Supporting Dana White's Piracy Battle: Pay Per Views are a Privilege
Photo by Josh Hedges. Copyright Zuffa, LLC
Dana White, president of the UFC, came out and stated that his company is going after those that host illegal streams of the companies pay per view events. They have even suggested that they will go after the individuals that are using these illegal feeds. The need for an illegal feed does not make sense and watching a pay per view is a right, not a privilege.
The UFC is a business and the product they sell are fights via pay per view broadcasts. Pay per view is not new to combat sports as boxing has been selling their fights since the first major pay per view fight in 1981 when “Sugar” Ray Leonard fought Thomas “Hitman” Hearns. The UFC has re-invigorated the pay per view market since the decline of boxing. They currently hold approximately 12 pay per view events a year at a cost of $44.95 and had $349 million in revenue last year from the pay per views alone.
Many argue that they make enough money and they should not worry about a small number of people stealing the stream via the internet. They have an anti-pirating team that found 271 illegal streams of UFC 106 with over 140,000 viewers. That is a maximum of $6,293,000 in lost revenues for just one event. How small does that number look now that it is converted into a dollar amount? Keep in mind that these are the feeds the UFC found and I am sure there were more that went unnoticed.
I know that the above figures are based on each person purchasing the event while in reality this hardly ever happens. All across the country MMA fans gather in bars and in homes to tune into these events.
The argument has been made that not everyone can afford to pay for each and every event they have and thus people watch for free online. This argument is nonsense because many people have friends come over to help cover the cost of purchasing the fights. I agree that not everyone can dish out an additional $600 a year for fights but how many can pitch in $5 to see the fights? Gathering with fans of the sport to watch the event is something I do while at the same time bringing people over that may be new to the sport. Basically I am purchasing their product with the help of friends and at the same time promoting the sport by introducing it to those that would never spend the money by themselves to see what all the commotion is about for this fast rising sport.
One would still be able to watch the UFC and learn about MMA even if they never bought a pay per view. There are Fight Nights which are free on Spike TV as well as events that would typically be pay per views but due to the fights being overseas they are given to us for free. Dana and the UFC are not just forcing us to buy these events. They give us a fair number of free events mixed in with the pay cards and thus are already giving away some of their product. How many companies actually give away products for free these days? They have a reason to be angry that people are stealing the events and going after those that are responsible is just a smart business move.
Personally, I get angry that people view these illegal streams. I am sitting here spending my hard earned money on the same thing they feel they have a right to see for free. Pay per views are not a right, they are a privilege. If they really must watch the event on the computer then they can go to UFC.com or to Yahoo and purchase the event through those sites. I feel the need to state here that I feel the online broadcasts should be sold at a reduced rate. I think it is the fair thing to do and many more would be willing to purchase these events rather than steal if that was the case.
I am unsure as to how anyone could argue that it is wrong of the UFC to go after the people that facilitate these streams as well as those that use them. They get approximately 70% of their annual revenue from these events. Is it a futile effort? Yes, they will never stop all the people as there will always be criminals that want to steal just for the sake of stealing. However I think as a business this is a fight they must take up. After all, how many business owners would just stand by and watch people stealing from them without taking action to prevent it?
The argument that the events are not affordable for everyone was shattered when I discussed sharing the cost with friends. Never once did I mention that their are bars that actually pay a fee to show these events. Around the U.S. Hooters shows these events to their patrons as do many other bars. Share the event with friends, head to a bar and support a local business while watching the fights but don’t steal. It makes no sense at all and is a criminal act.
I support Dana White and the UFC in this fight just as I would support any business owner’s right to try and protect their product from theft. Buy the pay per views and stop being a low life.
As always you can contact me to voice your thoughts on this subject by emailing me at turk@fighters.com or by joining me on MMA Gospel Radio every Wednesday from 8-10 PM EST at www.blogtalkradio.com/mmagospel. You can join in the Cageside Chat or call into the show by dialing 347-857-1337.
- loading... subscribers
-
MMA Gospel – UFC 106 Showed Tito Ortiz Still Needs To Learn To Lose Like A Man
Posted: November 28, 2009Comments: 5 -
UFC’s Dana White: I Tried To Help Karo Parisyan.
Posted: November 27, 2009Comments: 3
Somebody didn’t do their math. That’s 516 people per stream. I highly doubt those numbers now. Why do they always have to inflate their numbers. In reality, it was probably was 271 illegal streams with a max of 100 people and most were probably less. I bet the 271 is probably high as well.
i agree. stealing streams is illegal and should be stopped. where you lose me is in the use of the word “privilege”. the use of that word in this context has a smell of arrogance … and that has been the downfall of many a person. i like watching the athletes in the MMA because never would i have the courage to put the tip of my big toe inside the octagon, and it stems in me a level of respect for them , maybe even similar to the respect the athletes have between themselves. unfortunately i am part of the group that is not “privileged” enough to experience it live, at the same time as everybody. too bad for me , right ?
the UFC is a company and like all companies has the “right” to make a profit. i’m glad to know now it’s a “privilege” to be their client.
I live abroad, and once tried to purchase an internet pay per view from the UFC. It was a horrible experience, it didn’t work at all and I ended up missing the whole thing and having to watch the videos from blogs later on. The UFC did refund me without a problem,but it was still a very disappointing experience and i would not willingly renew it.
