Has ESPN been mismanaging their live events recently? This question has been on the minds of fans struggling to livestream UFC 313 on pay-per-view. Dana White is a man who likes his ship running smoothly, but it seems the sails from ESPN are causing problems. Following the UFC 304 fiasco, this marks the second time a UFC PPV event has been compromised—and the UFC CEO is far from happy about it.
When asked about the random glitches and the unavailability of support from the ESPN team, UFC CEO Dana White acknowledged his awareness of the issue but admitted he had no idea what could be causing the shutdown. “Yeah, they made it to me. Yeah, there were problems buying it [the PPV] on ESPN Plus. I don’t know what happened with their platform tonight, but yeah, there are a lot of pi–ed-off people,” said White at UFC 313 post-event presser.
According to the UFC CEO, the promotion couldn’t do anything from their side if any glitch happens as ESPN controls it from their side. The last time such a glitch happened was back at UFC 304 and the UFC CEO was equally clueless about the hubbub, “I guess ESPN was having all kinds of problems tonight, technically, with audio and graphics and NFL graphics were popping up, and I heard about it, but I don’t know why,” said White at the UFC 304 presser.
MMA: UFC Fight Night-Johnson vs Reis, Apr 15, 2017 Kansas City, MO, USA UFC President Dana White following the Demetrious Johnson not pictured and Wilson Reis not pictured fight during UFC Fight Night at Sprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports, 15.04.2017 21:15:30, 10015017, UFC Fight Night, Wilson Reis, Demetrious Johnson, Sprint Center, MMA PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xRonxChenoyx 10015017
Many veterans including Marvin Vettori, Chris Weidman, and even Joaquin Buckley asserted the issue. Welterweight fighter ‘New Mansa’ came forward to tweet, “Tried to buy UFC 313 on ESPN plus on my phone about 100 times. It keeps giving an error. Anybody having same issue and figure it out?” UFC 304’s pay-per-view was a disaster for the promotion, as fans openly criticized Dana White for his partnership with ESPN, citing substandard service and exorbitant PPV prices.
The fallout at ESPN might jeopardize their UFC broadcasting deal, especially since their multi-year agreement is set to expire on April 15th, and both parties are still in negotiations. Interestingly, UFC CEO Dana White has emphasized that multiple entities are interested in taking the broadcast deal.
UFC rooting for $1 billion a year for the new broadcasting deal
Back in 2018, the UFC secured a a five-year, $1.5 billion deal with ESPN for domestic broadcast rights, beginning in 2019. Shortly after, the agreement was extended for an additional two years, incorporating pay-per-view broadcasts. Now that the deal is closing to its end, the combat sports community is expecting to hear the next broadcasting news deal. Interestingly, the UFC CEO is looking for an extravaganza $1 billion a year deal from his next partner.
A report by Bloomberg stated that the UFC is looking a billion dollar a billion-dollar-a-year deal from its next broadcasting partner. This would mean that White is looking at a two-fold increase from their last valuation. Will ESPN adhere to their demands? Well, UFC is an organization that is growing day by day , and leaving them would mean shooting your own leg.
It must be noted that the UFC CEO in his statement has already emphasized that the UFC has more offers, “Yeah, everyone is kicking the tires. And over the however many last years that we’ve been together, I’ve had some headbutting with ESPN, but I feel like we are in a really good place right now and I’m really happy with my relationship with them and the way that this whole thing is running. We’ll see how it plays out,” said White.
With Netflix entering the sports broadcasting arena, ESPN might need to step up its game before losing its cash cow. Given that, what are your thoughts on the hubbub? State your opinion in the comments below.
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