to remain so.
UFC 300 is being put together by Dana White and the powers that be. Sphere business in Las Vegas is well on the same and Mr White is "very excited" and rightly so. "Loves a challenge". Well, more challanges are around the corner and its got more involved than setting up new venues.
Let's all aim for a strong Win-Win-Win. Should we say "A good, clean, fight", or would that just be a play on words at this stage of the fight game? In plenty of ways there's more at stake than a flash gold coloured belt. This is professional sports business at the hightest level. And yes, we are open for business and comms with any promoters etc that want to open up fresh discussions with us. Cheers from Sydney, Australia.
Greg Tingle, Founder Media Man Group/Media Man Australia/Media Man Int
#UFC #PFL #ONEChampionship #MMA #PPV #PayPerView #GregTingle #ByGregTingle #ByMediaMan #quote #quotes #combatsports #mmanews #sportsnews #sportsmedia #sportsbiz #sportsbusiness #promoter #promoters #sportsnws #sportsbusiness #sportsbiz #sportrights #businessmodel #businessmodels #fighters #fighting #broadcast #broadcasting #merch #revenue #trend #trends #buzz #media #mediaman #mediamanint
Media Man PPV Blog: Professional Fighters League Acquires Bellator in Industry Transformative Deal
Media Man PPV (Pay-Per-View) Blog
Professional Fighters League Acquires Bellator in Industry Transformative Deal
Professional Fighters League Acquires Bellator in Industry Transformative Deal
NOVEMBER 20, 2023 PFL
PFL Forms Global Powerhouse Poised to be MMA Co-Leader
PFL + Bellator Combined Fighter Roster Equal to UFC – Both Rosters 30% Top 25 World-Ranked
PFL to Launch Reimagined Bellator in 2024 with Bellator International Champions Series
PFL Champions vs. Bellator Champions in Landmark MMA Mega-Event to be Staged in 2024
NEW YORK (MONDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2023) - Professional Fighters League (PFL) announced it has completed the acquisition of Bellator from Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA), creating a global powerhouse in mixed-martial arts (MMA) and accelerating the combined company to become the industry co-leader.
PFL has acquired an immense number of top fighters through the Bellator acquisition, and its combined fighter roster is now equal in stature to UFC. PFL and UFC both showcase rosters that are 30% comprised of fighters who are top 25 independently world-ranked in their weight- classes. In addition, PFL + Bellator now has the best roster of women’s fighters in the world. All newly acquired Bellator fighters will become part of the PFL platform and available to compete in PFL fight franchises.
PFL will continue the Bellator brand, and Bellator will be the “one-off” event product from PFL. PFL will launch a reimagined Bellator product in 2024 – the “Bellator International Champions Series.” The Bellator International Champions Series will consist of eight fight events each year hosted in major cities across the globe, and each Bellator event will feature two compelling co-main fights competing for championship belts.
Bellator becomes one of five live fight franchises of the Professional Fighters League: PFL League Season, PFL PPV Super Fights, PFL Challenger Series, PFL International Leagues, and Bellator. Overall, the company can now meet fan and media demand by producing and programming a year-round calendar of live fight content with 30 premium MMA events per year.
PFL as a fighter-first and fan-focused organization plans to stage a landmark mega-event in 2024 – PFL Champions vs. Bellator Champions. The PFL Champions vs. Bellator Champions mega-event will feature the champions of each promotion in all seven weight-classes in a head- to-head epic fight experience.
Details of Bellator events, distribution, partnerships, and management will be announced at a later date.
Donn Davis, PFL Chairman and Founder, and Peter Murray, PFL CEO, continue to lead and operate the combined company.
“PFL is now a global powerhouse in MMA,” said Donn Davis, PFL Founder and Chairman. “Our Bellator acquisition turbocharges PFL’s mission to innovate the sport and become the industry co-leader.”
“The combined PFL and Bellator fighter rosters are second to none in MMA,” said Peter Murray, PFL CEO. “We can’t wait to bring MMA fans what they have been asking for - best vs best with the PFL Champions vs Bellator Champions Mega-Event.”
MMA with 650 million global fans is the third largest fan-base of all sports worldwide. MMA is the sports growth business of this decade with its current $1.75 billion industry revenue projected to grow 10% annually to $4 billion by 2032.
Bellator has served fighters and fans worldwide for more than a decade, staging an astounding 301 major MMA fight events. Bellator has successfully identified and developed dozens of acclaimed MMA world champions. Bellator’s current fighter roster has 46 fighters world-ranked in the top 25 of their weight-class per independent source Fight Matrix Rankings.
PFL is the only organization in MMA with the sports-season format, where individual fighters compete in a regular season, playoffs, and championship each year. The combined roster of PFL and Bellator boasts 30% of its fighters independently world-ranked in the top 25 of their respective weight-class, the same percentage as UFC. PFL has an expansive global vision for the sport and is building the “Champions League of MMA” with PFL Europe, PFL MENA, and more international leagues in development. PFL leads in technology and innovation, with its proprietary PFL SmartCage, powering fight analytics, real-time betting, AI scoring, and a next- generation viewing experience. PFL is primetime on ESPN/ESPN+ in the U.S. and is broadcast and streamed in 150 countries with 20 premium media distribution partners.
Citi and LionTree served as financial advisors to PFL and Sidley Austin LLP served as legal counsel to PFL.
ABOUT PROFESSIONAL FIGHTERS LEAGUE
Professional Fighters League (PFL) is a global powerhouse in MMA and the fastest-growing sports league world-wide. PFL has five live fight franchises, offering year-round content: PFL League Season, PFL PPV Super Fights, PFL Challenger Series, PFL International Leagues, and Bellator. Founded in 2018, PFL is backed by major blue-chip investors including SRJ, Ares, Knighthead, Luxor Capital, Waverley Capital, Elysian Park Ventures, and numerous NBA, MLB, NHL, and MLS team owners. MMA is the growth sport business of this decade, with 650 million fans worldwide, the youngest audience demographic, and true global revenue streams.
Tuesday, November 7, 2023
Blog: Networking News
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Find your niche business sector For The Internet Matrix and beyond
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How UFC Got Social Media Right; WWE taking the fight online via social media and people power
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Promote your sports, extreme sports, combat sports, pro wrestling, MMA, surfing, eSports, gaming products and services via Media Man network
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Social Media expansion continues for Media Man Group; Facebook pages for Magazine, Technology, Bloggers, Europe, Drinks, Boxing, Asia Pacific, Streaming and more
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Bitcoin Sydney: The ultimate Bitcoin business networking meetup,
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Network: Be Your Own Network Says Media Man Group
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Video Content, Multimedia via Media Man Group Network YouTube Channels
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Networking in business; Time well invested, waste of time, or case by case basis?
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