Today the IFL announced a video sharing partnership with YouTube and Google Ads. The IFL becomes the first MMA producer to partner with YouTube, following the lead of the NBA, NHL, CBS, and EA Sports among others who have similar partnerships with the website. At first glance, the move may seem insignificant, but in the long run it may represent the beginning of a significant trend in the MMA industry, towards internet content and away from traditional television platforms, specifically pay-per-view.
The IFL is one of the leading proponents in the MMA industry of new media and internet content. Many people within the television, pay-per-view, and MMA industries see pay-per-view as a dying business. When asked recently about the future of pay-per-view television and the promise of internet content, IFL President Jay Larkin told MMAPayout.com:
We don’t know what the future is. It will be some combination of digital, pay per view and traditional broadcast, but regardless you have to build the fan base through strategic partnerships and good old fashioned marketing of your talent. The goal is to control as many rights as you can so that when the right opportunity comes along you are in position to act. That’s why the IFL model will work. We, unlike any other organization, control the rights and likenesses of our athletes, our coaches, our teams, we produce our own TV and handle our own in arena show with a solid grassroots base. We are one stop shopping for any business partner and that’s something you cannot say for 99% of the sports or entertainment properties out there.The deal will provide IFL content to thousands of websites. The IFL will also share in the advertising revenue generated by the video content. IFL videos are already popular on YouTube with over one million views in recent months. The partnership will launch this week when the IFL premiers fights from its 11/3 World Grand Prix show through YouTube.
