sPOrts BUsinE ss By ryan Balis UFC Fights for the China Market I · 2013-10-25 · MMA to a...

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22 INSIGHT JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2013 Since coming under the ownership and operation of Zuffa, LLC in 2001, Las Vegas- headquartered UFC has risen from largely a fringe appeal to become the world’s fastest growing sports organization and largest pay-per-view provider, media industry data show. Today, UFC programming is beamed around the world to 150 countries and territories in 20 different languages, allowing the UFC to reach one billion homes worldwide. In the U.S., the organization’s largest market, the UFC has brought MMA to a mainstream American audience, signing a seven-year agreement with the Fox Sports Media I n early November, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) brought 18 of the world’s preeminent mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters to Macao to battle it out before more than 8,000 excited fans at e Venetian Macao. As the first event in Greater China for the UFC, the sport’s largest promotion, the Macao event was a testament to the explosion in worldwide interest in the UFC and the MMA style of fighting, which involves a mix of martial arts disciplines, punching, kicking and various “grappling” techniques like wrestling, takedowns and submission holds. UFC Fights for the China Market BY RYAN BALIS SPORTS BUSINESS The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has grown hugely popular around the world, and now organizers are aiming to win over more fans in this part of the world UFC fighters exchange blows at UFC Macao SANDS CHINA

Transcript of sPOrts BUsinE ss By ryan Balis UFC Fights for the China Market I · 2013-10-25 · MMA to a...

2 2 i n s i g h t J A N U A RY / F E B R U A RY 2 0 1 3

Since coming under the ownership and operation of Zuffa, LLC in 2001, Las Vegas-headquartered UFC has risen from largely a fringe appeal to become the world’s fastest growing sports organization and largest pay-per-view provider, media industry data show.

Today, UFC programming is beamed around the world to 150 countries and territories in 20 different languages, allowing the UFC to reach one bil lion homes worldwide. In the U.S., the organization’s largest market, the UFC has brought MMA to a mainstream American audience, signing a seven-year agreement with the Fox Sports Media

In early November, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) brought 18 of the world’s preeminent mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters to Macao to battle it out before more than 8,000 excited fans at The

Venetian Macao.As the first event in Greater China for the UFC,

the sport’s largest promotion, the Macao event was a testament to the explosion in worldwide interest in the UFC and the MMA style of fighting, which involves a mix of martial arts disciplines, punching, kicking and various “grappling” techniques like wrestling, takedowns and submission holds.

UFC Fights for the China Market

B y rya n Ba l i s

s P O rt s BU s i n E s s

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has grown hugely popular around the world, and now organizers are aiming to win over more fans in this part of the world

UFC fighters exchange blows at UFC Macao

SAN

DS C

HIN

A

J A N U A RY / F E B R U A RY 2 0 1 3 i n s i g h t 2 3

Group in 2011 and drawing nine million viewers in its first Fox television broadcast last year.

Interest in the UFC also is on the rise in China. The UFC says they have 21 million fans on the mainland, and the organization has one of their three foreign offices in Beijing.

During the Macao event, Insight interviewed Mark Fischer, executive vice president & managing director of UFC Asia, who talked about the growing popularity of the sport in China and the organization’s plans for making further inroads. Below are excerpts from that interview, along with a chat with MMA legend and UFC Hall of Famer Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell.

Insight: Putting on a UFC event is a major undertaking. Can you talk about what is involved, and how much work it takes to plan and run a UFC event?Mark Fischer: “It’s a lot. We put a ton of detail into our events. We try to have the best production quality, production values of any kind of event anywhere in the world everywhere we go. So, we bring the whole circus over.

“Then you have all the tickets, the invitations, the pre-parties and the post-parties. We’ve been

planning and marketing this event ever since we sealed the deal with The Venetian about six months ago.”

Insight: Foreign entertainers have many stories to share about working with Chinese authorities and getting permission to perform in China. Why did the UFC choose Macao for the first event in the Greater China region? MF: “Three reasons. One, great facilities here, great arena, hotel, the fact that they’re right together. Logistics are excellent. Two, The Venetian has been a great partner. Not only venue partner but marketing partner, helping us to promote throughout the, really, Hong Kong, Macao, southern China region – the target for this event.

“Thirdly, Macao is a destination. It’s within a couple hours of a couple billion people. We had an opportunity to touch a lot of people through this event while other locations wouldn’t quite have the same effect.”

