Fertitta: "well over" 6 million PPV buys this year

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101094789

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), the mixed martial arts promotion company, is planning to host live events across Europe and Asia in 2014 as part of a major global expansion, its founder and co-chief executive told CNBC on Tuesday.

Lorenzo Fertitta said UFC was the world's largest pay-per-view event provider, but was currently focused on the North American market - where he said it will clock up "well over" 6 million pay-per-view buys this year.

"Right now the focus is the majority of our content is aired prime time in North and South America, which puts it at an odd time in places like Europe and Asia," he said. "In 2014 what we are going to do is expand the live events into major capitals around Europe in prime time, to build the business here and do the same thing in Asia."

The company already has almost 150 distribution deals across the world, and its content is broadcast in 28 languages. "We have taken a sport that has translated all over the world – because no matter where you go everybody understands fighting," Fertitta added.

The businessman, who owns 40.5 percent of Zuffa, the private company that controls UFC and helped the grow the business from a $2 million operation in 2011 to the $250 million company it is today, said a strong brand had been crucial to the business' success.

(continued)

"I looked at the fact that boxing had been around for hundreds of years and had generated billions of dollars, but had generated no brand, there was no value associated with the sport like there is with soccer and the Premier League, American football and the NFL, NBA and basketball," he said.

"So I felt with UFC, the brand Ultimate Fighting had really transcended the sport which is really called mixed martial arts – but we had a brand, something we could build off."

UFC's brand has helped many of the fighters become millionaires, Fertitta added, with big names taking between $3-5 million per fight, "depending on their drawing power."

ttt

in Phone Post

Is that with increases over the same number of PPV's or just more PPV's?

JimmersonzGlove - 


Probably planning on 400k for Cain/JDS 3, 800k for GSP/Hendricks, 1mil for Silva/Weidman. They're probably roughly at 4mil right now going into those big 3 PPVs.



Yeah based on estimates they are around 4-4.2 million buys.  Figure 800k for GSP/Hendricks and atleast 800k for 168.  Figure 400-500 for 166.



 



So if the next three PPV do what they expect they probably will be in the 6.5 mill range.

Does anyone know the estimates for the last couple years when in comes to total PPV buys over a year? Phone Post 3.0

ChaosOverkill - 


Is that with increases over the same number of PPV's or just more PPV's?



13 PPV this year.



 



12 PPV in 09   8 million buys



15 PPV in 10  8.8 million buys



16 PPV in 11  5.5 mill



13 in 2012, they lost 151 so they planned for 14.  5.9 million buys



 

