More Details on ESPN MMA Show

Sources tell MMAPayout.com that ESPN's online MMA magazine-style show will launch this Thursday. The program's launch was apparently delayed by the UFC's insistence that it be exclusive to the UFC. The conflict has apparently been resolved as Kenny Florian will be hosting the first two weeks of the program, however, it is unclear the extent of the company's involvement.

This isn't the first time the UFC has pushed for exclusivity, however, media companies appear to be increasingly willing to look beyond just the UFC to see if there is a broader MMA market.

ESPN to Launch Online MMA Series

According to a report in this morning's New York Times, ESPN will test the MMA waters this fall with a series appearing exclusively online and on mobile devices:

Like many of the broadcasters, ESPN intends to play up its new-media offerings along with what is coming on TV, outlining plans for original programming that will appear only online or on mobile devices. Those shows include “Mayne Street,” featuring Kenny Mayne, the “SportsCenter” anchor; “Eric’s Got Issues,” with Eric Kuselias; “P.O.V.,” which will compile and present video clips that are submitted to ESPN by viewers and fans; and a series about mixed martial arts.

“We have more digital originals than television originals,” said Ed Erhardt, president for ESPN customer marketing and sales, who described the digital shows as “a strategic asset to help broaden our relationship with fans.”

SEE: More Details on ESPN MMA Show

IFL Set to Announce Major New Media Partnership

MMAPayout.com has learned that the IFL is set to announce a partnership with iPTV service provider NeuLion. iPTV is television content that is delivered through broadband computer networks instead of traditional broadcast or cable formats. NeuLion has already successfully launched iPTV networks for the NHL and New York Knicks among others.

The IFL Network will offer live events and video on demand. The network is currently ad supported, but the partnership also supports pay-per-view, registration, and future subscriptions.

New Era?: UFC Debuts on Yahoo! Pay-per-view

UFC 82 may ultimately be remembered as a milestone in the MMA industry, the first pay-per-view event distributed online by Yahoo! Sports. As part of a clever promotional campaign, and convenient beta testing program, Yahoo! made the online feed available for free to members of the online media. The results, at least based on my personal experience, were sterling.

I consider myself somewhere in the middle of the great technology divide that separates the tech savvy from the technophobe. Two simple cable connections, one quick scan of a randomly Googled (my apologies to Yahoo!) how to guide, and ten minutes later my television was broadcasting the Yahoo! internet feed in picture perfect quality.

At the risk of sounding like a cheap shill whose opinion was bought and sold for $44.95, the quality of the feed was impeccable and the experience was surprisingly painless. Outside of the fact that I was unable to take advantage of my full television screen, which I presume was the result of own ineptitude and/or personal technological limitations, there was no discernible difference between the standard pay-per-view experience and the Yahoo! pay-per-view experience.

That said, there is also no discernible benefit to buying the online version, at least for now. Yahoo! touted that the replay is available for 24 hours following its conclusion and it can be viewed by fight/chapter, but noticeably missing is the greatest promise of internet pay-per-view, a lower price tag.

Assuming that the basic assumptions about internet pay-per-view are true, then theoretically Zuffa has every incentive to drive business online by offering a lower price point. In theory the move would be more than compensated by a more favorable revenue split (with Yahoo! as compared to cable distributors, although as Zuffa's stature has increased, so has its leverage with distributors) and increased buys as a result of a lower price point.

But that will not happen anytime soon because Zuffa (or WWE or HBO Boxing) simply cannot risk raising the ire of the traditional television pay-per-view industry by aggressively driving consumers online with more attractive price points and a value added product. While the balance of power is shifting, the online revolution is simply not mature enough to sustain the company.

The traditional pay-per-view industry would retaliate against any move that threatened to cannibalize it. The UFC product could be deemphasized by cable and satellite distributors with dire results for Zuffa's bottom line. Put simply, the current dominant pay-per-view distributors could literally run Zuffa out of business by cutting the marketing, specifically direct targeted marketing, and placement of UFC events before Zuffa could successfully convert its audience online.

As an example, assume that Zuffa began offering UFC events on Yahoo! for $23, roughly half the price of what traditional cable or satellite providers currently charge. It is likely that those providers have most favored nation status when it comes to UFC pay-per-view, meaning they have first right of refusal on price point. They would likely balk at a significantly lower exclusive online price point.

