dave meltzer on new espn deal: "the UFC no longer needs stars"
"On the latest Wrestling Observer Radio (subscribers only at
http://f4wonline.com) the esteemed Dave Meltzer discusses the many implications of the new ESPN deal that UFC has entered.
Dave states that this is the "beginning of big super profitable UFC business that is no longer reliant on stars like they have been." While the UFC's business model used to revolve around presenting a product that satisfies the individual consumer, now UFC is in a place where their primary concern is creating content for streaming/television platforms.
Dave describes the differing priorities that come with this new business model. For one, there is now too much content for the average fan to reasonably be expected to keep up with. Dave states that unless like him it is your job to watch every UFC, it will be impossible to do so and still "have a life" (hope my gf isn't reading this). Dave compares this to how MLB doesn't expect every fan to watch every game.
Further, with the emphasis shifting away from personal consumer satisfaction in favor of content creation, Dave says UFC is "less exciting than ever." He concedes that the fights remain exciting (and in fact the average talent level may be at its highest ever), but the promotion lacks exciting "characters." Of course, the UFC will still use its big stars to pop big PPV buy-rates when possible, but this is no longer the primary goal.
Dave reiterates that there is too much content for the casual person or aspiring new fan to keep up with, so UFC is catering to the "hardcores" now. UFC is being paid too much for its content to go back to a "reasonable" amount of shows though.
For any pro wrestling fans, throughout this discussion Dave said that many of the same things (re: content > consumer satisfaction; better average talent level but fewer stars) also apply just the same to WWE right now."
TLDR: UFC will start going for quantity> quality to keep pumping out big $$$