The UFC hitting network television is a gigantic moment in the sport's history, but to do so it's giving up plenty of pay-per-view money to come out of the gates swinging. According to Mike Chiapetta from MMAFighting.com, the Fox show will hit the UFC hard financially.
"It's an investment in the company," Dana White said. "In no way, shape or form do we come anywhere close to making our money back. You don't go on free television and make your money. That's just not how it works. We're going to get smashed on this fight, but it's an investment in the future of the business."
Sports Business Daily reports the Cain Velasquez-Junior dos Santos fight originally slated for pay-per-view next week at UFC 139 could have produced a paying audience in excess of 800,000. That equates to $40 million in revenue.
White knows it's more important to open the future revenue streams that being on network TV will bring.
"Our goal has always been to bring big, free fights back to network television," White said. "Now that we have a network deal, we're looking at it as, obviously we're going to take a hit on the pay-per-view side for a big fight like this, but we're thinking long-term for the future of the sport and making the sport bigger. That's why we're going to do it, and continue to do it."
Bill King from SBD talks more about the UFC on Fox debut from the business perspective.
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