If you were like me, and you were stuck working while the biggest deal in UFC broadcast history went down, then you were probably surfing several mma news sites trying to get the latest updates.
Honestly, a Black Berry can only get you so far.
If, somehow, you missed much of today’s news and are looking for a “Quick Breakdown” of today’s deal, well then you’ve come to the right place as I offer up some of the highlights along with some of my own thoughts.
On Thursday (August 18, 2011) the Fox Broadcasting Company and the Ultimate Fighting Championship announced a seven-year deal that could see Zuffa earn $100 million a year compared to the $35 million Spike was/had offered (sorry once I get the source I’ll link it).
– The deal will see UFC events/shows broadcast on FOX, FX and Fuel TV (time to change my TV lineup).
– The first event of this new deal begins Nov. 12 and will air on FOX.
– In January 2012, FOX will begin broadcasting pre and post fight shows, countdown shows for pay-per-views; UFC Unleashed, Primetime and Knockout series; Best of Pride, weigh-in specials plus more.
– FX will host six live UFC Fight Night events each year.
– Four major UFC events will be held on FOX, or “Big Fox” as Dana White called it.
– Fuel TV will broadcast programing such as the UFC Prelims specials, but not events.
– The first “The Ultimate Fighter” series on Fox will begin in the spring of 2012 on FX on Friday nights (HDNet broadcasts for events like the MFC, Shark Fights, and Titan FC are going to take a ratings hit competing with TUF).
– All “TUF” bouts will air live, with the remaining footage from the episode taken that week (this is an interesting concept of live elimination bouts, I think ratings will be very high for their first season on FOX).
– Coaches will be shown training for their own fights as they won’t have two month cushion to prepare anymore (I think future coaches are going to despise having to train a team of fighters as well as prepare for their own fights. I think you’ll find guys turning down coaching jobs just not to deal with both in the future).
– Coaches will announce who is eligible to fight and fans will vote on matchups for the next week.
– The TUF season will last 12 weeks, twice a year, and each will culminate in a live finale event.
– They are talking about doing a Magazine Show, which will mirror shows like ESPN’s MMA Live and HDNet’s Inside MMA (I can see how well this would work out for them but I much prefer a program that will be unbiased, or at least less biased, like Inside MMA over a UFC show).
– The UFC will maintain control over their regular shows and FOX Sports will run the pre and post-show broadcasts.
– Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg will still be the color commentators for the big events such as pay-per-views, UFC Fight Nights, etc. but some additional programming will see new talent brought in (Stephan Bonnar I believe that’s your phone ringing).