02/04/06 UFC 57 Couture v. Liddell III 400,000
03/04/06 UFC 58 Franklin v. Loiseau 300,000
04/15/06 UFC 59 Ortiz v. Griffin 425,000
05/27/06 UFC 60 Hughes v. Gracie 620,000
06/22/06 Strikeforce/EliteXC Shamrock v. Baroni 35,000
07/08/06 UFC 61 Ortiz v. Shamrock 775,000
08/26/06 UFC 62 Liddell v. Sobral 500,000
09/23/06 UFC 63 Hughes v. Penn 400,000
10/14/06 UFC 64 Franklin v. Silva 300,000
10/21/06 Pride 32 Fedor v. Coleman 30,000
11/18/06 UFC 65 Hughes v. GSP II 500,000
12/30/06 UFC 66 Liddell v. Ortiz II 1,050,000
02/03/07 UFC 67 Silva v. Lutter 400,000
03/03/07 UFC 68 Sylvia v. Couture 540,000
04/07/07 UFC 69 GSP v. Serra 400,000
04/14/07 Bodog Fedor v. Lindland 13,000
05/21/07 UFC 71 Liddell v. Jackson II 675,000
06/07/07 Dynamite!! USA Gracie v. Sakuraba 35,000
06/16/07 UFC 72 Franklin v. Okami 200,000
07/07/07 UFC 73 Ortiz v. Evans 425,000
08/25/07 UFC 74 Couture v. Gonzaga 520,000
09/22/07 UFC 76 Liddel v. Jardine 475,000
10/20/07 UFC 77 Franklin v. Silva II 325,000
11/17/07 UFC 78 Evans v. Bisbing 325,000
12/29/07 UFC 79 GSP v. Hughes III 650,000
01/19/08 UFC 80 Penn v. Stevenson 225,000
02/02/08 UFC 81 Sylvia/Nog, Lesnar/Mir 600,000
03/01/08 UFC 82 Silva v. Henderson 325,000
04/19/08 UFC 83 GSP v. Serra 530,000
05/24/08 UFC 84 Ortiz v. Machida 475,000
06/07/08 UFC 85 Hughes v. Alves 215,000
07/05/08 UFC 86 Griffin v. Jackson 540,000
07/19/08 Affliction Banned Fedor v. Sylvia 100,000
08/09/08 UFC 87 GSP / Lesnar 625,000
09/06/08 UFC 88 Liddell v. Evans 480,000
10/25/08 UFC 90 Silva v. Cote 300,000
11/15/08 UFC 91 Lesnar v. Couture 1,010,000
12/27/08 UFC 92 Griffin v. Evans 1,000,000
01/17/09 UFC 93 Franklin v. Henderson 350,000
01/24/09 Affliction DOR Fedor v. Arlovski 90,000
01/31/09 UFC 94 GSP v. Penn II 920,000
03/07/09 UFC 96 Jackson v. Jardine 350,000
04/18/09 UFC 97 Silva v. Leites 650,000
05/23/09 UFC 98 Evans v. Machida 635,000
06/13/09 UFC 99 Franklin v. Silva 360,000
07/11/09 UFC 100 Lesnar v. Mir 1,600,000
08/08/09 UFC 101 Penn v. Florian 850,000
08/29/09 UFC 102 Couture v. Nogueira 435,000
09/19/09 UFC 103 Franklin v. Belfort 375,000
10/24/09 UFC 104 Machida v. Rua 500,000
11/21/09 UFC 106 Ortiz v. Griffin II 375,000
12/12/09 UFC 107 Penn v. Sanchez 620,000
01/02/2010 UFC 108 Evans vs. Silva 300,000
02/06/2010 UFC 109 Couture vs. Coleman 275,000
02/21/2010 UFC 110 Nogueria v. Velasquez 240,000
03/27/2010 UFC 111 GSP vs. Hardy 770,000
04/10/2010 UFC 112 Silva vs. Maia 500,000
04/24/2010 WEC 48 Aldo vs. Faber 175,000
05/08/2010 UFC 113 Machida vs. Rua 520,000
05/29/2010 UFC 114 Evans vs. Jackson 1,000,000
06/12/2010 UFC 115 Liddell vs. Franklin 525,000
07/03/2010 UFC 116 Lesnar vs. Carwin 1,060,000
08/07/2010 UFC 117 Silva vs. Sonnen 600,000
08/28/2010 UFC 118 Edgar vs. Penn 2 535,000
09/25/2010 UFC 119 Mir vs. Cro Cop 295,000
10/23/2010 UFC 121 Lesnar vs. Velasquez 900,000
11/20/2010 UFC 123 Jackson vs. Machida 500,000
12/11/2010 UFC 124 GSP vs. Koscheck 785,000
01/01/2011 UFC 125 Edgar vs. Maynard II 260,000
02/05/2011 UFC 126 Silva vs. Belfort 725,000
02/27/2011 UFC 127 Penn vs. Fitch 260,000
03/19/2011 UFC 128 Shogun vs. Jones 490,000
04/30/2011 UFC 129 GSP vs. Shields 800,000
05/28/2011 UFC 130 Rampage vs. Hamill 325,000
06/11/2011 UFC 131 Dos Santos vs. Carwin 330,000
07/02/2011 UFC 132 Cruz vs. Faber 320,000
08/06/2011 UFC 133 Evans vs. Ortiz 310,000
08/27/2011 UFC 134 Silva vs. Okami 335,000
09/24/2011 UFC 135 Jones vs. Rampage 520,000
10/08/2011 UFC 136 Edgar vs. Maynard III 225,000
10/29/2011 UFC 137 Penn vs. Diaz 280,000
11/19/2011 UFC 139 Henderson vs. Rua 290,000
12/10/2011 UFC 140 Jones vs. Machida 480,000
12/31/2011 UFC 141 Lesnar vs. Overeem 535,000
01/14/2012 UFC 142 Aldo vs Mendes 215,000
02/04/2012 UFC 143 Condit vs. Diaz 400,000
02/26/2012 UFC 144 Edgar vs. Henderson 325,000
04/21/2012 UFC 145 Jones vs. Evans 700,000
05/26/2012 UFC 146 Dos Santos vs. Mir 560,000
06/23/2012 UFC 147 W. Silva vs. Franklin II 140,000
07/07/2012 UFC 148 Silva vs. Sonnen II 925,000
07/21/2012 UFC 149 Faber vs. Barao 230,000
08/11/2012 UFC 150 Henderson v. Edgar II 190,000
09/01/2012 UFC 151 Jones vs. Henderson Canceled
09/22/2012 UFC 152 Jones vs. Belfort 450,000
10/13/2012 UFC 153 Silva vs. Bonnar 410,000
11/17/2012 UFC 154 GSP vs. Condit 700,000
12/29/2012 UFC 155 JDS vs. Velasquez II 590,000
02/02/2013 UFC 156 Aldo vs Edgar 330,000
02/23/2013 UFC 157 Rousey vs Carmouche 450,000
03/16/2013 UFC 158 GSP vs Diaz 950,000
04/27/2013 UFC 159 Jones vs Sonnen 550,000
05/25/2013 UFC 160 Velasquez vs Bigfoot II 380,000
06/15/2013 UFC 161 Henderson vs Evans 150,000
07/06/2013 UFC 162 Silva vs Weidman 550,000
08/03/2013 UFC 163 Aldo vs Jung 170,000
08/31/2013 UFC 164 Henderson vs Pettis 270,000

He also said that if these numbers keep increasing, at some point the UFC will be able to afford to pay fighters on the main PPV cards $10k.  And that's just to show! 