I have to side with the UFC here – i cant believe Justin.tv hasn’t been shut down with the piracy you see on their site.
stop snitching dean collins..and in these hard times around the country the ufc can afford to lose a little money….i see dana white crashing a brand new ferrari and laugh about it.cmon…what they need to be worried about is PAYING there fighters more $$$.ill never pay for a ufc fight again..
It is not snitching when the UFC is already aware of Justin.TV
Curt, if all fans thought like you did there would be no UFC or any other MMA. Imagine if all of us decided to be Curt and not ever pay for another UFC PPV. It would be a sad day for the sport
You noob’s. Your saying every person watching a stream is a lost sale. You think those people who actually watch it are going to pay? The market is all about Potential Sale. You dont get a freakin dime from potential sales from piracy. So stop dreaming that piracy is actually costing 6.5m a year. That’s absurd.
Yes Piracy is morally wrong, but that’s all to it.
@Noobs
And you cant count losses due to internet downloading, only counterfeiting. There somehow making it up that all the people there would actually buy the PPV. I bet from all of this piracy stopping, they would only get around $10,000 plus the $300,000,000 debt they will go to, to trying to stop piracy.
@Noobs
Also, it’s not stealing. It’s copying. It also has a name called “copyright infringement”
How is piracy a potential sale?
It’s not, that’s what I am saying in my post. They think it is. Which is stupid
I think they have to view it as a potential sale. Bottom line is piracy is illegal and those that go to places like Justin.TV are not doing the sport any favors.
Dana needs to review recent history with the music industry.
The money they “lost” due to illegal streams and downloads is unfounded. Just because someone is willing to download or stream an event for free doesn’t mean they would have paid for the event if the streams weren’t available.
Same with pulling fights posted on youtube. It’s actually pretty stupid on their part. Instead of gaining new fans through increased internet viewership, they keep potential new fans from discovering this sport. Now they’re talking about criminalizing the fight fans? How shortsighted and moronic.
The PPV model is limiting and will only keep the sport from growing. The UFC has already over saturated the market with PPV events. Dana needs to rethink his business strategy a little and work on getting the UFC on regular cable and broadcast networks to increase the fanbase, and use live gate, sponsorship, advertising and merchandising as it’s main revenue sources. You know, like how all the mainstream sports work.
At least Scott Coker and Strikeforce have this right. Here’s hoping to much success for them.
Dana White and the UFC need to wake up. Downloading, file sharing, piracy, etc are a part of the fabric of the computer age. Hell, even UFC announcer Joe Rogan knows this. Almost every UFC braodcast he says,”You can’t stop the internet”. White and Co. should see this as free advertising for their product and shut up. They are going to lose far more supporters of the UFC than they will gain if they go after people…
Rev. Turk says, “Basically I am purchasing their product with the help of friends and at the same time promoting the sport by introducing it to those that would never spend the money by themselves to see what all the commotion is about for this fast rising sport”. You could spread the word about MMA just as easy by download (dl), file sharing or stream. Site’s like Justintv (which I have never heard of) are doing the sport a favor by providing free advertising for people who have never seen the sport and are a lot more likely to watch a UFC event if they don’t have to pay for it. The UFC has done this to themselves by watering down their PPV events by having so many of them. Fans of the UFC can’t afford to pay 50$ every two weeks to watch a sport and they shouldn’t have to. If I have to get together 10 friends to make a fight affordable somethings wrong! I shouldn’t have to round up 10 friends every two weeks to watch a watered down card just to keep up with a sport I enjoy. And as for the free fights on spike, they usually aren’t exactly the cream of the crop fighting in those events. I agree with Noobs, Curt and Drew. Not every dl/file share/stream means a loss in sale. Thinking that people who stream do it for every event is a bad assumption. Somebody who comes over and watches an event for free might buy a PPV at some point or at least become interested in the sport. Some “pirates” at some point might go to a bar or buy a PPV with their friends. In fact if they are a fan of the sport they probably do all of these things. As for me I do it b/c I live abroad. I don’t have spike where I live so I file share TUF/Fight Nights and yes PPV UFC events. I also find it hard to listen to Dana White talk about money when he doesn’t pay his fighters very well (and most likely puts some of the profit up his nose, hey if we’re all going to make assumptions)…
There is a number of things the UFC could do to make their product more accessable and affordable. Almost every other main stram sport doesn’t have PPV events, they make it work, why can’t the UFC? The idea that people who watch and don’t buy the PPV are going to put the UFC out of business is moronic. Plenty of people will still pay to go to, or watch UFC events, perhaps even some of the people who pirate… If the UFC is really worried about profits they’ll find a way to change their business model, like Drew said.
Dana White is all about the money, couldn’t give two *&%$ about the fans. No problem, that’s capitalism. Where I live – abroad- UFC PPV is not available, either is Spike or Versus. Would I buy the cards if I could? Most of them, yes. But UFC doesn’t provide the service. I don’t watch the streams because of slow internet speed, but if I’m able to download the next day does that mean I’m a criminal? Even Rogan said on tv “can’t stop the internet”.
Hey Dana, how about you get some decent technology in place so that people would be happy to pay $45 to watch the UFC on PPV? I can’t count how many times the broadcast, both via Cable and Internet stream, has been either too poor quality to watch or simply not worked at all.
dana white is a greedy bitch. F**K the UFC. why doesn’t he look at the money he stands to gain from having fans buy merchandise from seeing the fights they otherwise couldn’t afford to pay for on a monthly basis. i know after this move from dana i WILL NOT be spending my money on any other UFC events. i think if more people would do the same he may change his mind.
@jason
I have never once had an issue with the cable PPV i have purchased.