Insight: What are some of the challenges to bringing the UFC to mainland China that may be different from other markets?MF: “China is a huge market with great potential

“In 10 years, who knows, but the Chinese market potentially could be as big or bigger than any for us worldwide.”– Mark Fischer

UFC

Mark Fischer, left, poses with UFC fighters and others prior to the UFC Macao event

2 2 i n s i g h t J A N U A RY / F E B R U A RY 2 0 1 3

Since coming under the ownership and operation of Zuffa, LLC in 2001, Las Vegas-headquartered UFC has risen from largely a fringe appeal to become the world’s fastest growing sports organization and largest pay-per-view provider, media industry data show.

Today, UFC programming is beamed around the world to 150 countries and territories in 20 different languages, allowing the UFC to reach one bil lion homes worldwide. In the U.S., the organization’s largest market, the UFC has brought MMA to a mainstream American audience, signing a seven-year agreement with the Fox Sports Media

In early November, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) brought 18 of the world’s preeminent mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters to Macao to battle it out before more than 8,000 excited fans at The

Venetian Macao.As the first event in Greater China for the UFC,

the sport’s largest promotion, the Macao event was a testament to the explosion in worldwide interest in the UFC and the MMA style of fighting, which involves a mix of martial arts disciplines, punching, kicking and various “grappling” techniques like wrestling, takedowns and submission holds.

UFC Fights for the China Market

B y rya n Ba l i s

s P O rt s BU s i n E s s

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has grown hugely popular around the world, and now organizers are aiming to win over more fans in this part of the world

UFC fighters exchange blows at UFC Macao

SAN

DS C

HIN

A

J A N U A RY / F E B R U A RY 2 0 1 3 i n s i g h t 2 3

Group in 2011 and drawing nine million viewers in its first Fox television broadcast last year.

Interest in the UFC also is on the rise in China. The UFC says they have 21 million fans on the mainland, and the organization has one of their three foreign offices in Beijing.

During the Macao event, Insight interviewed Mark Fischer, executive vice president & managing director of UFC Asia, who talked about the growing popularity of the sport in China and the organization’s plans for making further inroads. Below are excerpts from that interview, along with a chat with MMA legend and UFC Hall of Famer Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell.

Insight: Putting on a UFC event is a major undertaking. Can you talk about what is involved, and how much work it takes to plan and run a UFC event?Mark Fischer: “It’s a lot. We put a ton of detail into our events. We try to have the best production quality, production values of any kind of event anywhere in the world everywhere we go. So, we bring the whole circus over.

“Then you have all the tickets, the invitations, the pre-parties and the post-parties. We’ve been

planning and marketing this event ever since we sealed the deal with The Venetian about six months ago.”

Insight: Foreign entertainers have many stories to share about working with Chinese authorities and getting permission to perform in China. Why did the UFC choose Macao for the first event in the Greater China region? MF: “Three reasons. One, great facilities here, great arena, hotel, the fact that they’re right together. Logistics are excellent. Two, The Venetian has been a great partner. Not only venue partner but marketing partner, helping us to promote throughout the, really, Hong Kong, Macao, southern China region – the target for this event.

“Thirdly, Macao is a destination. It’s within a couple hours of a couple billion people. We had an opportunity to touch a lot of people through this event while other locations wouldn’t quite have the same effect.”

Insight: What are some of the challenges to bringing the UFC to mainland China that may be different from other markets?MF: “China is a huge market with great potential

“In 10 years, who knows, but the Chinese market potentially could be as big or bigger than any for us worldwide.”– Mark Fischer

UFC

Mark Fischer, left, poses with UFC fighters and others prior to the UFC Macao event

2 4 i n s i g h t J A N U A RY / F E B R U A RY 2 0 1 3

for UFC, yet it is not a single homogeneous market. It’s really many different markets, each with different tastes according to geography and many different levels of development. This presents a couple unique challenges, one being how best to reach and build a fan base among all the potential constituents, and the second to stay focused on priorities. Our first priority is building awareness and educating potential fans about our sport on one hand, and on the other to make sure our fans have full access.” Insight: Can you give me a guess how the sport

will grow and develop in China over the next five to 10 years?MF: “First, UFC needs to continue to build our media exposure and programming for the China market over the coming couple years. We achieved great growth in this so far – now up to about 20 million viewers per week – but we still have a ways to go to achieve mainstream awareness and a critical mass of fans across the country.

