The billionaire Lorenzo Fertitta, as well as majority owner of the UFC, steps out of the shadow to do an interview with Atlantic Magazine. It was very interesting to hear from the man behind the scenes for a change. He discusses his business model, which he calls “The UFC Wheel.” In the center he explains, is the pay per view feature. The DVD’s, Video On Demand platforms, syndicated events for television (UFC Wired & UFC Unleashed), etc. are all of the connecting spokes that "spin off" the PPV event. It’s amazing how much additional money is made, well after the actual fight.
Mr. Fertitta went on to explain the levels of effort that it takes to make all of this happen. Rather than repeat exactly how this billionaire runs his business, I’ll just mention briefly what I believe is the main point:
Instead of a bunch of “suits” running the UFC, you have guys that actually train mixed martial arts. Have you ever taken a look at Dana and the Fertitta’s faces, while they are watching a fight? Well I have, and I say with full confidence that their love for the sport is the real thing. These guys live and breathe MMA. Having that driving passion is why they are so heavily involved in every decision within their organization. Lorenzo emphasizes that all the marketing is done in-house, meaning that they know what is best for their product. They know exactly how to position the UFC in a way that leaves fight fans pumped for more action because they even want the same thing themselves. Therefore, success and passion go hand in hand.
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200811u/lorenzo-fertitta
1 comment:
Its a great point that besides the 45 dollars charged to order the UFC pay per views (that i have done multiple times) how much extra revenue they make and such little effort needs to be done. Making a dvd of the event and selling it for 20 bucks is so simple yet so marketable and much be a huge part of the revenue they have. Plus events leading up to the fight on spike that I would assume draw high ratings which in turn makes advertising cost increase makes the UFC so much extra profit.
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