RealGM

Hi Guys,

I was just curious if you dudes plan on PURCHASING ufc fight pass. Some people were complaining on other forums, paying for prelims and then having the prelims show anyway, etc. Also there have been some articles written about possible security issues:

http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2014/1/13/52 ... kers-fraud

So I was curious if people were plannong on buying? I was excited when it first came out, but given the quality of the cards as of now, I really don't think there is any way I'd stick with it. I'm voting no.

I already sent my cancellation email. Too many fights/events are missing, and will continue to be missing because of blackouts and other such restrictions. There's no good way of searching for specific fights, you have to type the fighters name into the search bar and try to find it through all the other non-fight stuff that involved the person you typed. The whole interface/search function blows and one event a month isn't enough for me to want to pay considering there's a pretty limited shelf life for me in re-watching fights I already know the result of.

I haven't watched WWE since I was like 16 but their online service blows this one away. It's the same price, you get all of the same **** the UFC Fight Pass offers (fight library, RAW/Smackdown, documentaries etc) plus you get all of the PPV's included.

The only way I'd consider signing up for it is if they put everything up (without blackout restrictions) and they improve the search function 100x. Being able to search for fights by finish type, time etc would be cool.

I don't know all of the details, but with how easily available UFC material is from other sources online, they would really need to offer something special to get me to subscribe.

I subscribe to NBA League Pass and NHL Gamecenter (which I don't even really watch) because they offer something I can't find elsewhere.

blkout wrote:I haven't watched WWE since I was like 16 but their online service blows this one away. It's the same price, you get all of the same **** the UFC Fight Pass offers (fight library, RAW/Smackdown, documentaries etc) plus you get all of the PPV's included.

Same price? Wowww. I had heard that it was better, but wow.

I have UFC Fight Pass right now, and it is a bit of a mess. A lot of stuff is missing and the interface is a nightmare. That said, it is free until March 1 and even then I doubt I will get rid of it. It is worth the money for the exclusive fight cards alone.

Fight Pass is too big for the UFC for them to allow it to fail. They will fix the problems and iron out the kinks, people just need to be patient. I think they made a mistake in rushing a half complete idea to market, probably in an attempt to hit before the WWE did.

REDDzone wrote:

blkout wrote:I haven't watched WWE since I was like 16 but their online service blows this one away. It's the same price, you get all of the same **** the UFC Fight Pass offers (fight library, RAW/Smackdown, documentaries etc) plus you get all of the PPV's included.

Same price? Wowww. I had heard that it was better, but wow.

Yeah I couldn't believe it. $9.99 per month with every PPV included. It's ridiculous.

blkout wrote:

REDDzone wrote:

blkout wrote:I haven't watched WWE since I was like 16 but their online service blows this one away. It's the same price, you get all of the same **** the UFC Fight Pass offers (fight library, RAW/Smackdown, documentaries etc) plus you get all of the PPV's included.

Same price? Wowww. I had heard that it was better, but wow.

Yeah I couldn't believe it. $9.99 per month with every PPV included. It's ridiculous.

So the price of HD wwe ppv is 9.99....price of hd ufc is $70?

I wish I was a wwe fan lol.

blkout wrote:

REDDzone wrote:

blkout wrote:I haven't watched WWE since I was like 16 but their online service blows this one away. It's the same price, you get all of the same **** the UFC Fight Pass offers (fight library, RAW/Smackdown, documentaries etc) plus you get all of the PPV's included.

Same price? Wowww. I had heard that it was better, but wow.

Yeah I couldn't believe it. $9.99 per month with every PPV included. It's ridiculous.

My guess is that this is a one year ploy to drive up traffic (a good idea), but I seriously doubt that all PPVs will be included in this deal for more than this first year. Unless they are trying to get out of the PPV business entirely, which I can't see happening.

Cammo101 wrote:My guess is that this is a one year ploy to drive up traffic (a good idea), but I seriously doubt that all PPVs will be included in this deal for more than this first year. Unless they are trying to get out of the PPV business entirely, which I can't see happening.

That's what Dave Meltzer is claiming. Said wwe believes ppv to be a thing of the past.

REDDzone wrote:

Cammo101 wrote:My guess is that this is a one year ploy to drive up traffic (a good idea), but I seriously doubt that all PPVs will be included in this deal for more than this first year. Unless they are trying to get out of the PPV business entirely, which I can't see happening.

That's what Dave Meltzer is claiming. Said wwe believes ppv to be a thing of the past.

