Back in "stacked" days of PPV you didn't even get to watch the prelims and there was rarely any Fight Nights on free TV. You would pay $50-60 to only watch the 5 main card fights. So realistically you would pay around $10 per fight.
Let's look at the current stretch the UFC is on starting on June 28th:
Te Huna vs Marquart: 10 fight ($10 for Fight Pass)
Swanson vs Stephens: 11 fights (Free on FS1)
Weidman vs Machida: 10 fights ($60 PPV)
TUF Finale BJ vs Edgar: 11 fights (Free on FS1)
Cerrone vs Miller: 11 fights (Free on FS1)
McGregor vs Brandao: 10 fights ($10 Fight Pass)
Lawler vs Brown: 12 fights (Free on Fox)
Since June 28th we have gotten 75 fights for $80. That's basically 1 dollar per fight compared to the "stacked" days of $10 per fight. I agree having a bunch of huge fights on 1 night is crazy and entertaining but when you look at the big picture we have got it pretty good right now.
I Came I Saw I Lurked - i would pay well over $50 for a ufc 100 caliber card. A ppv should be absolutely stacked always
I understand. I just assume most people on here watch every event anyway so when you get 4 free cards in a row, then a PPV, its like you're getting 5 cards for the price of 1. I'm sorry if I'm not explaining myself well enough. For every dollar we have to spend, we are getting so much more bang for our buck.
Yeah, bitching was getting exhausting. I am rather liking my 2014 MMA buffet. The UFC is never going to go backwards. The MMA culture of yesteryear is over. I changed my expectations to 2014 times. All better now :)
I am like a reborn MMA virgin, enjoying the thrills and titillations of MMA in abundance.
I Came I Saw I Lurked - i would pay well over $50 for a ufc 100 caliber card. A ppv should be absolutely stacked always
I understand. I just assume most people on here watch every event anyway so when you get 4 free cards in a row, then a PPV, its like you're getting 5 cards for the price of 1. I'm sorry if I'm not explaining myself well enough. For every dollar we have to spend, we are getting so much more bang for our buck.
No you're making sense to me. Good perspective. I love all the free shit and fp shit.
I Came I Saw I Lurked - i would pay well over $50 for a ufc 100 caliber card. A ppv should be absolutely stacked always
I understand. I just assume most people on here watch every event anyway so when you get 4 free cards in a row, then a PPV, its like you're getting 5 cards for the price of 1. I'm sorry if I'm not explaining myself well enough. For every dollar we have to spend, we are getting so much more bang for our buck.
Some people think it is great to have 75 fights in one month for $70 + a cable subscription. However as we all know time is money. A lot of people would rather pay $60 for the convenience of a 'stacked card' and see all the fights they want to see for the month in one night. Some people don't want to spend 38 hours a month watching fights, others love 7 nights/days of fights at $70. I don't think either is wrong in this situation. Ultimately viewership and the ability to turn profit will say which group of people gets what they want. For me I've attended 2, will watch 1, and skipped 4. So my take is that it is great for me to spend mine time and money however I decide to, and it's great for other people to spend their time and money however they decide.
The problem is that we're being forced to spend more money grossly on UFC fights, regardless of the "price per fight". I would argue that most people don't want to watch all of these fights, and quite frankly I wouldn't watch some of the fights UFC has been putting on even if they were completely free.
So in essence what is happening is that people are watching around half of the fights UFC is putting on, which effectively doubles this 'price per fight' figure, and it's compounded by the fact that we also get a diluted product.
Personally, I'd rather the UFC did away with fight pass and went back to stacking PPVs and mixing in the occasional free show. Less content means the sport is easier to follow closely, and I'm fine if that means less free shows.
I'm more than willing to spend $60 on a PPV if it means the main card is something like this (combining UFC on Fox 12 and UFC 176):
Aldo vs Mendes Lawler vs Brown Mousasi vs Jacare Rumble vs Nog Bermudez vs Guida
Sure, you don't get the free show but you get a PPV that is legitimately worth the $60, and I only have to sacrifice one Saturday to UFC as opposed to two.
I still can't understand why anyone would want less fights. I get skipping ones you aren't interested in but why want less fighters getting exposure?
I also don't really understand watered down cards. I guess the post a few up nailed it. I'm a fight fan not a fighter fan. And stacked card is pretty subjective. Stacked with names vs stacked with interesting matchups. So many talk about the good old days when every card was "stacked" but they forget not every fight lived up to the hype. Many in fact didn't. Plus more cards were stacked because there were less fighters period.
With so many free cards it is a lot easier to get your fix without buying a PPV. Not sure why there is so much complaining. Voice with your dollar not constant complaining.
Mostly gone are the days of being extremely pumped for UFC PPV's in their entirety. I remember actually looking forward to at least 3/4's of the fights on a card. Now I'm lucky if I've even heard of half the people on the card. I used to drive an hour and a half each way to a buddy's house who had people over for every PPV. Havent done that in at least two years and I can't remember the last PPV I ordered.
Is it awesome that we get more fights spread out over more cards? In a way it is.
Does it suck that the excitement of getting together on a Saturday night to watch a UFC PPV is all bet gone? Yes it does. I absolutely miss those nights.
ThatKickDidntHuroooohhhhhhhh - The problem is that we're being forced to spend more money grossly on UFC fights, regardless of the "price per fight". I would argue that most people don't want to watch all of these fights, and quite frankly I wouldn't watch some of the fights UFC has been putting on even if they were completely free.
So in essence what is happening is that people are watching around half of the fights UFC is putting on, which effectively doubles this 'price per fight' figure, and it's compounded by the fact that we also get a diluted product.
Personally, I'd rather the UFC did away with fight pass and went back to stacking PPVs and mixing in the occasional free show. Less content means the sport is easier to follow closely, and I'm fine if that means less free shows.
I'm more than willing to spend $60 on a PPV if it means the main card is something like this (combining UFC on Fox 12 and UFC 176):
Aldo vs Mendes Lawler vs Brown Mousasi vs Jacare Rumble vs Nog Bermudez vs Guida
Sure, you don't get the free show but you get a PPV that is legitimately worth the $60, and I only have to sacrifice one Saturday to UFC as opposed to two.
The thing is that ppv is dying so they need to do what they are doing.
You may not like it but if you want the UFC to survive they have to adapt to the changing entertainment environment, which is what they are doing.
This is a long term thing and although it may seem like they are devaluing the brand they are doing what they have to do.
They need a way to continue profits while they make the change which is why they have to sell cards to fox and fox won't pay for a card without semi decent headliners etc.
I guarantee the UFC would like to have all it's events in one place but it's not feasible at the minute, I'm pretty sure all cards will be online in a decades time, or through an app on your tv which will be more like the smart tv's we have today, the various apps( wwe network/fight pass etc) are the tv channels of the future.
I Came I Saw I Lurked - i would pay well over $50 for a ufc 100 caliber card. A ppv should be absolutely stacked always
I understand. I just assume most people on here watch every event anyway so when you get 4 free cards in a row, then a PPV, its like you're getting 5 cards for the price of 1. I'm sorry if I'm not explaining myself well enough. For every dollar we have to spend, we are getting so much more bang for our buck.
No you're making sense to me. Good perspective. I love all the free shit and fp shit.
