Pro Wrestling Chronicle

In today’s edition, we deal with UFC’s options for promotion after a deal with HBO fails, maximizing your free TV product, and Dana White’s bad habit.

-UFC 70 falls through on HBO, and will be tape delayed on Spike TV. Apparently, after a ton of back and forth, depending on who you believe (and in fairness I think it’s all pretty much true), UFC and HBO will not be coming to terms. The HBO side involves an executive war, where half the executives in power wanted Mixed Martial Arts to compete with Showtime in the pay TV market. Showtime has Elite EX up and running now, and had success with their first show.

Unfortunately, others in charge, like HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg, were much less in favor of a deal, having a view similar to muc of print/TV/Internet media. That is to say, anyone over 40 thinks boxing is somehow harmless and “the sweet science”, and on a business level feels they’re fine to stick with coverage of that sport. They find MMA to be human cockfighting, and have no interest in broadcasting it or covering it. Those under 40, who tend to have less clout and are paid less, can’t figure out why there is not more serious coverage of the sport, and fight for it’s inclusion. The irony is that many of these older sports writers are in print media, while younger writers tend to be beat writers or columnists stuff with this new crazy invention known as the Internet. Most young people don’t buy newspapers anymore, they read news online, so the schism is noticeable in those under 40 aware of MMA (specifically UFC), and those over 40 who don’t want to hear it if you scream the words.

Which brings us back to the other side of the argument. While HBO’s Greenburg may have won the tug of war inside HBO, he had a little help from someone, namely Dana White. White is deathly afraid of outsiders having there say on the sport, and is in many ways the egomaniac and control freak that Vince McMahon is. So what you get is a big disagreement between UFC and those in HBO trying to get the sides to make a deal. HBO wants there own announcers, own production, and commentary control over the event and the segments. To them, like any sport, UFC provides the players and the venue, and HBO comes in with unbiased coverage. It’s alot like Football of baseball, except CBS or FOX watch what they say many times as far as criticizing the leagues. After all, they are a cash cow you do business with. Apparently White is nervous about opening up that Pandora’s Box to early. Fortunately for him, he’s been right more then he’s been wrong as far as guiding the direction of MMA in this country.

So HBO loses millions in revenue they could have had, and UFC loses the prestige. UFC will live. Believe me, it wasn’t gonna be that great anyway. Just imagine the fight the day a pouting and out of touch Larry Merchant or Jim Lampley are instructed in cover and interview Chuck Liddell or Tito Ortiz. That’s the kind of train wreck I’d be expecting.

Here’s the problem at hand. UFC 70 on April 21 was to be the HBO debut. That’s out. It’s far to late to put together a Pay-Per-View at this point (those things actually do take some planning to be a success). What we’re left with is the event moving to Spike TV on a tape delay. A lot of people see this as a failure. I think a lot of those same people saw HBO as something more special then just another TV deal in a smaller household universe. This is, and should be considered, a chance to make a HUGE positive.

Make a UFC PPV-like card on free TV a yearly event. Much like Tito-Shamrock’s rematch, take a negative and make a positive out of it. With a loaded card, and coming from another country on tape delay, you were going to lose out slightly just because a portion of people need everything to be live. I tend to not watch the football or basketball on tape. I just watch Sportscenter.

Having this on Free TV the same day tells the consumer “save your money, we appreciate you”. They need to do a huge ad campaign for this on Spike, with billboards, TV interviews, and in print/internet media. If I were them I’d try to get it sponsored much like the World Cup, where they omit commercials because it’s “being brought to you without commercial interruption by evil corporation A and then B”. I think the event should be held yearly and kept special, like Clash of the Champions or Saturday Night’s Main Event in Pro Wrestling. You’ll know this isn’t just a Fight Night on UFC because it’s presented just like the PPVs, and the match ups are PPV-caliber.

UFC understands its fans and promotional tactics. This idea is practically being done anyway, it just needs a different presentation. You can fill the wholes in the three hours w/ packages to promote pay events and TV shows, your website, and if they ever get out of that terrible deal, DVDs. Besides, imagine the money in your pocket in Decemeber when you spend a good amount of time in April making people like Mirko Cro Cop or Keith Jardine stars to the casual fan.

-Dana White and the media. I’ve always liked Dana White. I enjoy his ability to promote and speak. He comes across better then someone else I write about from time to time, Vince McMahon. But White seems lately like he’s a little drunk with power, and he’s been stumbling over his own ego in media appearances simply because he’s to lazy to present himself better. That, and he thinks it’s cool to be a tough guy. The problem is, he’s the president of the tough guys, and he needs to be a well spoken guy.

Dana was on Scott Ferall’s radio show the other week calling fighters and executives outside his company anything that came to his mind. When talk turned to Pride and Pride USA rep. Jerry Millen, White started calling Millen a “homo” on the air, and when Millen was brought on the phone, Dana cursed him out and made references to Millen meeting other members of Pride in gay bars. That would be fine for one of Dana’s own fighters, but these were two representatives of a new sport with critics just waited to see them slip up. Millen is no angel (check out the crap he’s been saying about lovable on-air duo Mauro Ranallo and Bas Rutten), but it’s in no executive’s interest to yell anti-homosexual references on a national broadcast and then play it off as though he’s just a man’s man.

Then, when talking to MMA internet media, Sherdog.com, after UFC 68, White began cursing like a sailor at any subject brought up and called PRIDE “Fuckin’ retard” and “Fuckin’ Assholes” because Wanderlei Silva lost a fight the week earlier. The reason: Not only has he realized PRIDE is so mobbed-up that it’s impossible to buy the thing, but he wanted Silva in May for a hardcore fan’s dream match with Chuck Liddell. What’s really silly is anyone who is excited about the idea of that match still would be, even if Dan Henderson beat Silva.

My guess is Dana thinks he’s just presenting the image of a young brash tough talking guy who is hip to the times and has to save face around his fighters (Much like the guy up in Stamford, Ct.). He probably thinks no one hears Bubba the Love Sponge or Ferall Show, because they’re still on smaller Satellite radio systems. And when talking to insiders like Sherdog.com, who are just happy to be in the building after how White tried to kill there access to make way for mainstream media, I’m sure he thinks it’s some dinky Internet interview.

But eventually all this information filters out to larger sources. It doesn’t have to be today, that doesn’t matter. White on the radio: many of us have a CD of that. White on Sherdog: I can look a that video over and over if I like on my computer. He carries himself a lot better in media appearances like CBS Sportsline or 60 Minutes, but the fact remains, anyone with an ax to grind now has something to hold over his head. So Dana, or Mr. White, if you prefer. THINK next time you speak, before I catch you on HBO for the wrong reason. I know – I know, the deal fell through. But that’s nothing compared to the embarrassment you’ll bring the Ferttita Brothers if we see video of you snatching notes from the hands of Bob Costas while he grills you about promoting human cock fights and homophobic remarks.