UFC 103 Undercard: Spike Freebie
Jake Rossen Aug 21, 2009
If Carlos Arias of the OC Register is to believed -- and his
sincere face leans me in no other direction -- the UFC will be
arming itself against the competing Floyd Mayweather/Juan Manuel
Marquez bout on Sept. 19 by televising one giant, two-hour
commercial on Spike: a portion of UFC
103’s undercard, commercial-free.
A few things to keep in mind: for one, a few cable companies with only one premium pay channel outlet will have to choose between the two events, depriving some viewers of a choice. Two: boxing is about more than just the constantly visible teeth -- via flapping lips -- of Mayweather. If the UFC happens to grab more pay customers that night, it will be a victory against Floyd’s current drawing power, not boxing’s. Especially in a turgid bout against Marquez that no one really asked for.
And three: HBO has pre-blab hype of its own to circuit with a
4-part “24/7” countdown series spread out over the next several
weeks. And Mayweather can play to a camera crew like kittens play
with yarn.
It was Mayweather’s team who invited the competition by booking the 9/19 date -- which the UFC had already staked out -- for a fight originally scheduled for the summer. And the inevitable media angle of pitting the two sports against one another will only raise the visibility of both.
But diplomacy is boring, right? Who wins? Mayweather owns a chunk of the biggest pay per view spectacle of all time when he fought Oscar De La Hoya in front of 2.4 million households in 2007 -- but Marquez is no De La Hoya, and UFC 103 headliners Rich Franklin and Vitor Belfort are no Brock Lesnar.
The UFC is the more electric product right now, though, with utterly unprecedented exposure thanks to two huge summer events and a highly profitable video game. Between the live Spike barker show and the live UFC Fight Night card and the Kimbo-infused “Ultimate Fighter” premiere just three days prior, they’ll be getting tremendous press leading in.
UFC via brand awareness. But it’ll be close enough that the rivalry between the two combat sports -- real or imagined -- won’t be going away anytime soon.
Update: In a press release, Spike has confirmed the commercial-free telecast, though it's currently scheduled for a one (not two) hour slot at 9 p.m. ET on Sept. 19. The only bouts with potential for airing at present are Efrain Escudero/Cole Miller and Drew McFedries against Scrabble-fodder-named Tomasz Drwal.
A few things to keep in mind: for one, a few cable companies with only one premium pay channel outlet will have to choose between the two events, depriving some viewers of a choice. Two: boxing is about more than just the constantly visible teeth -- via flapping lips -- of Mayweather. If the UFC happens to grab more pay customers that night, it will be a victory against Floyd’s current drawing power, not boxing’s. Especially in a turgid bout against Marquez that no one really asked for.
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It was Mayweather’s team who invited the competition by booking the 9/19 date -- which the UFC had already staked out -- for a fight originally scheduled for the summer. And the inevitable media angle of pitting the two sports against one another will only raise the visibility of both.
But diplomacy is boring, right? Who wins? Mayweather owns a chunk of the biggest pay per view spectacle of all time when he fought Oscar De La Hoya in front of 2.4 million households in 2007 -- but Marquez is no De La Hoya, and UFC 103 headliners Rich Franklin and Vitor Belfort are no Brock Lesnar.
The UFC is the more electric product right now, though, with utterly unprecedented exposure thanks to two huge summer events and a highly profitable video game. Between the live Spike barker show and the live UFC Fight Night card and the Kimbo-infused “Ultimate Fighter” premiere just three days prior, they’ll be getting tremendous press leading in.
UFC via brand awareness. But it’ll be close enough that the rivalry between the two combat sports -- real or imagined -- won’t be going away anytime soon.
Update: In a press release, Spike has confirmed the commercial-free telecast, though it's currently scheduled for a one (not two) hour slot at 9 p.m. ET on Sept. 19. The only bouts with potential for airing at present are Efrain Escudero/Cole Miller and Drew McFedries against Scrabble-fodder-named Tomasz Drwal.
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