Fox TV Deal Sees Dana White at Crossroads
When the UFC on Fox aired recently in the US, it marked another historic moment in the growth of MMA as a legitimate sport.
If there was ever a sign the sport has entered the mainstream sporting consciousness, it was the striking of the seven-year deal to show fights live on US terrestrial TV, the first of which was Velasquez versus Dos Santos on 12 November 2011. While the fight was a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it, 20-second knockout for the Brazilian, the hope is the TV deal will take interest in MMA to a new level.
Whether UFC chief Dana White will be able to keep up is another matter though.
Firstly, there’s the question of whether White is willing to share power. Signing on with Fox was undoubtedly the right move for the sport going forward, but when you play with the big-boys of US TV, you play by their rules, something White is not good at doing.
Will a man well known for controlling every aspect of his sport be happy to cede some of the big decisions to the network suits?
Secondly, White now has some vitally important decisions to make for the UFC brand. Before the Fox deal, UFC would show all their fights on pay-per-view, but now White has to strike a balance between giving the network what it wants in terms of big-name fights and retaining some bouts for his own UFC pay-per-view model. It looks like he has enough fighters to go around, but it’s a headache White hasn’t had to deal with in the past.
Another big issue facing White is his audience. Will the push to appeal to the masses end up alienating the loyal fan base that has supported the sport since day one? White said he chose Velazquez versus Dos Santos over the more purist Henderson versus Rua bout for the Fox fight because the free-to-air audience wasn’t ready for it, and responded to complaints about his choice by dissing the hardcore fan base.
“The hardcores can bitch about that fight. I could care less what they think about that fight. I don’t care,” was his well thought out response.
But where White could finally come undone is in an area he might find most difficult to change: being Dana White.
We all know his trigger-happy mouth and even faster tweeting fingers have got him into trouble in the past. And when the UFC was an up-and-comer, it was great, creating headlines and getting a bit of buzz.
But with mainstream America now watching, how long will they – and, more importantly, the network heads – be willing to put up with his more controversial antics?
One thing is for sure, though. It’s going to be a hell of a ride.
Paul Hansford is the co-author of The Last Word - Mixed Martial Arts, which has just been released by Germinal Press and is available on this website, all good bookstores and as an eBook.
Comments
On Saturday, December Dec 2011 Tamsim said...
“Who cares what happens with Dana? He's just so damned cute!”
On Sunday, December Dec 2011 lyotomachida said...
“UFC 140 is about to go and White's grinning like the proverbial Cheshire cat. This dude is not going away anytime soon.”
On Monday, December Dec 2011 simonsays said...
“Dana White's removal from the UFC would mean the sport would be bereft of an identity every bit as colourful as some of the fighters. The guy is indispensable for the next 5 years at least, and the network heads will tolerate anything he throws at them (within reason) given the revenue he's bringing in. I love him. He's old school, but cool with it, and he knows what the punters want. More power to the man! ”
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