Media UFC now forcing British fans to pay PPV fee to watch certain events on BT Sport

[xHeadx]

Ok, let me break it down for you. PPV used to cost $64.99, now it's costs $59.99 + $4.99......the same fucking price as before but you're also getting all the cool fight nights plus boxing.

UK fans on the other hand pay for Sky/Virgin a month + BT Sport on top of that and now they want to add £19.99 on top of everything, UK fans are not only going to pay more than US fans overall....they're also going to stay up till 6 in the fucking morning too.

Help me understand, because I'm not familiar with the cable system in the UK. Is having Sky/Virgin equivalent to a cable provider in the states like, AT&T, Time Warner, Charter, etc? Between cable & internet, I pay close to $200 per month, and that does not includes PPVs , ESPN+ or cell phones. So that $64.99 for me is added to the $200 per month I already pay. Do you have to have Sky/Virgin & BTS in order to purchase the PPV?

Edit: Also forgot to add that not all of MMA is in the US. I've add to stay up late or get up early to watch Pride & other MMA events overseas. And I had to pay to watch.

 

[gevoudane]

Ok, let me break it down for you. PPV used to cost $64.99, now it's costs $59.99 + $4.99......the same fucking price as before but you're also getting all the cool fight nights plus boxing.

UK fans on the other hand pay for Sky/Virgin a month + BT Sport on top of that and now they want to add £19.99 on top of everything, UK fans are not only going to pay more than US fans overall....they're also going to stay up till 6 in the fucking morning too.

Not really true though.
If you do everything legit
USA PPV cost
So the $59.99 + $4.99.
But you still need to add in the cost of you internet subscription.
So the cost is almost identical.

Also for me to watch soccer live I have to stay up odd hours all the time. I dont get a discount for that here. Why should they?

 

[Darbo]

Really infuriates me this. I basically have Virgin Media at about £70 per month purely because I get BT Sport, and I can record UFC events.

Even whilst free, since going into recovery from alcoholism I wouldn't stay up until 3am start to watch a main card.

Like fuck would I pay £19.99 to watch a card that finishes at 6am local time. It's an absolute disgrace.

I am an avid fan of the sport and I wont pay for it, so I cant imagine that casual fans will. This is so detrimental for the development of the fan base here.

Glad you're getting the help you need mate, I lost one of my closest friends two weeks ago to alcohol abuse, it fucking sucks, good luck to you.

 

[OnlyTheTruth]

Now you know how it feels to be in America.

Do you have to wait up until 3am for the main card to actually start every PPV then? I could understand if they charged in Europe for European PPV's that were on at reasonable times in the proximity but I cannot see anyone other than the odd drunk insomniac just back from the pub after a large session buying in on impulse. It is not as if the UFC even has many British known fighters now other than Darren Till. Hardy, Bisping, Pearson, Manuwa, etc have all retired & Conor isn't going to fight anytime soon or regularly.

 

[ignorant MMA fan]

When you have a job and family then yes. Staying up until 6am to watch UFC is a fair trade for not paying for PPVs. We do still pay around £60 A month for the channel that UFC is on. UFC would die in a year if you Americans had to stay up to 6am and pay subscription for every card.

In all honesty, I recognize that the time these events go on sucks for you guys. If things were reversed, it would suck. I guess I'm glad that I live in their largest market.

 

[dim_]

I don't think that this is justifiable given the fact that European fans have to stay up all night to watch these cards live.

What do you UK guys think about this?

This isnt the UFC;s doing

this is BT Sports doing because they are in the shit for money.

Their CEO was even quoted a little while back saying they are switching strategy from "recruiting new customers with cheap deals to getting more money from our existing customers"

 

[OnlyTheTruth]

I'm sure people will buy it. They've been giving the fights cheap to the UK for a long time. At some point, they were going to open the profit gates. No matter how aggressive the UFC is with pricing etc, seems like it always works. I guess we'll see.

Never been free as always had to pay at least the monthly channel subscription cost on top of cable or satellite bill.

The WWE tried it and soon found that nobody paid for it even though it is a lot more popular than the UFC in the UK. WWE now show their PPV's on the WWE Network here in the UK. UFC should do the same for UK viewers with Fight Pass instead & only charge full PPV rates for UK or European events which are broadcast at a reasonable time. I wonder how many Americans buy UK PPV's on Saturday afternoons/early evening EST/CST/PST? Would you pay if the cards started at 3am & you had to pay extra for them still?

 

[dim_]

And in the US if PPV was $20, most UFC fans would be thrilled to buy it. This is what being spoiled looks like.

