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Is it fair to charge UK fans, and other Europeans, to watch UFC on PPV?

5K views 49 replies 21 participants last post by  King JLB 
#1 ·
Now i know this discussion pops up from time to time, and its sort of reared its ugly head in the "no more facebook fights" thread.

Here in the UK, the UFC is coming to an end on ESPN and will be taken up by Sky Sports, who normally air boxing events on PPV. And i wouldnt be surprised if UFC events became PPV after a short time either.

Sky Sports isnt a free channel, it is a channel that requires a monthly subscription, and then its Box Office channels are where you have to pay an additional charge in order to watch a PPV event.

UFC events generally air at 2am here in the UK, which i think can seriously affect the PPV buy rate. Is it really fair to charge these fans to view the fights on PPV at this time of the day?

Bear in mind that events that they show here in Europe are free to air for you guys in the states because the UFC knows that it cant ask you guys to pay for the event at an unreasonable time of day.

I'd also be interested on what options other European countries have for watching UFC events.

And lets try and keep tongue in cheek racism to a minimum. Though Bisping-ripping is allowed :thumb02:
 
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#2 ·
Now i know this discussion pops up from time to time, and its sort of reared its ugly head in the "no more facebook fights" thread.

Here in the UK, the UFC is coming to an end on ESPN and will be taken up by Sky Sports, who normally air boxing events on PPV. And i wouldnt be susprised if UFC events became PPV after a short time either.

Sky Sports isnt a free channel, it is a channel that requires a monthly subscription, and then its Box Office channels are where you have to pay an additional charge in order to watch a PPV event.

UFC events generally air at 2am here in the UK, which i think can seriously affect the PPV buy rate. Is it really fair to charge these fans to view the fights on PPV at this time of the day?

Bear in mind that events that they show here in Europe are free to air for you guys in the states because the UFC knows that it cant ask you guys to pay for the event at an unreasonable time of day.

I'd also be interested on what options other European countries have for watching UFC events.

And lets try and keep tongue in cheek racism to a minimum. Though Bisping-ripping is allowed :thumb02:
Sorry but you guys have nothing to complain about, you pay a subscription to espn i believe over there and you get free ufc's for that subscription whereas us in australia have to pay 45$ to watch one ppv and that doesnt include any channels, and its also easy to get good streams too which is what I have at my disposal. I believe americans have to pay 50-55 for their ppvs too.
 
#4 ·
whereas us in australia have to pay 45$ to watch one ppv and that doesnt include any channels,
I wasnt aware you got charged PPV in Aus too. What time do the fights air for you?


I guess only time will tell, and there is no word yet that Sky Sports will even pick up the UFC after it finishes on ESPN..
Well i heard they'd picked up TUF rights. I'm guessing that this is a test buy for them. If it does well they'll likely buy the rights for UFC. If not, who else is there? channel 5?
 
#3 ·
Boxing PPV's are not as frequent as UFC events though so i think we might be ok. There is ALOT of boxing that is aired on Sky Sports that is not on Box Office, it just seems to be the top dogs that end up on Box Office.

I think with the amount of UFC events there is no possible way they could put them all onto Box Office.. What they might decide to do is put the events where a title is defended onto Box Office and the others on Sky Sports.

I guess only time will tell, and there is no word yet that Sky Sports will even pick up the UFC after it finishes on ESPN..
 
#6 ·
ours air the main card at 12pm on sundays, but i dont even pay for them anymore i just get mine on HQ streams for free, its too much money to spend
 
#10 ·
set your alarm, thats what I do to watch rugby and english soccer mate, the epl doesnt show at good times here like it does where you guys are
 
#8 ·
When the UFC was banned from cable in the U.S. (way back when Dana was just Tito’s manager) I sent my cable provider a nasty letter, called them up and fired them. I went straight to satellite and never missed a PPV.

My PPV bill is in the several thousand dollar range so I’m afraid I don’t have much sympathy. Instead, I have a suggestion.

Europe has a larger population, larger talent pool and more money than the U.S.

So, when are you guys going to step up and get in the fight game?

Put on some shows that make me stay up til 3 am and bitch about the price.
 
#13 ·
This year the UFC will have 17 PPV events. For Americans, that means almost $800 in PPV charges alone, not counting the actual cable we pay for too.

We also have to have Versus and Spike cable channels if we want to watch Live and Fight Night events, and those aren't free.

The whole having to stay up late to watch them live argument seems a little silly to me. We had to stay up late to watch Pride and Dream too, but they never gave them to us for free because of it. It seems like Europe is doing pretty well if they just need to have cable at the moment to watch all the PPV's without the PPV charge.
 
#16 ·
Vale_Tudo said:
Norway here, and the only way to watch a UFC PPV live Is through Yahoo Sports. The stream Is perfect and you can hook your PC up to the TV.
We dont have "PPV" here in Norway.
Is this a legal stream and what are its costs?



But isnt the whole "european events are free to air in the US" because they know the Americans wont buy the PPV because of the time its shown at? And thats also why they have weak cards here?

I'd have no qualms in paying copious amounts of money to watch a PPV if it didnt mean having to stay up til 5-6am. Some folk have kids and simply cant justify doing that.
 
#14 ·
I won't be staying up til after 4AM whilst paying £50 for the privilege, i have a job, mortgage, fiance etc (like every one else i'm sure) and i dont earn a stupid amounts of money.

