Dave Meltzer reported in this week's Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the advance for UFC 83 in Montreal is over $4.5 million. The event is officially a sellout, but in a somewhat controversial move, company is auctioning off some additional seats. The company also frequently auctions off fighter memorabilia from its events for-profit.
The secondary ticket market is an emerging force in sports business, however, it is usually seller to seller with the sports entity as the go between, keeping the transaction fee. In the game worn industry, when items are auctioned by the entity it is usually for charity with most for-profit deals done through licensing companies such as Steiner Sports. That allows companies to reap the benefit without attracting potential negative publicity.
Zuffa's decision to handle these transactions itself appear to be consistent with the company's standard operating procedures which seek to maximize profits by keeping things in house whenever possible. The practices are not illegal and would be considered by many to be sound business, cutting out the middle man and thus maximizing profits. However, you have to wonder if the potential damage to the company's image/reputation is worth the extra financial reward.
Meltzer also reported that the advance for the company's 5/24 show in Las Vegas is off to a strong start at $2.3 million. With two months to go, that figure is only 8% off the total gate ($2.5 million) UFC 81 drew in February. The event features a strong card that includes the last fight on Tito Ortiz's contract. Ortiz has to be happy with the fast start as a strong gate and pay-per-view number, to go with a victory, would solidify his status as a top draw heading into the open market.
The company's 6/7 return to London is also off to a good start with an over $2 million advance. Ticket prices for the event are up $50 across the board from the first show with the cheapest seats going for $90. There is a lot of attention being paid to the gate by industry observers as the company has historically had a tougher time the second time into markets other than Las Vegas.
March 26, 2008
Upcoming UFC Advances & Secondary Marketplace Strategy
March 18, 2008
Donruss Ring Kings Proofs
Donruss provided the following proofs from their upcoming Ring Kings set to MMAPayout.com. The set is tentatively scheduled for a July release. More details are available at Donruss.com (SEE ALSO: Donruss Set to Launch MMA Trading Card Set).
March 13, 2008
November 15, 2007
Donruss to Launch MMA Trading Card Set
Donruss, a leading trading card company, is set to enter the MMA space with a new card set in early 2008. The set will feature 25-40 fighters from across MMA and include special autograph and memorabilia cards. The Ring Kings set represents the first major fore ray into MMA by the trading card industry, a $200-300 million dollar business in the United States annually.
Scott Prusha, Marketing & Public Relations Director for Donruss, told MMAPayout.com, “we’re excited. We know that there is a need out there and we’re trying to fill it. We’re the number one football company. We’re the most innovative and creative so we feel like if somebody can go to the market with something in the genre and do well, it’s us.”
The set will be a part of the company’s Americana line. The line focuses on celebrities, significant figures in American history, and American pop culture. Prusha said, “MMA is as big as it gets right now in the sports world, so we went down that path. We’re including it within the Americana program as showcase of something that’s very popular right now.”
In addition to regular cards, the set will also feature autograph cards, memorabilia cards, and autographed memorabilia cards for each fighter. “We’re going to take some different things used by the fighters, whether its shorts or t-shirts, and put them onto trading cards themselves,” Prusha said. “So it’ll be like a material card, like the game use cards being done in other sports. It’s the same concept.”
Prusha said the decision to focus on fighters from across the sport rather than on a particular league was the result of seeing so many appealing leagues and a desire to pick the best of the best in the entire sport of MMA. “It’s going to be more about who the fighter is and what he’s accomplished verses ‘I fight in this league or I fight for that league,’” Prusha said. “We started with Randy Couture, who is basically the God Father of MMA. Then we just filled in from there with people that were popular, that were doing well right now to come up with a good solid list of names.”
“We expect that it is going to be extremely popular,” Prusha said when asked about the company’s expectations for the set. “We expect that the guys themselves have a good fan base. So you’ll see a lot of activity in the cards, changing hands, collecting all the autograph cards of Forrest Griffin, chasing after individuals. We expect them to be changing hands pretty well because nothing has ever been done in this aspect.”
If the set does as well as expected the company is excited about the prospects of expanding its presence in MMA. “That’s what we’re going to see with this first launch,” said Prusha. “That’s why we’re testing it out to get some of these guys out there to see how well they do. If it does well, which we’re anticipating, then we’ll sit down and come up with a different game plan on what it is that we’re going to rollout as a full launch, but it’ll be interesting to see how this first one does.”
