UFC 2015 Schedule Has More International Than U.S. Events
The UFC 2015 schedule was released in November of this year, but was mainly a calender filler. The 45 events and dates were devoid of locations after the month of February, but we are starting to learn more about the promotion’s plan for the upcoming year. What sticks out most is that the UFC’s international plans are big.
Although only by a margin of one event, the UFC is planning on holding more shows internationally than in the USA. 23 events are to be held internationally this coming year, and that includes shows in Brazil. The UFC Chief Global Officer Garry Cook spoke to the Las Vegas Review Journal about the near future:
“As we grow as a business, we’re moving from a fight promoter to a world-renowned sports media and entertainment company”
The report also highlighted the UFC’s foreign initiatives for 2015:
■ Activating its newly signed sponsorship deal with global retailer Reebok to sell UFC logo gear, clothing and merchandise in more than 10,000 retail stores around the world.
■ Using 3 percent of the Reebok revenue to pay for a “Fight for Peace” program in London and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to help troubled youths and train them in martial arts.
■ Expanding the UFC gym business in London; Saudi Arabia; Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Brazil; and Germany. In the United States, UFC has 130 commercial gyms and plans to expand to 300.
■ Targeting priority markets in Russia, where UFC cut its first TV broadcast deal there with a free, over-the-air government-owned broadcaster to deliver UFC programming to 55 million households; South Korea, where there is a strong roster of fighters; Scotland, and a Latin American country such as Panama or Costa Rica.
■ Preproduction launch of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality shows in Japan and the Middle East. “The Ultimate Fighter” has been produced in foreign local markets such as China, Canada, Brazil, Australia and United Kingdom.
■ Focusing on the markets with media deals such as Brazil, Mexico and Latin America.
It looks like it’ll be another busy year for the UFC, but are they biting off more than they can chew? Many fans questioned the promotion, or entertainment company as they may now be known, when they released the crazy schedule for 2014. As it turned out, the UFC were stretched severely to cover their own plans.
In the absence of some of the best fighters in the game, the UFC struggled this year, whether they’ll admit it or not. Should they have played it safe in 2015, further to that, who are the biggest names to emerge coming in to 2014? Surely with natural wastage coming up on guys like Hendo, Shogun, Rampage, Anderson Silva, the loss of Wanderlei Silva and many more, the promotion needs a new breed of superstar.
Conor McGregor is certainly a hit in the global market, as well as specifically the target European market, but how far does the gravy train go for the UFC 2015 schedule?
