Dana White: Spike is not being honorable
UFC President Dana White stated almost immediately after the acquisition of the UFC that he thought the key to success was…
UFC President Dana White stated almost immediately after the acquisition of the UFC that he thought the key to success was getting MMA in free tv. Through a circuitous route, that free tv ended up being on Spike TV.
Starting with the most important bout in the sport’s history, Griffin vs. Bonnar,in 2005, Spike and the UFC grew together. In time, the UFC outgrew cable tv, divorced Spike, and joined forces with FOX, for a reported $90,000,000 per year (that is a stack of 100 dollar bills the length of a football field).
However, Spike has the contractual broadcast rights to the UFC library all the way through 2012.
Spike was looking for a new MMA organization to partner with, and found one in Bellator. However, as long as Spike was replaying UFC content, Spike was prohibited from airing content from any MMA other organization. Spike did however start airing Bellator on Spike.com.
So Spike let it be known that the UFC could buy back the broadcast rights, leaving Spike free to build Bellator in the public’s eyes, with UFC money in its pocket.
Dana said #$%& no, and now Spike has announced that it is counter programming UFC on FOX 1, presumably creating market confusion for the millions of previously unexposed fans that the UFC is seeking.
Last week Ariel Helwani interviewed White about the situation.
If you really look at what I call ‘the spirit of the deal’, it’s the wrong thing to do,” said White. “The thing is, you have to understand, in my opinion it’s Spike not being honorable. They’re not being honorable.
“And they know. Kevin knows, Brian, all the guys who have dealt with me at Spike TV, I’ve been nothing but honorable with them. Everything that I did was to build the UFC and Spike TV. I’ve been a fantastic partner. Whatever they’ve needed from me I’ve done for them and helped them get to where they are today, just like they’ve helped us get to where we are today.
“And what they’re doing, if that’s the case, and they’re running these things on Spike.com, that’s not the spirit of the deal and they are being 100% not honorable.