“At the same time, we need to support the development of Chinese MMA fighters, whose entry and ultimately success in the UFC will make

UFC Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell is one of the most celebrated fighters in UFC history. A former light heavyweight champion, Liddell became an icon of the sport with his devastating knockouts, trademark Mohawk and punishing fighting style loved by fans around the world. Liddell retired from professional fighting in 2010 after a 12-year career and today helps promote the UFC as vice president of business development.

insight: What’s it like to be a UFC fighter? Tell us a little about what it takes to become a UFC fighter.Chuck liddell: “Well, it’s a lot of work. I’ve been in this sport for a long time, and in the beginning we went around doing a lot of stuff in the States trying to explain to people that we weren’t just some guys that fell out of a bar and started fighting.

“... I’ve done martial arts since I was 12. I wrestled since I was 14. I did kickboxing for five years after wrestling in college ... I fell into doing MMA because someone asked me if I wanted to do a mixed fight because they knew I was a kickboxer and a wrestler. I said: ‘Yeah sure, I’ll try it.’ And just loved it. I started learning jiujitsu and put it all together.

“There are three basic parts to it: standing, striking, wrestling – meaning takedowns, throws, ways to change it to keep it standing or get it on the ground – and then jiujitsu, which is on the ground, submission holds, chokes, arm bars, leg locks.”

insight: When you were fighting in the UFC, could you talk about your training regimen and what you did to prepare for fights?Cl: “In the beginning, we were trying to figure out how to put it all together and how to train for a fight for MMA. Nowadays, guys have gotten really good at it. Coaches know what they’re doing. How do you put together jiujitsu with the striking and the wrestling and everything.”

“i wrEstlEd sinCE i was 14.”

insight: what did it consist of?Cl: “Cardio work, we’re doing a lot of sprint stuff, we do a lot of tire flipping, pushing wheel barrels, weights up a hill, a lot of bag work, mitts, sparring, training with other people, wrestling – a lot of different strength and conditioning stuff.”

insight: Could you talk about how the UFC has changed over the past half decade with the explosion of the sport?Cl: “There’s a lot more fights, a lot more fighters out there. It’s exciting. Like I was talking about earlier, when we first came in and we’re taking guys that were a wrestler and trying to add striking and jiujitsu to him. Or, you take a jiujitsu guy and try to add striking and wrestling to him.

“Now, you’re having guys that are starting to come into the sport that have been doing it all from the beginning. They started doing MMA, they started doing the mixing. We were trying to put together how do you train these three together. We’re trying trial and error. ”

squaring off with Chuck ‘the iceman’ liddell

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Chuck Liddell, right, meets a fan at an autograph session

J A N U A RY / F E B R U A RY 2 0 1 3 i n s i g h t 2 5

them local and national heroes and thus really spark passionate interest in the UFC. And finally, we need to bring a major UFC event to one of China’s big cities, which if the first two steps go well I believe we can achieve within two years or so. All of these initiatives will help grow other business segments in China such as sponsorship and merchandising, and brand extensions like UFC Gyms.

“If all of these go well, there’s nothing stopping UFC from becoming one of China’s top three most avidly watched and followed sports properties within five years, especially among the 20–40 year-old demographic. We’ve seen this growth trajectory in other major markets globally, and with China’s deep martial arts traditions, there’s no reason the same cannot happen here. In 10 years, who knows, but the Chinese market potentially could be as big or bigger than any for us worldwide.”

Insight: How deep is the talent level of Chinese mixed martial arts fighters? How do you develop it further?MF: “As of now the talent level is rather thin, but there are signs of rapid development on the horizon. Martial arts practitioners from other disciplines, and even regular physical education experts, are realizing that MMA is the trend, the place where things are moving in their fields.

“There are now two well-established MMA training centers, one at the Xi’an Sports University and one at the Beijing Institute of Physical Education, and several programs have been put in place to train hundreds of coaches in MMA fitness and MMA techniques. Gyms all over are starting to offer MMA instruction and fitness training.

“Meanwhile, the UFC intends to establish our own fighter development program, in which we would bring over some of China’s top fighters for elite training in the USA, and by exchange bring over some of our top trainers and fighters to help train their counterparts here. We would also support with equipment and communication of best practices, and possibly our own branded gyms in the future.”

Ryan Balis is Senior Communications Associate at AmCham Shanghai.

2 4 i n s i g h t J A N U A RY / F E B R U A RY 2 0 1 3

for UFC, yet it is not a single homogeneous market. It’s really many different markets, each with different tastes according to geography and many different levels of development. This presents a couple unique challenges, one being how best to reach and build a fan base among all the potential constituents, and the second to stay focused on priorities. Our first priority is building awareness and educating potential fans about our sport on one hand, and on the other to make sure our fans have full access.” Insight: Can you give me a guess how the sport

will grow and develop in China over the next five to 10 years?MF: “First, UFC needs to continue to build our media exposure and programming for the China market over the coming couple years. We achieved great growth in this so far – now up to about 20 million viewers per week – but we still have a ways to go to achieve mainstream awareness and a critical mass of fans across the country.

