UFC on FOX: Velasquez vs. Dos Santos (11/12), UFC/FOX deal

[Posey H8er]

It looks like the UFC on network TV is finally a reality. According to a report from Sports Business Daily, the UFC and Fox have agreed on a deal that would bring as many as four events to the network each year. A recent deal with Fox Sports Latin America appears to have been proper foreshadowing.

Fox refused to comment to Sports Business Daily, but several of their sources revealed the following details:

As many as four events per year on Fox
A seven- or eight-year deal with bidding having reached somewhere around $90M/year
Weekly programming on Spike and Versus moving to FX
Some UFC content will end up on Fuel, though the cable network will not be rebranded
The SBD article also reveals details about negotiations with Comcast/NBC and Spike TV. Spike ultimately passed on a new deal, citing stoppage in growth. SBD notes that programs like "Unleashed," "Knockouts," and "Countdown" average 1 million viewers in 2005, with that number falling under 500k this year.

If this is the real deal, it's big news for MMA and the UFC.

http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2011/8/16/23 ... rk-tv-deal

Huge news. I would have preferred a deal with ABC since they're in partnership with ESPN, but this should be good nonetheless.

[Walt Cronkite]

So... how many episodes will this run before Fox cancels it?

[Starkiller]

Will they shove Joe Buck in the booth? I surely hope not.

[Celtics_Champs]

Will they shove Joe Buck in the booth? I surely hope not.

Ugh...That'd be awful, but I could totally see them doing it.

[Cammo101]

All the Spike and Versus stuff headed to FX. That is great for FX.

[Starkiller]

All the Spike and Versus stuff headed to FX. That is great for FX.

So FX will have the Fight Nights and the Live on Versus events? That would be huge, as their Live events can be seen by more people. I don't have VS network and know a lot of people who don't. Most have FX.

[Shaazzam]

I'm glad that Sportsnet is a, for lack of better word, partner for the UFC in Canada. I don't think this will impact us north of the border.

[Posey H8er]

this has the potential to explode the sport into the mainstream. potential. national television far and way attracts more viewers. strikeforce did remarkably well despite not being a recognizable brand name like the ufc is, and with little advertising.

if spike has control of TUF, how will things change on FX? or is that control somewhat overstated?

[Starkiller]

this has the potential to explode the sport into the mainstream. potential. national television far and way attracts more viewers. strikeforce did remarkably well despite not being a recognizable brand name like the ufc is, and with little advertising.

if spike has control of TUF, how will things change on FX? or is that control somewhat overstated?

It could also hurt MMA as well, like what happened w/ Strikeforce and the brawl with Mayhem and the Diaz brothers. Don't think Dana and Zuffa would let that happen though.

The way I read it is that TUF was coming to FX too.

[damo[23]]

Seems great - liking it if the free stuff goes to FX for more exposure.

[REDDzone]

It will be interesting to see how ufc handles the cards. On one hand they want to put on a great card for huge audiences in order to continue its journey into being "mainstream".

On the other hand, they will want to keep their huge draws on ppv. They have to find a balance between the free shows now and the best ppvs imo.

[Posey H8er]

it's not like 4 cards are that significant when you have 14-18 ppvs a year. i hope we do see jones, gsp, or lesnar on national television. they can still fight two more times a year on ppv anyways.

the point i was making about tuf is that spike had control of the editing and such of that show. now it seems fx will have to deal with that. the question i had was zuffa's influence on the show right now. hopefully fox can slightly alter the look of the ufc product to make it seem more like a sports broadcast.

[CPT]

For some reason I've always liked the idea of the UFC on Fox, just because in my head, the production seemed to fit best.

Recently it had looked more likely that a deal would be made with NBC (the connection with Versus/NBC Sports) or ABC (with the connection to ESPN), but I can see how Fox is a good fit too. Dana White has always said that a network deal would be made on the UFC's terms, and maybe Fox was the only network willing to meet those terms.

One thing I'm curious about is that I haven't heard Fox Sports Net come up in any of the articles I've read about this agreement. Seems like that would be a natural fit for some UFC programming.

[Posey H8er]

i think that's because not every area in the united states has fox sports anymore. they're regional networks (unless you have them on your tv package). for example chicago went from fox sports to comcast sportsnet about 7 years ago. whereas fx is available across the nation.

[three6mofia]

Damn i was hoping to see ufc on espn by 2012...

[CPT]

Official:

http://www.mmafighting.com/2011/08/18/u ... nce-video/

Press conference at 1 pm ET

[cowboyronnie]

National T.V. means commercials...long commercial lags between fights and commercials between rounds instead of corner cams.

I hope this benefits fighter pay. For anyone on the card, their endorsement money will certainly be stoked.

[CPT]

Damn even Joe Rogan suited up for this one.

[CPT]

The Ultimate Fighter will be live??!!

WTF? How's that gonna work?

[SDM]

The Ultimate Fighter will be live??!!

WTF? How's that gonna work?

Probably 30 minutes of taped and edited filler leading up to the live fights.