Spike to Pay $100 Million to Keep UFC

Multiple sources are reporting that Spike TV will renew their rights deal to continue carrying the UFC for over $100 million. According to Multichannel News, the pact will give Spike more live UFC events than the previous agreement. The deal will also allow Spike to continue running it's Ultimate Fighter reality series. Executives from Spike would not comment, and UFC executives could not be reached for comment at press time.

For those of you keeping track, that is $100 million more than Gary Bettman and the NHL received from NBC in their last rights deal.

Spike TV Looks to Gobble Up Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest from ESPN

from Richard Sandomir at The New York Times

ESPN started carrying the Nathan’s event in 2004, and it drew 926,000 viewers. In 2005, it dipped to 860,000, but it leaped to 1.46 million last year, a level it probably reached on Wednesday.

“We’ve done other competitive eating contests,” said David Berson, an ESPN executive vice president. “But we focus on the hot dog. It’s the marquee event.” But with ESPN’s deal now expired, Spike wants to take gluttony (not entirely a male pursuit, as the M.L.E. star Sonya Thomas shows) to its male-focused network as a companion to its Ultimate Fighting Championship franchise. Spike has shown one Major League Eating event (the St. Patrick’s Day corned beef and cabbage, jalapeños and green doughnuts show from Savannah, Ga., attracted 739,000 viewers) and is scheduled to carry three more.

“We want to be known as the home of competitive eating,” said David Schwarz, a spokesman for Spike.

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Last year the Nathans hot dog eating contest drew 1.46 million viewers, a total that was probably surpassed this year. On May 30, Anaheim's 3-2 victory over Ottawa in the opener of the Stanley Cup finals was watched in 523,000 households. Ouch.

Is UFC a Monopoly?

from Lotfi Sariahmed of 411mania.com

With UFC 73 just a few days away, I've noticed a lot of talk regarding one particular issue that has a lot of MMA fans shouting from their rooftops. Now mind you for MMA fans, myself included, that usually doesn't take much. But in this case there's an interesting debate. There's no doubt that UFC 73 is a loaded fight card with even a few fights on the prelims that fans want to see. The next few UFC PPV cards look promising as well with fights like Georges St. Pierre v. Josh Koscheck, Quinton Jackson v. Dan Henderson, a long awaited welterweight title fight and the debut of Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. But despite all the great matches coming up, there's one thing about these cards that have some MMA fans worried. They're all taking place in the UFC.

With at least 75% of the best fighters in every weight class, (and that's a low number) the UFC has a virtual monopoly on talent. So where does that leave us when it comes to the issue of competitive balance in MMA?

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Despite the general decline in sports tv ratings, including the recent NHL and NBA finals, there is still one sport that continues to gain in popularity. No, not NASCAR, which has also suffered ratings decline. Its MMA (mixed martial arts) leagues such as the UFC and WEC. The UFC's Ultimate Fighter 5 finale recently earned a 2.0 rating for Spike TV.

What do the UFC, WEC and PRIDE all have in common? They are all owned by the same company. Recently, the UFC bought out both PRIDE and WEC, effectively preventing rival leagues from broadcasting its fights on Versus. Is this consolodation of talent good for the sport? While it may be good for fans, it can't be good news for the fighters, who now have less options than ever.