“At the same time, we need to support the development of Chinese MMA fighters, whose entry and ultimately success in the UFC will make

UFC Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell is one of the most celebrated fighters in UFC history. A former light heavyweight champion, Liddell became an icon of the sport with his devastating knockouts, trademark Mohawk and punishing fighting style loved by fans around the world. Liddell retired from professional fighting in 2010 after a 12-year career and today helps promote the UFC as vice president of business development.

insight: What’s it like to be a UFC fighter? Tell us a little about what it takes to become a UFC fighter.Chuck liddell: “Well, it’s a lot of work. I’ve been in this sport for a long time, and in the beginning we went around doing a lot of stuff in the States trying to explain to people that we weren’t just some guys that fell out of a bar and started fighting.

“... I’ve done martial arts since I was 12. I wrestled since I was 14. I did kickboxing for five years after wrestling in college ... I fell into doing MMA because someone asked me if I wanted to do a mixed fight because they knew I was a kickboxer and a wrestler. I said: ‘Yeah sure, I’ll try it.’ And just loved it. I started learning jiujitsu and put it all together.

“There are three basic parts to it: standing, striking, wrestling – meaning takedowns, throws, ways to change it to keep it standing or get it on the ground – and then jiujitsu, which is on the ground, submission holds, chokes, arm bars, leg locks.”

insight: When you were fighting in the UFC, could you talk about your training regimen and what you did to prepare for fights?Cl: “In the beginning, we were trying to figure out how to put it all together and how to train for a fight for MMA. Nowadays, guys have gotten really good at it. Coaches know what they’re doing. How do you put together jiujitsu with the striking and the wrestling and everything.”

“i wrEstlEd sinCE i was 14.”

insight: what did it consist of?Cl: “Cardio work, we’re doing a lot of sprint stuff, we do a lot of tire flipping, pushing wheel barrels, weights up a hill, a lot of bag work, mitts, sparring, training with other people, wrestling – a lot of different strength and conditioning stuff.”

insight: Could you talk about how the UFC has changed over the past half decade with the explosion of the sport?Cl: “There’s a lot more fights, a lot more fighters out there. It’s exciting. Like I was talking about earlier, when we first came in and we’re taking guys that were a wrestler and trying to add striking and jiujitsu to him. Or, you take a jiujitsu guy and try to add striking and wrestling to him.

“Now, you’re having guys that are starting to come into the sport that have been doing it all from the beginning. They started doing MMA, they started doing the mixing. We were trying to put together how do you train these three together. We’re trying trial and error. ”

squaring off with Chuck ‘the iceman’ liddell

SAN

DS C

HIN

A

Chuck Liddell, right, meets a fan at an autograph session

J A N U A RY / F E B R U A RY 2 0 1 3 i n s i g h t 2 5

them local and national heroes and thus really spark passionate interest in the UFC. And finally, we need to bring a major UFC event to one of China’s big cities, which if the first two steps go well I believe we can achieve within two years or so. All of these initiatives will help grow other business segments in China such as sponsorship and merchandising, and brand extensions like UFC Gyms.

“If all of these go well, there’s nothing stopping UFC from becoming one of China’s top three most avidly watched and followed sports properties within five years, especially among the 20–40 year-old demographic. We’ve seen this growth trajectory in other major markets globally, and with China’s deep martial arts traditions, there’s no reason the same cannot happen here. In 10 years, who knows, but the Chinese market potentially could be as big or bigger than any for us worldwide.”

Insight: How deep is the talent level of Chinese mixed martial arts fighters? How do you develop it further?MF: “As of now the talent level is rather thin, but there are signs of rapid development on the horizon. Martial arts practitioners from other disciplines, and even regular physical education experts, are realizing that MMA is the trend, the place where things are moving in their fields.

“There are now two well-established MMA training centers, one at the Xi’an Sports University and one at the Beijing Institute of Physical Education, and several programs have been put in place to train hundreds of coaches in MMA fitness and MMA techniques. Gyms all over are starting to offer MMA instruction and fitness training.

“Meanwhile, the UFC intends to establish our own fighter development program, in which we would bring over some of China’s top fighters for elite training in the USA, and by exchange bring over some of our top trainers and fighters to help train their counterparts here. We would also support with equipment and communication of best practices, and possibly our own branded gyms in the future.”

Ryan Balis is Senior Communications Associate at AmCham Shanghai.