Rogan: Lack of ad focus on Nunes is ‘extremely bizarre’
UFC color commentator Joe Rogan took a break Saturday night, and watched UFC on FOX 22 at home on television….
UFC color commentator Joe Rogan took a break Saturday night, and watched UFC on FOX 22 at home on television. The show relentlessly featured promos for the next event – UFC 207, headlined by UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes vs. Ronda Rousey. On UFC Fight Pass, on FOX Sports 1, and on big FOX the year-end event was massively hyped.
The UFC inhabits three not entirely compatible spaces – sport, business, and entertainment. Ronda Rousey is the mot famous figure in UFC history, by far. Her return after over a year is a huge selling point. Nunes gets points on the pay per view television broadcast and may be happy with the UFC maximizing that as they see fit. That makes business sense.
But the UFC is also a sport. And from that perspective, the lack of focus on the champion is jarring. The Patriots sell more apparel than any team in the NFL, but ads for their next game on CBS focuses more or less equally. At UFC 207, the focus is squarely, almost solely on Rousey.
As Rogan watched ad after ad, he tweeted his mind.
https://twitter.com/joerogan/status/810316489370771456https://twitter.com/hyperomar/status/810317190650097664https://twitter.com/joerogan/status/810318079536275456https://twitter.com/ThaFranchise_/status/810316981458976768https://twitter.com/joerogan/status/810319803990835200
The simple fact is that the UFC is a sports league, and a business, and is entertainment. The three roles are not entirely compatible. As the new owners seek to earn a return on their $4,000,000,000 investment, don’t expect to see the sports side win where there are incompatibilities. It is respectful to give due attention to the champion in your league, but if it doesn’t make money, that isn’t going to happen, and, unfortunately, that’s not going to change.