WEC To PPV in 2009 |
| Posted By |
Message |
MMAcca
Heavyweight Champ
Career record: 176-94
Season: 46-24 (#607)
Location: North East of England
|
An article on Yahoo! Sports MMA discusses the Zuffa’s plans to cut some of the divisions in the WEC and in the discussion this little bit of info was dropped:
That’s particularly true given White’s plan to add pay-per-view shows to the WEC’s offerings, perhaps as early as May.
The ability for the WEC to draw on PPV will be more dependent on the company’s ability to sell the 135 and 145 divisions. Part of being able to draw successfully is convincing your customer they are receiving a world class product. That case can be easily made at the 135 and 145 levels, and would be next to impossible with the 185 and 205 weight classes. The 205 class isn’t worth much discussion at all, while the 185 class has a world class fighter in Paulo Filho, but a collection of journeymen, rookies, and never will be’s underneath him…not the most marketable of collections.
The WEC have the luxury of having two marketable stars in those lower divisions with champs Miguel Torres and Urijah Faber. Getting rid of the 185 and 205 divisions will allow them to concentrate and build up the fighters in the lower weight classes, boosting the profiles of the champs but also building up the other fighters in those divisions so that they are seen as plausible contenders. An example of this would be the upcoming Faber vs Mike Brown fight. If you are a hardcore fan, you know that Brown is a plausible contender, but the ability to sell him as such kind of gets lost in the shuffle when some of the WEC cards are being filled with non-starters at the 185 and 205 level on Versus.
LINK
|
|
Post #1 8/30/08 12:11:18AM
|
jae_1833
MMA Sensei
Career record: 146-94
Season: 38-32 (#2004)
Location: cali
|
Good article but I don't think that I can afford another PPV organization. I already have UFC and Affliction, if EXC went back to PPV I would probably lose them too. 
|
|
Post #2 8/30/08 12:15:08AM
|
Twenty20Dollars
MMA Sensei
Career record: 168-91
Season: 47-23 (#640)
Location: KC,MO
|
Honestly i dont think WEC to PPV would do that well. I think it would have to get a lot bigger before it starts to do PPV events.
i like there free cards, they have been putting on some badass cards in their past couple of events.
|
|
Post #3 8/30/08 12:18:11AM
|
prozacnation1978
MMA Sensei
Career record: 174-77
Season: 49-21 (#254)
Location: san diego
|
looks like everyone wants pay per view shows but i doubt the average mma fan will buy more than one show a month for 45 bucks
|
|
Post #4 8/30/08 12:29:10AM
|
Pitbull09
MMA Sensei
Career record: 134-69
Season: 43-23 (#1565)
Location: PA
|
2010 should be the earliest they start thinking about PPVs.
WEC hasnt even folded into 3 or 2 remaining divisions that they are keeping and they believe they already have enough depth to have PPVs already? No way. I wouldnt buy a card if it had all their best guys matched up for great fights all together. Unless Kid Yamota suddenly signs and there is the Faber/ Kid fight, they need to hold off on any plans of 2009 PPVs
|
|
Post #5 8/30/08 1:03:18AM
|
Muay-Thai_Mogwai
MMA Regular
Career record: 172-91
Season: 46-24 (#832)
Location: Missory
|
WEC has some good fights but not worthy of over $25. Although i would buy a WEC ppv over Elite XC.
|
|
Post #6 8/30/08 3:34:55AM
|
Solidus
MMA Regular
Career record: 180-105
Season: 53-17 (#147)
Location: WV
|
Well that blows, no way that I'll be buying them. Maybe they'll at least start paying the fighters in the WEC more, from the numbers I've seen posted here it seems like they get paid crap.
|
|
Post #7 8/30/08 10:07:45AM
|
BANNED
Career record: 116-60
Season: 45-21 (#854)
Location:
|
wtf! as soon as i get versus, this happens?
i can tell u one thing for sure.....i wont be ordering
|
|
Post #8 8/30/08 12:38:48PM
|
Poohbah
MMA Regular
Career record: 149-87
Season: 43-27 (#2554)
Location: Madison WI
|
I like the WEC, but I too would not buy a WEC PPV. I think they are crazy for even considering this. UFC is their marque brand. I think this just shows they still can't figure out how WEC fits into the mix.
Imagine the NFL spinning off another football league and trying to market both. WTF? Only one organization can be the big dog. That means WEC has to focus on smaller fighters, smaller venues, and shows on free cable TV.
I think they need to hire a branding guru to get a handle on this.
|
|
Post #9 8/31/08 9:39:05PM
|
|