Median PPV rate $50. 60% of which is $30.

$30 times 6,000,000 = $180,000,000

$180mil + $70 mil form fox.

$250,000,000

Divide that by fighter pay and you see that they are underpaid.

Chris27 -
ChaosOverkill - 


Is that with increases over the same number of PPV's or just more PPV's?



13 PPV this year.



 



12 PPV in 09   8 million buys



15 PPV in 10  8.8 million buys



16 PPV in 11  5.5 mill



13 in 2012, they lost 151 so they planned for 14.  5.9 million buys



 

My god 2009 was crazy. Ironically, that's when I became a hardcore fan of the sport. The buzz around UFC 100 was unavoidable. The more monster cards like that the better. Phone Post 3.0

Chris27 - 
ChaosOverkill - 

Is that with increases over the same number of PPV's or just more PPV's?


13 PPV this year.

 

12 PPV in 09   8 million buys

15 PPV in 10  8.8 million buys

16 PPV in 11  5.5 mill

13 in 2012, they lost 151 so they planned for 14.  5.9 million buys

 

 

cool thanks and 2011 looks like it was horrible buy wise

 

Lol at him bringing up that brand bullshit. Its very difficult when you have one company dominating an entire industry Phone Post

LOL @ this shit.

Total Avg
2006 5,270,000 527,000
2007 4,935,000 448,636
2008 6,325,000 527,083
2009 8,020,000 616,923
2010 8,805,000 587,000
2011 6,485,000 405,313
2012 5,835,000 448,846
2013 3,800,000 422,222

They are averaging 100,000 less PPV buys compared to 2010 and before, meanwhile they are hoping to just get BACK to where they were in 2011 after a HUGE drop off from their 2 year peak, MEANWHILE they have gotten more PR and marketing due to the FOX deal then MMA has EVER seen in its history and this is success?????

Lorenzo is not a serious person...

And don't start blabbing about there are more PPVs now so that's why the avg is down. In 2008, 2009 & 2010 there were 12, 13 & 15 PPVs. In 2011, 2012 & 2013 there have been 15, 13 & 9 so far.

The UFC outflow is fast outpacing its inflow. On the MASSIVE amount of PR from the FOX deal has kept them flat.

Haulport - LOL @ this shit.

Total Avg
2006 5,270,000 527,000
2007 4,935,000 448,636
2008 6,325,000 527,083
2009 8,020,000 616,923
2010 8,805,000 587,000
2011 6,485,000 405,313
2012 5,835,000 448,846
2013 3,800,000 422,222

They are averaging 100,000 less PPV buys compared to 2010 and before, meanwhile they are hoping to just get BACK to where they were in 2011 after a HUGE drop off from their 2 year peak, MEANWHILE they have gotten more PR and marketing due to the FOX deal then MMA has EVER seen in its history and this is success?????

Lorenzo is not a serious person...

Fastest growing sport in the world bro Phone Post

I can tell you are mocking them using that expression. Please, enlighten me which sport is actually growing faster?

Team GDP -
Haulport - LOL @ this shit.

Total Avg
2006 5,270,000 527,000
2007 4,935,000 448,636
2008 6,325,000 527,083
2009 8,020,000 616,923
2010 8,805,000 587,000
2011 6,485,000 405,313
2012 5,835,000 448,846
2013 3,800,000 422,222

They are averaging 100,000 less PPV buys compared to 2010 and before, meanwhile they are hoping to just get BACK to where they were in 2011 after a HUGE drop off from their 2 year peak, MEANWHILE they have gotten more PR and marketing due to the FOX deal then MMA has EVER seen in its history and this is success?????

Lorenzo is not a serious person...

Fastest growing sport in the world bro Phone Post

Have you ever managed a business in entertainment, apparel or other trend-driven industries? I have for about 10 years and theyre highly cyclical-- lots of ups and downs and theres only so much you can do about that. Doesnt mean zuffa is dropping the ball (although like any other business they of course do make mistakes).

Mma peaked in 09 just like skateboarding did in the late 80s/early 90s (and again in the early 00s w the thps/bam margera spike). Its not going away any time soon but the fad is over and now zuffa's job is to see what they can do with their business now that its cooled off. Just the nature of the beast. Phone Post 3.0

peppo - I can tell you are mocking them using that expression. Please, enlighten me which sport is actually growing faster?

http://m.bleacherreport.com/articles/1671596-fact-from-whites-fiction-biggest-sport-in-the-world-obama-cant-get-a-ticket Phone Post