]You are ignoring the fact it costs £40 to have bt sport in the first place.

so its 40+20, or around $80

 

[dim_]

Why cant usa have 25 dolla ppv

you can, if you are willing to pay £40/$60 for the right to purchase the ppv in the first place

 

[cambo78]

Help me understand, because I'm not familiar with the cable system in the UK. Is having Sky/Virgin equivalent to a cable provider in the states like, AT&T, Time Warner, Charter, etc? Between cable & internet, I pay close to $200 per month, and that does not includes PPVs , ESPN+ or cell phones. So that $64.99 for me is added to the $200 per month I already pay. Do you have to have Sky/Virgin & BTS in order to purchase the PPV?

Just Curious. Who's your satellite/cable provider because I have At&t/Direct TV and Spectrum for DSL and I'm paying over $300 per month for both? $250 for Direct $55 Spectrum.

 

[Goon Dog]

Ok, let me break it down for you. PPV used to cost $64.99, now it's costs $59.99 + $4.99......the same fucking price as before but you're also getting all the cool fight nights plus boxing.

UK fans on the other hand pay for Sky/Virgin a month + BT Sport on top of that and now they want to add £19.99 on top of everything, UK fans are not only going to pay more than US fans overall....they're also going to stay up till 6 in the fucking morning too.

Let's see if I get it:

Ok, let me break it down for you. PPV used to cost $64.99, now it's costs $59.99 + $4.99......the same fucking price as before but you're also getting all the cool fight nights plus boxing.

UK fans on the other hand pay for Sky/Virgin a month US fans pay for cable, dish, internet service or something else + BT Sport on top of that You get other cool stuff and games too and now they want to add £19.99 on top of everything, UK fans are not only going to pay more than US fans overall....they're also going to stay up till 6 in the fucking morning too. It's market driven. Bigger market = more revenue = more attention.

 

[xHeadx]

Just Curious. Who's your satellite/cable provider because I have At&t/Direct TV and Spectrum for DSL and I'm paying over $300 per month for both? $250 for Direct $55 Spectrum.

I have AT&T/UVerse (plus HBO) with a 1GB internet connection & unlimited bandwidth, the best they have.

 

[Enigma87]

Muricans just keep showing how stupid they are in this thread lol they still think that there is no time zones

**are no

 

[Enigma87]

Ok, let me break it down for you. PPV used to cost $64.99, now it's costs $59.99 + $4.99......the same fucking price as before but you're also getting all the cool fight nights plus boxing.

UK fans on the other hand pay for Sky/Virgin a month + BT Sport on top of that and now they want to add £19.99 on top of everything, UK fans are not only going to pay more than US fans overall....they're also going to stay up till 6 in the fucking morning too.

We also have buy UFC fight pass for the first set of prelims and a cable package that has ESPN for the second set of prelims, then the main card where we pay like 3x more then you are going to start paying. You didn’t include that though, either because you don’t know what you’re talking about or want to make it seem cheaper for Americans than it really is. Nice try


Even after this, we pay more than you ever fucking will.

 

[dim_]

Let's see if I get it:

Ok, let me break it down for you. PPV used to cost $64.99, now it's costs $59.99 + $4.99......the same fucking price as before but you're also getting all the cool fight nights plus boxing.

UK fans on the other hand pay for Sky/Virgin a month US fans pay for cable, dish, internet service or something else + BT Sport on top of that You get other cool stuff and games too and now they want to add £19.99 on top of everything, UK fans are not only going to pay more than US fans overall....they're also going to stay up till 6 in the fucking morning too. It's market driven. Bigger market = more revenue = more attention.

YOU DONT HAVE TO

To get PPV in teh US all you need is ESPN+, you dont need cable, dish and the rest of that junk

 

[dim_]

We also have buy UFC fight pass for the first set of prelims. Nice try

early prelims are on espn+, you dont need fightpass

nice try

 

[Goon Dog]

YOU DONT HAVE TO

To get PPV in teh US all you need is ESPN+, you dont need cable, dish and the rest of that junk

Do you think they broadcast ESPN plus directly into our brains? Project it on the clouds for us to watch for free? Deliver it via smoke signals?

 

[gevoudane]

I have AT&T/UVerse (plus HBO) with a 1GB internet connection & unlimited bandwidth, the best they have.

Not necessarily the best. If you can afford it you can go up to 10Gbps.

 

[gevoudane]

Do you think they broadcast ESPN plus directly into our brains? Project it on the clouds for us to watch for free? Deliver it via smoke signals?

You didnt get the segmentation yet?

 

[dim_]

Do you think they broadcast ESPN plus directly into our brains? Project it on the clouds for us to watch for free? Deliver it via smoke signals?

it costs $6, all you need is internet

the point is, you dont have to buy cable and all that shiz, all you need is espn+ ($6) and internet

in the uk you need BT Sport ($40) and internet