Lorenzo Fertitta unfazed by low UFC on FOX 3 ratings
Posted on May 10, 2012, 04:25 PM by Mike Drahota
UFC owner Lorenza Fertitta is aware of the sharp ratings decline for the most recent UFC on Fox, but it is not eating him up inside. Compared to intital viewership of 5.7 for the first UFC on Fox, UFC on Fox 3's audience of merely 2.4 million viewers could be viewed as a cause for concern. He has recognized several reasons for the decline, and believes that scheduling could have been carried out more effectively, stating the following via Yahoo.com:
"Would we like to see the numbers be trending differently? Yes, of course. But we're not concerned and we don't think it's an overall reflection of our business. There are reasons for it. If you think about it, for the first [Fox] fight we had a massive amount of promotion within the NFL on Fox. And we led with our big show, the heavyweight championship, so of course, we were going to draw a much broader range of viewers. Really, what we're looking at is, 'How did we rank within the competition compared to what was going on that night?'
With that said, Fertitta recognized the myriad of entertainment options available to consumers the weekend of May 5, and sees them as an obvious detractor to UFC viewership:
"And in hindsight, going on Cinco de Mayo may not have been the best thing to do. If The Avengers did over $200 million for the weekend, unfortunately for us, there were a great number of our potential viewers sitting in a movie theater somewhere. Or, they were out that night celebrating Cinco de Mayo. Listen, I'm not trying to make excuses. But when you say, 'Are we concerned,' I'd say no. We're excited. We had a situation where 2.5 million people, which I would say is still a substantial number, got to see what I would say was a tremendous product."
It appears that rather than being concerned, Fertitta is indeed excited about the future and what it may hold for a fighter like Nate Diaz, expressing the following about his main-event victor last Saturday:
"All four fights were great fights and in the main event, Nate Diaz showed he's potentially a breakout star who down the road could move the needle for us on pay-per-view. The playbook is playing out for us exactly the way we wanted it to. It's a learning process for all of us, but we're not at all concerned. We feel things are progressing according to plan and whatever issues we have are things that aren't insurmountable and which we can fix."
So, if some are panicking about UFC on Fox ratings, the owner of the company is not among them. Lorenzo Fertitta believes in looking at the bigger picture, and he plans on only making the UFC more and more successful as time goes on, whether it be on Fox, pay-per-view, or elsewhere.
Comments
true that
Like Lorenzo is going to say anything other than ”we're not concerned.”
In Honey Badger voice, "Lorenzo don't give a shit!"
hardly anyone in Europe can watch the smaller cards on fox and fx because we don't get the channel only thing we can get now is the numbered cards
the truth is that the UFC is the fastest growing sport in the world, but sooner or later it will stabilize itself and I think its happening already, you cant keep growing like crazy specially today with a such globalized world with internet and, anyone in the world can see fights, and its getting to a point when only big and i mean big cards will come up with high ratings, like Bones vs Hendo, Bones vs Silva (if ever happens), Silva vs sonen, the rest will be just like any other fight...
I really hope it keeps growing but i think its getting to its balance point... and by the way, Dana, im sorry MMA or UFC would never be as popular or big as soccer... when you get 400 million viewers (Barcelona vs Real Madrid match) to see one of your events please let me know :)
true with the soccer thing BUT, i don't see that the ufc "stabilize itself" allready. maybe its not that fasten growing in the usa anymore, but in europe, asia, south america mma doing his first footsteps (i mean, to get recognized by the mainstream). i'm from germany and 90% of the people don't even know ufc!
so you actually asked the 80 plus million people that live in Germany if they know the UFC ?
yes
you did? wow, that must have taken a lot of time... let me guess, you probably started back in the days when Royce Gracie was the champion... that's why 90% of people in Germany dont know the UFC
The reason it has low rating is a number of reason. 1st. Fox suck and there format for introduction and all that talking crap sucks ass. 2nd UFC use to be a once a month surprise. Not every week. I looked forward to watching the big event once a month like a sacred bond with friends gathering at one's house to get excited about the event of the month. Now its getting played out every week. Just a couple of reasons that comes to mind.
there are just 4 events on fox this year, right?
I hear that argument all the time but for real mma fans the more the merrier. Look at any other sport they play multiple times per week and those fans still watch right? People like you are more about the gathering of friends than the actual sport
well spoken mr. fertitta. i like this guy. after all of those dana white statements, its nice to read something chilled down. but i like dana too.
Decent numbers for the names on the card.
It is true though that as the UFC still expands it will get a lot bigger but it will NEVER be as big as football (soccer). Big football matches easily go 100mil + which is crazy, sorry guys but footie will be at the top for a long ass time to come.