UFC in the U.K. (The Truth)

So you are an American fighting TV show. You want to expand into new business territories. Is the UK a good place to start? The British speak English, and they like fighting!

The uninitiated majority still see cage fighting as an underground (illegal) sport too brutal for most British sensibilities, the press hate it, Few have heard of it, those who have...hate it! Yes, it has followers, but is it so popular that they will pay for it?

In the UK, the television landscape is very different from most other countries. Unlike the rest of the world you need a license to own a television, and until the early 1990s, there was basically only four terrestrial television channels in the United Kingdom (two of which are essentially government run).

Fortunately, the United Kingdom now has digital and satellite television, for which you pay extra, on top of the existing license fee. The British public can potentially have access to hundreds of channels, but take a guess at the most frequently watched channels...you guessed it those original four!

In 1997, an extra channel, imaginatively named Channel 5, was added to the terrestrial channels. Everything else you needed to pay extra for, and in order of popularity, you have freeview, Sky television, cable television and BT vision. The last three offer more channels at extra cost, sport and movies...cost extra (the most popular being sky sport and sky movies).

Now getting back to the UFC, you have an unpopular sport that is far too brutal for the majority of the sensitive British. So there is no chance of getting on those first four channels, not even that extra fifth one—never on the most popular channels on those extra services.

One channel thinks the UFC is right up their street. Bravo, for men in their 20's, nude girls, drinking, partying and fighting. The best bit is, the channel is not too obscure. Good place for the UFC? Well, for a few years, yes, but by the time UFC 70 takes place, The brains at UFC headquarters will discover that UFC is really popular in the U.K., so they will broadcast all British held events on Setanta, a new, very obscure, Irish-run sports channel.

So new is this channel, few British people can pronounce the name. In fact, few have ever heard of it! Will they pay for this channel on top of PPV? Remember, the British can only handle four channels!

In 2003, UFC 38 came to the UK. Financially, it was a disaster. Five years down the line, back to the U.K. for UFC 70. This time round, it is bound to be a success, loads more fans, and plenty of advertising. Michael Bisping is a British fighter famous throughout the UK. It will be great right? Wrong!

In reality, no one except UFC fans have ever heard of Michael Bisping. That advertising that is supposedly plastered everywhere is nonexistent. Television ads are only seen on this new sports channel airing the UFC (during UFC ad breaks), not on any of the more popular channels! Print ads are in martial arts magazines, not in the national press. Billboards are largely only put up in Manchester (the city holding the event). If you only advertise to existing fans, where does the growth come from?

Well, this series of advertising blunders replicates itself for all the British-held events, the UFC are scratching their heads, asking themselves, "Why aren't these events making as much money as we thought? We are the fastest growing sport. Why aren't we more popular in the UK?"

Apart from the poor fight matchups, mainly due to non European fighters having trouble getting work permits, the majority of fans don't want to pay for a TV channel they have never heard of!

What will the UFC do next? The European shows will certainly expand. Growth is slower than originally thought. They bring in moderate amounts of cash, although nowhere near what was expected. Bringing in new fans looks increasingly unlikely, merely from a complete lack of judgment, regarding the perception of cage fighting within the United Kingdom.

Remember the old saying "Britain and America are two countries separated by a common language". Dana White...don't assume you know your business within the United Kingdom!