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Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White has stated several times that he is working both on a deal to televise the UFC on premium cable channel HBO and to get ESPN to provide coverage of the promotion.
It seemed that the UFC was on the verge of an HBO deal when Larry Merchant, who is an integral part of the channel’s boxing coverage, told Pedro Fernandez of RingTalk.com in late 2006, “People look at it [UFC] as real wrestling. And next year HBO and Showtime, they both will test the waters and see if this works. I don't know what Showtime is doing, but we'll do four and see how it goes."
Showtime has already aired one MMA event, EliteXC this past February, and in an announcement earlier this week is expanding their reach by expanding their MMA affiliations to include K-1, BodogFight, Strikeforce, Cage Rage, and Spirit MC.
On Thursday of this week, Variety.com (a leading reporter of news in the entertainment industry) published an article about HBO’s interests in getting into the mixed martial arts game.
Variety spoke with HBO’s Chris Albrecht, who said, “We are talking to the UFC and looking at ways we can distinguish ourselves in that area.” But although Albrecht affirmed HBO’s interest, he stopped short of committing to future programming saying, “If we decide to be in the mixed martial arts business, we’ll make sure it’s as distinctive as everything else HBO does.”
Being distinctive could be the hanging point of the deal with the UFC. Speculation has been that HBO wants to use an independent telecast team that is impartial to the promotion, while the UFC would prefer to use their proven team headed by Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan.
Variety also verified that ESPN, the unchallenged leader of sports coverage in the United States, confirmed “that it has held exploratory talks with the UFC to [secure] some rights.”
Variety Article:
HBO looking outside the boxing ring
Network negotiating with UFC
By STEVEN ZEITCHIK
Is extreme fighting the next boxing?
It could be if HBO gets involved.
The pay net, which airs many of the premiere boxing bouts, has held negotiations with top mixed martial arts org Ultimate Fighting Championship about rights to its top-level fights.
HBO has a storied history in boxing. But with the heavyweight division in disarray and lacking marketable stars, television outlets are expanding their scope.
"We are talking to the UFC and looking at ways we can distinguish ourselves in that area," acknowledged HBO topper Chris Albrecht.
Despite reports that some in net's boxing division have reservations about mixed martial arts, Albrecht reassures that "if we decide to be in the mixed martial arts business, we'll make sure it's as distinctive as everything else HBO does."
Mixed martial arts has been gaining in popularity since it outlawed more rogue types of fighting ("small joint manipulation" and "fishhooking," according to its official rules).
A deal with the UFC for pay-per-view-level fights would give the sport another credibility stamp; in turn, it could help HBO attract a young aud.
Other cable nets have dined out on mixed martial arts.
Earlier in the week Showtime announced a pay-per-view fight with rival UFC group FEG to be held at the L.A. Coliseum.
And Spike, which was an early entrant to the sport with its reality series "Ultimate Fighter," drew a 3.1 household rating, a 6.0 rating among men 18-34 and 4.2 million total viewers for a fight in the fall.
The biggest sign of a shift? Sports leader ESPN confirms that it has held exploratory talks with the UFC to, um, fishhook some rights.
It seemed that the UFC was on the verge of an HBO deal when Larry Merchant, who is an integral part of the channel’s boxing coverage, told Pedro Fernandez of RingTalk.com in late 2006, “People look at it [UFC] as real wrestling. And next year HBO and Showtime, they both will test the waters and see if this works. I don't know what Showtime is doing, but we'll do four and see how it goes."
Showtime has already aired one MMA event, EliteXC this past February, and in an announcement earlier this week is expanding their reach by expanding their MMA affiliations to include K-1, BodogFight, Strikeforce, Cage Rage, and Spirit MC.
On Thursday of this week, Variety.com (a leading reporter of news in the entertainment industry) published an article about HBO’s interests in getting into the mixed martial arts game.
Variety spoke with HBO’s Chris Albrecht, who said, “We are talking to the UFC and looking at ways we can distinguish ourselves in that area.” But although Albrecht affirmed HBO’s interest, he stopped short of committing to future programming saying, “If we decide to be in the mixed martial arts business, we’ll make sure it’s as distinctive as everything else HBO does.”
Being distinctive could be the hanging point of the deal with the UFC. Speculation has been that HBO wants to use an independent telecast team that is impartial to the promotion, while the UFC would prefer to use their proven team headed by Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan.
Variety also verified that ESPN, the unchallenged leader of sports coverage in the United States, confirmed “that it has held exploratory talks with the UFC to [secure] some rights.”
Variety Article:
HBO looking outside the boxing ring
Network negotiating with UFC
By STEVEN ZEITCHIK
Is extreme fighting the next boxing?
It could be if HBO gets involved.
The pay net, which airs many of the premiere boxing bouts, has held negotiations with top mixed martial arts org Ultimate Fighting Championship about rights to its top-level fights.
HBO has a storied history in boxing. But with the heavyweight division in disarray and lacking marketable stars, television outlets are expanding their scope.
"We are talking to the UFC and looking at ways we can distinguish ourselves in that area," acknowledged HBO topper Chris Albrecht.
Despite reports that some in net's boxing division have reservations about mixed martial arts, Albrecht reassures that "if we decide to be in the mixed martial arts business, we'll make sure it's as distinctive as everything else HBO does."
Mixed martial arts has been gaining in popularity since it outlawed more rogue types of fighting ("small joint manipulation" and "fishhooking," according to its official rules).
A deal with the UFC for pay-per-view-level fights would give the sport another credibility stamp; in turn, it could help HBO attract a young aud.
Other cable nets have dined out on mixed martial arts.
Earlier in the week Showtime announced a pay-per-view fight with rival UFC group FEG to be held at the L.A. Coliseum.
And Spike, which was an early entrant to the sport with its reality series "Ultimate Fighter," drew a 3.1 household rating, a 6.0 rating among men 18-34 and 4.2 million total viewers for a fight in the fall.
The biggest sign of a shift? Sports leader ESPN confirms that it has held exploratory talks with the UFC to, um, fishhook some rights.
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