Zuffa has already experienced a mild rebuke from the traditional distributors after it experienced early success with online streaming, thanks at least in part to a heavy promotional push for UFC.com and UFC on Demand during its pay-per-view broadcasts. As a result of pressure from the distributors, Zuffa stopped marketing its online pay-per-view steam in 2006, but maintained the product on its own website.

So if prices cannot be reduced, at least in the near term, what can Yahoo! offer that traditional pay-per-view cannot or will not? That is the (multi) million dollar question and one that the online world is waiting for the answer to.

One likely value added feature is exclusive content in the form of extra fights that cannot be shown on cable/satellite because of maximum time commitments. Yahoo!’s greatest advantage as a distributor might be its unlimited platform, in terms of time, allowing it to provide virtually endless extra content. It remains to be seen what other tricks Yahoo! may have up its sleeve in the pending pay-per-view arms race.

A new era may be dawning in the MMA industry in the form of online pay-per-view streaming, but its zenith is years away. Until then Yahoo! will spend its time refining the logistics of the new platform and quietly exposing consumers to its possibilities. The future is coming, but its not here yet.

UFC Partners with Yahoo! For Internet Pay-per-view

Today the UFC announced Yahoo! as its new online pay-per-view distributor:

"This relationship with Yahoo! is an important step for the UFC to build its global distribution platform for live pay-per-view events,” said Dana White, UFC President. “We are looking forward to working with Yahoo! Sports to expand our reach and bring the sport of mixed martial arts to fight fans in every corner of the world in every possible language.”

Perhaps in a sign of where the industry is heading, the title of the press release is simply "UFC Announces Yahoo! As New PPV Provider," with no qualifier such as "internet" or "online."

SEE ALSO:

• The Growing Importance of New Media
• Dana White on Internet Pay-per-view
• First Success Story in Internet Streaming?
  

Dana White on International Expansion, Internet Pay-per-view, and Network TV

Pramit Mohapatra interviewed Dana White for SI.com on the eve of UFC 80. White addressed several topics that MMAPayout.com has covered in the last week, including international expansion, internet pay-per-view, and network TV.

White dodged the timing question of international expansion, but did emphasis that the company never canceled UFC 83 from Manchester because it was never officially scheduled. White did offer some insight into where the company sees the industry heading in the big picture and how that relates to international expansion:

We want to get out there, get the brand known, get people into mixed martial arts. We're taking the show around and traveling it to introduce it to people because the bottom line is if you've never seen mixed martial arts and you think, "Oh god, I wouldn't like it -- it's barbaric," all I have to do is get you inside that arena and you're converted. It's the most exciting combat sport in the world and it's probably the greatest live sporting event you'll ever see. I really believe that when this thing goes to the Internet, we're going to be global.

The promise of internet pay-per-view is nothing new to readers of MMAPayout.com. This is the first time I've seen White publicly endorse the medium, however, the UFC has been an aggressive proponent of digital content with UFC on Demand.

On the topic of network television, White was again optimistic and surprisingly candid. He admitted that UFC 80 was originally a candidate for network TV and seemed to confirm talks with NBC in addition to CBS as MMAPayout.com reported earlier this week:

It will be ready when we cut a deal that works for us. I'm not going to go out there and cut any stupid deals. I use boxing as the blueprint of what not to do with this sport. And, no matter what, we're out there, we're working hard, we're trying to grow the UFC and expose it to more people, and get it into other countries. But, we're not going to cut any deals that don't make sense for this business long-term.

First Success Story in Internet Streaming?

Dave Meltzer recently reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Yahoo!'s streaming broadcast of the 9/29 Strikeforce show from the Playboy mansion drew roughly 350,000 viewers. The most shocking statistic was the that the average viewer watched for almost 60 minutes.

As the industry moves forward many people see a prominent role for internet streaming. With its considerable resources, financial and technological, and its commitment to MMA, Yahoo! is solidly poised to become a leader in the emerging medium. Of course, how far we are from viable (i.e. profitable) internet streaming remains to be seen. The obituaries for traditional pay-per-view may are beginning to look a bit premature in light of a record breaking year by the UFC in 2006, a mark that HBO boxing is likely to surpass this year.

The Growing Importance of New Media: IFL Inks Deal with YouTube and Google Ads

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.