I actually agree with this and think the UFC should start phasing it out. IMO they should go to a 4 PPV a year schedule with those 4 shows being monster stadium shows with multiple title fights and huge cards. IMO the main reason for PPV buys being down is that they are giving away comparable cards for free on TV and then expecting people to turn around and pay 65 bucks for a slightly better one a week later. That just is not good business.

I say more Fox and FS1 cards, and save the PPVs for once every 3 months and make them absolute must see events. Then you will see PPV buys go back up. But, the days of once a month PPVs being viable are limited.

Cammo101 wrote:I actually agree with this and think the UFC should start phasing it out. IMO they should go to a 4 PPV a year schedule with those 4 shows being monster stadium shows with multiple title fights and huge cards. IMO the main reason for PPV buys being down is that they are giving away comparable cards for free on TV and then expecting people to turn around and pay 65 bucks for a slightly better one a week later. That just is not good business.

I say more Fox and FS1 cards, and save the PPVs for once every 3 months and make them absolute must see events. Then you will see PPV buys go back up. But, the days of once a month PPVs being viable are limited.

I couldn't agree more, and the rest of what Meltzer was saying jives with this too. He said almost always now when it comes to BIG ufc ppvs...the huge cards do better than you expect, and the regular/mediocre cards do worse than you expect. The obvious solution, to me, is stacked ppv cards 3-4 times a year. Maybe a superbowl card, july 4th card, and a nye card or something similar.

This may be how things end up but then again I've thought this for a long time and idk if the ufc agrees. I remember when the fox deal was signed, idk how many times Dana essentially said ultimately the ufc is in the ppv business and they are a ppv company. And guys like Ariel were saying that the goal of these types of deals is to build stars that can become ppv draws, as ppv is the endgame.

Honestly though if the smaller/regular cards aren't bringing in a lot of money now though...that's not good at all. Anderson is gone, GSP is gone, BJ Penn used to draw and he's basically gone. The real small guys don't draw. IDK they have Jones I guess. Maybe they can build Cain, Weidman, Pettis into huge stars?

Eventually when they get all the PRIDE, WEC and strikeforce content up I might. Right now there missing a large portion of old fights, which is really the only reason I want it.

REDDzone wrote:

Cammo101 wrote:I actually agree with this and think the UFC should start phasing it out. IMO they should go to a 4 PPV a year schedule with those 4 shows being monster stadium shows with multiple title fights and huge cards. IMO the main reason for PPV buys being down is that they are giving away comparable cards for free on TV and then expecting people to turn around and pay 65 bucks for a slightly better one a week later. That just is not good business.

I say more Fox and FS1 cards, and save the PPVs for once every 3 months and make them absolute must see events. Then you will see PPV buys go back up. But, the days of once a month PPVs being viable are limited.

I couldn't agree more, and the rest of what Meltzer was saying jives with this too. He said almost always now when it comes to BIG ufc ppvs...the huge cards do better than you expect, and the regular/mediocre cards do worse than you expect. The obvious solution, to me, is stacked ppv cards 3-4 times a year. Maybe a superbowl card, july 4th card, and a nye card or something similar.

This may be how things end up but then again I've thought this for a long time and idk if the ufc agrees. I remember when the fox deal was signed, idk how many times Dana essentially said ultimately the ufc is in the ppv business and they are a ppv company. And guys like Ariel were saying that the goal of these types of deals is to build stars that can become ppv draws, as ppv is the endgame.

Honestly though if the smaller/regular cards aren't bringing in a lot of money now though...that's not good at all. Anderson is gone, GSP is gone, BJ Penn used to draw and he's basically gone. The real small guys don't draw. IDK they have Jones I guess. Maybe they can build Cain, Weidman, Pettis into huge stars?

Right now PPV is their biggest money generator. So, they have to be committed to it for now. They need to start moving away from that though, even if it is slowly at first. Fox is doing a lot for the UFC, but so far it is not building newer, bigger PPV draws. Right now is a pivotal time for the UFC. They can not rely on GSP, Anderson, and Brock to sell huge PPV's. It is unclear who the next huge PPV draws will be or if there will be any.

I think maybe you move to 8 PPV's next year, then 6, and then settle in at 4 in a few years. But, if the UFC is committed to being a PPV business, they are in for a bumpy road ahead.

I wouldn't even care if PPV's were included like the WWE offering, but I would expect ALL fights to be included (I feel like I said it elsewhere but I can't watch any Brandon Thatch fights for example because those cards are blackouts in Australia/US etc) for it to be worth the money.