It’s not just us, fight fans. Even TKO executives admit that UFC Apex events are lame compared to proper shows. Here’s what they said about the future of the venue on the latest earnings call.
The UFC has heard fan complaints about the Apex being a terrible venue to watch fights, and while they’re not planning to stop holding events there full-stop, there’s some hope that we’ll see less events there in the future.
In a new TKO earnings call, one investor asked why the UFC continued to hold shows in the Apex when demand was so strong for live shows in domestic and international markets.
“Bringing events on the road is as much about growing our fan base as it is generating income,” TKO COO Mark Shapiro replied (quotes via FightOracle). “But it’s also about ensuring that we maintain certain margins and profitability profile, and there’s a cost benefit analysis for us that we view opportunity costs of doing events domestically, internationally and holding them at Apex.”
“And what we do in any budget cycle, as I’m sure you could appreciate, is terming the right mix not just to generate top line revenue but to ensure profitability. And those Apex events do carry the lowest cost structure for us, to hold them in our home turf in Las Vegas. So I don’t think we found the perfect mix yet, but rest assured that we’re looking at the numbers and working to do so.”
“If we’re going to err on one side, we’re going to air on the side of going on the road,” TKO CFO Andrew Schleimer chimed in. “[When] we are in the Apex in front of a couple of hundred people, it’s just not the same experience, and we’re not getting that touch. And we get that feedback.”
Considering the WWE is now experimenting with holding some of its own smaller shows at the Apex, we have our doubts that the executive suite is done leveraging profitability vectors with increased utilization of the UFC Apex. Boo.
But there’s one VC-friendly way the UFC can undoubtedly escape from the Apex, and that’s with site fees. Over the years, more and more cities are paying the UFC to come and put on shows, which is a wild inversion compared to the early days when MMA was actively barred from most states.
The more site fees offered, the more shows outside the Apex. And there are a lot of sites fees being offered.
“Site fees, frankly, they’re becoming the norm,” Shapiro said. “When we take the show on the road, we’re going to need subsidies and or cash in order to bring our events to your city.”
“And beyond that, the cities where we’re already getting site fees? We’re coming back for year two, and we’re seeing those site fees increase. So demand is high and the dollars that cities are willing to pay for our business is increasing with every phone call we have.”
That may be bad news for stuffy taxpayers hoping cities would put their money towards social services and crumbling infrastructure. But it’s good news for us sports fans who hate watching fights at the sterile UFC Apex. Now let’s hope the C-Suite gives matchmakers some of that site fee money to make these Fight Night line-ups pop.