The UFC won't be able to be a big success on PPV in Britian because of the time difference plus the price.
 
#15 ·
I think, my main argument is, we get them for a subscription fee at the moment. If they went to PPV I would have to pay a hell of a lot more to get them, and still not be able to watch them live.

I have a 1 year old daughter to look after and staying up til 5am in the morning is not an option as I would then have no time to sleep during the next day and then I have work on a monday.

That isnt something I can/or am willing to change.

If it moved to Sky sports and wasnt a PPV, I would happily pay the additional subscription fee per month for it.
 
#23 ·
We're trying to decide if it's "fair" for Zuffa to charge viewers in Britian the PPV fee, based on the fact that the only way for those viewers to watch the event live is for them to stay up 'til 5am?

Fair has nothing to do with it. You don't want to watch, you don't pay. You want to watch, you pay.

And downloading/streaming the event "for free" really shouldn't be an option for those who actually, you know, support the sport and its fighters.

.
 
#25 ·
I'm guessing you aren't In the uk or Europe.

Nobody is disputing 'paying' for the events, more, the amount we should pay, based on the fact the events happen in the middle of the night for us.

I want to support the UFC, and I do not bitch about paying for their events at the moment. I accept that I have to pay and that is fine. I justify paying less than my American counterparts for the pure fact that my personal circumstances dont allow me to watch 'through the night'.

I want to 'support' MMA and it's fighters, but I want to 'Support' my family more, which means me having to work so I can pay bills. staying up until 5am, then getting an hour or 2 sleep before I need to get up with my daughter is not an option. I'm sure I would be the model employee arriving at work on monday morning with less than 7 hours sleep over a 48 period under my belt every week or so.
 
#28 ·
Does anyone know when they will stop showing the ufc on ESPN? First I heard about them cancelling it :(

My stance on the PPV issue is that if it went to PPV I would have to start streaming/downloading them. As a student I can just about pay for Sky Sports + ESPN, but theres no way I could fork out for a PPV every month.

It would be a shame really as I do enjoy staying up to watch them hassle free on ESPN.
 
#34 ·
IMO, if its not live at a reasonable time it should be free. I don't but any ufc event that is oversea on time delay. I'm not from the UK, but it ridiculous to charge for a ppv event that starts that late. What time do the bars close down there?
 
#37 ·
What time do the bars close down there?
Well some bars are open til about 6am, but i've never seen a bar that shows UFC events. Maybe there are some, but i'm yet to find one. Its not like in the states where you can go Hooters or wherever and watch it. British people just go out to get steaming drunk unfortunately, not to watch UFC events.
 
#35 ·
In Portugal we get all UFC events since UFC 117 in a paid cable channel, for 25€ a month i get all UFC events. :)
Unfortunately the comments are in Portuguese by two dudes that have nothing on Goldie and Rogan... :(
 
#36 ·
Is it fair? Absolutely!
Would it make sense? Absolutely not!

The UK and european markets are not big enough to start charging for PPV's. Sure they could do and make a decent amount, but they would never gain any new fans by doing it that way.
 
#41 ·
Here in Denmark we get it free on cable (Cable package costs around 40-50 bucks a month though), it airs live from 3AM and then also airs sunday night at 9PM... I've had the cable subscription for a long time, but might have to give it up soon due to lack of money - which always sucks... Don't know what to do then, since I really would prefer to watch legally and will do so until I have no options left
 
#45 ·
i dont think its fair or unfair, its BS IMO though...who the hell would pay to watch an event the day after? or have to be up until 6am to watch it? thats ludocris, they should give you the option to download the PPV in HD quality at UFC.com for a cheaper price (much cheaper) since you're also going to watch on sunday anyway

or they should just make the PPV cheaper there, then ppl can tape it and watch it the next day, 50% off would be pretty good:thumbsup:

if zuffa doesnt want to cooperate and try and negotiate better deals with other places in the world then they have to be ready to accept that certain ppl love their product but are suggested to unreasonable situations so they will start to stream/download their events illegaly
 
#49 ·
I think the UK fans should have to pay. Albeit the timing makes it horribly inconvenient so I don't believe charging the full value we pay in North America is fair either. A discounted rate of like $19 American seems fair to me but it would hinder the sports growth in the UK so there is no easy answer.
 
#50 ·
Best answer so far. I can't over how many people justify stealing (streaming) due to time or money constraints. If it doesn't show at a reasonable hour then you can't watch it. If you can't afford it, you can't watch it. Pretty simple.

While i think a good option is having a repeat the next day (as some people mentioned) it's not the same as watching it live. Perhaps a discounted price is a solid option. Though I get to watch them all at a somewhat reasonable hour, I still pay $60 (not HD) after taxes for each one. I order every single one with a few friends and we split the cost. I can't agree that something should be free for a group of people because it's not convenient for them. If Dream was putting on Pride type cards and they were available on PPV, I would be more than willing to fork over $60 AND stay up late to watch it. That's because I really love this sport. I do it for the K-1 finals almost every december.

Since I'm in London right now, could anyone from the UK tell me if they find this reasonable: offer the PPV at the live time and on Sunday starting at 18:00 for 20 pounds. Get a few friends together and it's pocket change for each. May not be live (or it is and really early in the AM), but at least it's discounted.
 
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