Ultimate Fighting Championship History

Presentation Notes Cameron, highlighted in blue are things that need to be added to the powerpoint. Slide 1 – Landing Page (Sarah) •  UFC graphics Logo Slogan •  Consulting Firm Name & Slogan – •  Group Members Slide 2 – Background (Sarah) •  Ultimate Fighting Championship® (UFC®), started in 1993 as a professional mixed martial arts (MMA) organization. • In 2001 UFC was purchased by Zuffa and restructured MMA into a highly organized and controlled combat sport • Response to the UFC brand of MMA has been tremendous, resulting in a growing fan base that has developed steadily through the years.

Slide 3- Background (Sarah) •  UFC is the worldwide benchmark for Fight Entertainment industry •  They lead the global mixed martial arts industry with 90% of market share Insert graphic here of MMA market share Slide 4- Market Share (Sarah) Insert PPV Breakdown chart here ADD PIE CHART HERE * UFC has declined in PPV market share (within the fight entertainment industry) from 57% in 2010 to 51% in 2011. What to say: Slide 2: Background The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was created in 1993 as a medium to display multiple forms of martial arts and classify the most effective fighting style in a real life fight.

Mainstream exposure damaged consumer perception of the product due to the violent and “no-rules” nature of the sport; and as exposure languished, so did profits. The company struggled to gain television exposure and found itself competing with professional wrestling, which is staged fighting, and traditional fighting programming such as boxing and martial arts tournaments. However, by 2003, UFC came under new management who wanted to change the strategic course of the company. Management saw the opportunity to rebrand itself from a sport to a sports entertainment organization categorized as “fighting”.

It installed a new set of rules – eliminating hair pulling, head butting, groin strikes and other dangerous maneuvers from the matches. Zuffa the parent company of UFC has given consumers an innovative option for fight entertainment. UFC blends the athleticism of boxing and mixed martial arts, the production value and character creation of professional wrestling, along with the drama of reality television into one unique product. Response to UFC has been very successful and fan base has been consistently growing for the past several years.

Slide 3: Background The results have been very visible. UFC has now become a billion dollar empire that reaps profits from PPV, merchandise, and live events. It has grown progressively and through acquisitions it has become the industry leader and benchmark in the fight entertainment industry. By 2009, it was estimated that the UFC had captured 90% market share of mixed-martial arts entertainment. Slide 4: Market Share Even though UFC holds the majority of the MMA market share it barely contributes over half when talking about the PPV industry.

Like the term “pay-per-view” suggest, you pay to view an event whether it be a live event or movie. Live events are segmented into more narrow of categories such as concerts, professional sports and college sports. UFC is listed under MMA PPV, which is considered as a fight entertainment, a sub-category of professional sports. In 2010 UFC held strong with having 57% of the market share of PPV in the fight entertainment industry. However one year later in 2011 it dropped to only having 51% of the PPV market share within the fight entertainment industry.