MMA Business: UFC Competes With Boxing Live On Nov. 12! Fox Executives Admit Major Sponsors Fully Support MMA

UFC Signs Seven year Deal with Fox set beginning Sat. Nov 12, 2011 at 6PM PT in Anaheim.  This date will also have a boxing fight featuring Manny Pacquiao.  UFC President Dana White admits no details have been set on whom will fight.  White stated Zuffa's "UFC will change everything with Fox."  UFC will show Fight Nights on Big Fox.  Zuffa executive Lorenzo Fertitta stated "we picked Fox as the natural home for the UFC" as they dominate the international and domestic U.S. market in action sports. 

Twenty-four live UFC fights on Fox to "catapult the pay-per-view PPV"  Fox Executive Frank Hill states they wish they received $90 million for the deal but will not state the exact amount. Fox Sports Media Group executive Eric Shanks stated "eighty percent overlap in the 18-34 male demographic between fans of the UFC and Fox."

UFC Official Press Release

UFC & FOX PACK PERFECT PUNCH

FOX SPORTS MEDIA GROUP REACHES MULTI-YEAR, MULTI-MEDIA RIGHTS AGREEMENT WITH ULTIMATE FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP

FOX to Broadcast Four Fights Annually Beginning November 2011

The Ultimate Fighter, Featuring a New Format, Moves to FX

Today, Ultimate Fighting Championship® (UFC), the world’s leading mixed martial arts organization and No. 1 Pay-Per-View event provider in the world, finds its perfect media match in FOX, the No. 1 television network in the country. FOX Sports Media Group, the umbrella entity representing FOX Networks Group’s wide array of sports platforms, has reached a multi-year, multi-media rights agreement with Zuffa, LLC, owner of the UFC brand.

The landmark agreement, which puts UFC on par with many of the country’s professional sports organizations, delivers four live events in prime time or late night each year to the FOX broadcast network, home to the country’s biggest sports events, including the Super Bowl, World Series and Daytona 500. The first live event airs Saturday, Nov. 12 at 9:00 PM ET/6:00 PM PT. Additional programming on multiple FOX networks launches January 2012 and includes live fights, pre and post shows, countdown shows, UFC Unleashed, UFC Primetime, the UFC Knockout series, Best of Pride, weigh-in specials, and much more original content from extensive Zuffa archives.  The agreement also provides for developing robust mobile and authenticated online offerings to exploit a vast array of digital platform rights.

In spring 2012, THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER, UFC's signature weekly reality show moves to FX, FOX's general entertainment cable network now in more than 99 million homes.  With the move to FX, the show will feature a newly-designed format. FX is also set to televise another four-to six-live UFC events annually, with a mixture of additional events and programs heading to FSMG cable networks including FUEL TV.

“We’re excited to be part of the FOX family,” says Dana White, UFC President.   “The UFC is finally where it belongs on the number one network in the country and aligned with the most prestigious sports properties in the world.  I’ve always said that the UFC will be the biggest sport in the world and with this relationship it will become a reality.”

“My brother Frank, Dana and I always believed that our passion for the sport of Mixed Martial Arts would help us to build the UFC into a successful global brand and ultimately make it one of the premier sports properties in the world,” said Lorenzo Fertitta, Chairman and CEO of the UFC.  “The partnership with FOX is a major step in making this a reality and also builds on the great relationship that we already have established with FOX in Latin America, Australia and Europe.”

“Mixed martial arts is not only the fastest growing sport in the world, but also the world’s most exciting form of man-to-man competition, and the UFC is the world’s premier MMA organization,” said FSMG President & Co-COO Eric Shanks.  “Since FOX Sports is America’s No. 1 sports network and FOX is America’s No. 1 network for young adults, the UFC on FOX is a perfect match.”

“UFC’s growth over the past decade is nothing short of phenomenal and it has become one of the marquee sports in this country,” said John Landgraf, President and General Manager, FX Networks.  “There is a reason for its rising popularity.  It features some of the greatest athletes in the world, and we believe it will be a terrific addition to our schedule and look forward to our relationship.”



Remember Shark Fights 19 is on tomorrow. 

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http://mmafightingwords.blogspot.com/2011/07/mma-maxim-forging-strategic-partnership.html