UFC president: network deal coming soon
Ultimate Fighting Championships president Dana White suggested in an interview Monday that the UFC will be on broadcast network television in the coming year.
Talking to Broadcasting & Cable, a television industry magazine, he said the UFC was on the cusp of completing a major deal.
“We are working on a couple moves now and should be in a billion homes around the world in the next couple months,” said White. To that, interviewer Ben Grossman asked him if he expected to be on a broadcast
network in the coming year.
“Yes, we will. We are working on some things right now. I just can't talk about it at all because we are right in the middle of it,” replied White.
Getting on broadcast television has long been a goal for the UFC, who surged to popularity in 2005 largely thanks to their reality television program “The Ultimate Fighter,” which airs on the Spike cable
station. Currently in its twelfth season, the show has become a staple on Spike. Additionally, since then the UFC had broadcast increasing numbers of free events, and recently expanded that number due to signing a deal with Versus, another cable network.
This year alone, the UFC has aired seven free events, with two more on the way, and also frequently airs live preliminary card bouts on Spike before the main card of a pay-per-view event gets underway as
a means to draw in more potential PPV buyers. A network slot would provide even more exposure for these events.
White said the new deal with Versus, together with the merger of Comcast and NBC, could be an opportunity to get onto NBC, but also that Fox was an option, but that he didn’t have anything he could reveal.
“It could be our way into NBC. Everything you're saying makes sense. Fox on Saturday nights, Comcast merging with NBC, I am sorry I can't get into it,” said White.
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