With the UFC’s biggest star’s highly anticipated rematch just around the corner, the UFC has made what can only be described as a poorly informed business choice. With two weeks until the return of Conor McGregor, the UFC made the decision to pull Ireland from the ppv section of UFC Fight Pass.
For those who may not know it, up until now Irish MMA fans only needed a subscription to Fight Pass to watch the exclusive prelims, the prelims, and the main events. This is not the norm in most places with high ppv numbers (like North America), and it may seem like a bit too good to be true, but what must be understood is that Ireland is not a high ppv buy country. The UFC and the cable companies who have obviously decided to get their cut of the action seem to think that this will not affect their buy rates, but they may be in for a nasty shock, for a number of reasons.
There is exactly ONE channel distributor
The only Irish carriers of UFC ppv events are Eir Sport (formerly Setanta) and BT Sports. Both were recently dropped from one of Ireland’s biggest satellite distributors, UPC (a subsidiary of Virgin Media). That means that the only available company that currently supplies BT Sport and Eir Sport is Sky TV. While Sky is one of the biggest satellite companies in the country, fewer and fewer people even have a TV subscription in this day and age. What with Netflix, free-view boxes, and online streaming, Sky are not as prevalent as they once were.The UFC has cut a huge portion of the Irish community out of a ppv most would have wanted to watch.
Speaking as a male MMA fan in his early 20’s, I know exactly nobody my age who has a subscription to Sky TV. UPC is definitely the more popular company for students due to it’s high speed internet and lower price range, but in truth the only people I know who have a subscription to Sky TV are people who have no interest in MMA: Older couples and the parents of friends. The young male population of the country (the UFC’s key demographic) simply does not have as much access to Sky TV as the number of Sky subscriptions would indicate to the company.
More Does Not Always Mean More
When attached to UFC fight pass, a ppv card cost between €18.99-€27.99. The subscription cost €7.99 a month. So a single ppv card would cost at most €35.98. I’m sure many a quiet night in the pub led to a new fight pass subscription and a ppv buy. This is a buy from someone who probably is not that interested in MMA. They only wants to see Conor McGregor fight. There are a lot of fans in Ireland who are only interested in watching their countryman compete. They do not particularly want to follow the sport. Convenience is key. The easier it is to get something, and the cheaper it is, the more likely people will buy it. Napoleon Bonaparte famously once said:
“Quantity has a quality all of its own.”
It is preferable to get a lot of cheaper buys than to get a small amount of expensive buys. Sky TV costs around €30 a month, without the sports channels, and has a minimum one year contract. They normally sell their TV packages as a part of a three part service. This includes internet and a phone line, which most people will already have. You will not get many people making last-minute, year-long Sky TV, internet and phone line purchases at 4am.
Typically a ppv on TV will cost more. The UFC still needs to make its money but now so does the service provider. The UFC will no longer be getting as many subscriptions to Fight Pass. They will be getting less ppv buys. Even though the ppv’s are more expensive, the UFC will be making the same amount of money off them. The extra money goes to the cable company. More expensive for the fans, less money to the UFC. It’s a deal where everyone loses.
Getting Sky is Harder Than it Seems
It is quiet clear that by waiting until two weeks before the Conor McGregor fight, the UFC and cable companies hoped to avoid the fan outrage and panic them in to buying a Sky TV subscription before they miss the fight. I’m sure that there will certainly be some new Sky customers after UFC 202 wraps up. There are bound to be some people who have the means to afford Sky TV, but haven’t done so for whatever reason, some of them are bound to also be UFC fans, who would be willing to fork out the extra money just to watch the fight.
What the UFC may not have realized is that Sky TV requires a satellite installation before they can install Sky.
Under normal circumstances you can be expected to wait two to three weeks for an installation man to come out. I know this from personal experience. There is one satellite installation man for the entire province of Munster (a third of the republic). You basically have to wait until there are enough customers in your area for them to call to you. You can order as early as you want but you have absolutely no guarantee that you will have Sky by the time UFC 202 goes down.
Final Thoughts:
The removal of Ireland as a ppv area on fight pass is obviously to do with the popularity of McGregor. He has a huge following in the country, as shown by the huge number of fans that attended his fights abroad. Sky TV has obviously decided that there is enough interest to want a bigger piece of the action. Even if that is true, the people who lose out here are every party involved.
Most MMA fans in the country are young adults. Most don’t have the means to afford the extra money for Sky TV if they do not already have it. Similarly the fact it is on television will lead to a higher price and fewer buys. If the ppv price stays the same the UFC will be getting less money. The difficulty with obtaining Sky and the fact that they can’t get to everyone in the time allowed since the announcement, I imagine most people will head to the pub for this one, or catch the replay later on.
Whatever way you slice it, it’s hard to see who wins in this deal. The fans don’t win, the UFC doesn’t win, the fighters don’t win. Some background deals are obviously going on here. I’m sure the Sky probably paid a lot of money to the UFC for this to happen, but for the amount of money they could be making, this just seems like a really big mistake.
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