According to Fightersonlymag.com, Richard Schaefer, boxing’s CEO of Golden Boy Promotions has voiced what many MMA fans have been thinking for a long time—that the UFC puts out too many pay-per-view cards, not only monthly, but annually.
“Its maybe OK when you are in a booming economy and everyone is flush with cash but when you are in a recessionary environment and people are looking for jobs, record unemployment numbers and people looking for jobs… that’s probably a bit too much,” Schaefer said.
And that’s the crux of the matter—as Schaefer alluded to we currently live in austere times, and in that respect, it boils down to affordability, especially when a single PPV card costs in the region of $50.
With that in mind, the target audience for MMA events is mostly centered on males between the ages of 18-34, which in most instances translates into college students. As that is the case, how many students can fork out said amount one or even two times a month, let alone for an entire year?
Not many.
And though I am not condoning these actions, that’s probably the reason why illegal streaming of PPV events has become somewhat rife.
That said, Schaefer did commend the Zuffa-based promotion for its alliance with FOX Broadcasting Company.
“But the fact the UFC is on FOX is terrific for their sport, terrific for the fans… I am working every day on getting boxing back on free[to air] television,” he said.
Presently, 15 free televised events on UFC on FOX are set to air in 2012, however, the list of proposed UFC PPV shows for the same year amounts to 13, which more or less evens things out, unless you put the monetary factor (PPV buys) into the equation.
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