How Big Will The UFC Be in 5 years with ESPN now Behind it?

[Pakman]

lol
UFC is worth more now than it was at the time of the sale
What a silly post
It will be worth $6b in 2019

100m to 4.5b is more impressive than 4.5b to 6b...just sayin. WME will make money, thats what they do. Doesn't mean they got the best end of the deal.

Also, is this 30 events on espn and espn+ ? Or 30 on espn channels? Fight pass still gonna have its few events that are exclusive to that right?

 

[Tuf_guy]

BTW I have a decent idea how people in WME think because I used to work there.

Until

?

 

[Internet Fairy]

That is well done!

 

[EGarrett]

Until

?

They merged with Endeavor and liquidated half their departments.

 

[Tuf_guy]

They merged with Endeavor and liquidated half their departments.

Bastards.
You know, I never liked Ari Gold.

 

[Evangelion]

The brand ufc cant get much bigger imo.. i mean it can but ultimately ppl arent fans of the nfl or the nba they are fans of teams and players
Mma needs more stars.. who arent just popular but elite level. Ufc at the moment is the only oeganization big enough to create such stars. But the true future of the sport depends in multi oeganization champs. Cross promotion fights etc. Ufc isnt willing to do this so itll peak and when their stars fade.. It will fall and rise again.. but never transcend boxing no boxing fan cares about wba wbo ibf ibo wbc.. they are about the big names.

This is completely false. Probably 90% of fans would prefer all the top fighters in one org. The UFC doesn't have all of them but usually has about 80 to 90 % of the top 25.

Just cause some hardcore mma nerds prefer the talent being split up it doesn't mean most fans do.

Like has been shown time and time again. Hardcore fans have no clue what casual fans want.

 

[DaGenius]

This is a pretty big deal in terms of growth. For a lot of casual fans, being partnered with ESPN legitimizes “cage fighting” who knows how big but definitely closer to mainstream 5 years from now

Random note, the ufc will likely have bidders for their next uniform deal and hopefully from Nike....

 

[Rea_ctor]

It'll definitely be bigger, ESPN is huge and will force it down people's necks so viewers who may still hold onto the barbaric views of the sport will slowly be won over with it being more mainstream.

 

[DrunkMonkMeth]

This is completely false. Probably 90% of fans would prefer all the top fighters in one org. The UFC doesn't have all of them but usually has about 80 to 90 % of the top 25.

Just cause some hardcore mma nerds prefer the talent being split up it doesn't mean most fans do.

Like has been shown time and time again. Hardcore fans have no clue what casual fans want.

You misinterpret my post.
Casual fans are only familiar with the ufc brand.
I mean ppl use to say "do you train ufc" because they aren't familiar with the wider mma scene. For mma to become a mainstream sport this will have to change. Ufc cannot and will not have a monopoly on all the top fighters. And they cannot control their big stars when there is legit competition out there able to match their paydays. Ppl will watch connor whereever he goes. And when the day comes that bellator or someone else is able to pay him or someone like him in the future more.. he may just go to it and no one will care if its not a ufc event. Ultimately ppl come to watch their favourite fighters. This will be more so the case when mma explodes into the mainstream. Ufc cannot have a monpoly on this Its just not possible. They barely have control ovee theie stars now. For one organization to control everyone when or if it reaches the size of boxing wont work.