As I was listening to the famous Jonestown Death Tape and reading as the MMA world was, as a few prominent journalists put it, “on fire.” The parallels were becoming more and more clear to me. Being a fan of the UFC means being a true believer, while criticizing the UFC means that you are an outsider. Just like Jim Jones told the members of Jonestown that those on the outside would lie about Jonestown and looked to destroy it, that is how Dana White paints the picture of the world that the UFC resides in. Those, like Josh Gross, who have been ostracized from the UFC family play off like those that escaped and exposed Jonestown; they are the enemy who never really belonged, they are looking to destroy the UFC.
We as fans are supposed to ignore the increased amount of money that we are to sign over to the UFC, supposed to ignore the increase in the number of fights, cards with a sharp decrease in quality, and fighters receiving lower paydays. The company has felt static for years, resistant to change or new ideas, the same change and new ideas that helped to push the UFC from the dark ages into the sport that it is today. Just like Jonestown was founded upon the principles of freedom to worship in a way that felt right, mixed in heavily with socialism, the UFC was founded upon the idea of being a fan-friendly product with high levels of fan interaction and feedback. That all feels lost now, though, as the company distances itself from those principles and alienates more and more fans with each passing event. The organization that the people helped to build, promote and rise into prominence has taken a turn now, looking down upon those people who helped to make it into a success and painting them as “bad fans.”
It has become increasingly difficult to publicly criticize the UFC for its poor business practices — such as how it treats its fighters and fans — to the point where criticism leveled at the UFC is often written off immediately as an attack upon the sport. Everyone who dares to criticize the UFC is bitter, has a vendetta, or something to gain from the UFC’s implosion. The truth is, many people are just fans of the sport and want to see it continue to grow, yet have to watch the sport stagnate along with the UFC and this attitude of “us vs. them” that only serves to polarize the fan base. The only thing is, those fans who are pushed away and seen as dissenters tend to not come back, they are just lost. They escape Jonestown.
only it's less expensive today to be a fan than it was a few years ago...
a few years ago you had 16 ppv events a year plus you had to pay for showtime which comes out to a yearly cost of around $1000 (assuming every ppv purchase was in HD for $55).
Today you have 13 ppv's a year, fight pass, 90% of the top talent in one organization plus more free televised mma than ever before at a yearly cost of around $835 (assuming again that every ppv purchase was in HD for $55)
Last year was amongst the best if not the best year of mma fights ever while the costs of being an MMA fan have gone down (approx $165 a year)... how is this a bad thing again?
stated differently, today it costs you $165 less to be an mma fan than it did a few years ago, you have more free televised mma available to you than ever, and you have 90% of the top talent in one organization.
only it's less expensive today to be a fan than it was a few years ago...
a few years ago you had 16 ppv events a year plus you had to pay for showtime which comes out to a yearly cost of around $1000 (assuming every ppv purchase was in HD for $55).
Today you have 13 ppv's a year, fight pass, 90% of the top talent in one organization plus more free televised mma than ever before at a yearly cost of around $835 (assuming again that every ppv purchase was in HD for $55)
Last year was amongst the best if not the best year of mma fights ever while the costs of being an MMA fan have gone down (approx $165 a year)... how is this a bad thing again?
stated differently, today it costs you $165 less to be an mma fan than it did a few years ago, you have more free televised mma available to you than ever, and you have 90% of the top talent in one organization.
last year there were 13 ppv events for a total cost of $715. in 2012 there were 14 ppv's for a total cost of $770.
stated differently, today it costs you $120 more to be an mma fan than it did last year, and $65 more than it did in 2012.
Seems a little overboard to make the Jonestown comparison. I'm thinking something more along the lines of the Branch Davidians, but with the science fiction vibe of the Heaven's Gate group, nudging a few degrees in the direction of the Manson family, but with less hair.
"We as fans are supposed to ignore the increased amount of money that we are to sign over to the UFC, supposed to ignore the increase in the number of fights, cards with a sharp decrease in quality, and fighters receiving lower paydays."
