As the UFC explores European expansion, there are many obstacles that seem similar to the obstacles in the US in the late 90′s. The good news is that today, the UFC is sanctioned in most states in the US… so it should only be a matter of time to mainstream folks in Europe get better educated and accept the sport that MMA and the UFC has become. Below is a portion of a recent article posted June 22, 20089 on MMAJunkie.com, titled “MMAjunkie.com Fight Biz: UFC conquers North America, but education top priority overseas”
And while there is still plenty of opportunity for growth for the UFC in the U.S., continued expansion into new international markets is a key component of the promotion’s future strategy. However, as the UFC learned with UFC 99 in Cologne, Germany, blazing a new path in foreign territory is not without its challenges. For example, citing the violent nature of the sport, German officials banned minors from attending UFC 99.
“I think we always anticipate, any time we go into any new territory, that these kinds of questions are going to be asked,” said UFC U.K. Division President Marshall Zelaznik. “I think the thing that was probably most surprising was the lack of research, as it were, that some of the media and politicians were willing to do before they came out with opinions on this. It seems that they took the first story that was the old story from 1997 about no rules, etc., and everyone ran with that without doing any research.”
Myths that persist about MMA also hamper the ability for the UFC to promote events in some international markets.
“Our best marketing tool is the television programming itself. And what we’ve found, in terms of running ads to promote whatever it is we’re doing, whether it’s merchandise, tickets, the different regulatory issues that we have to deal with, whether it’s in the U.K. or Germany or Sweden, there are (only) certain times of day you can air those spots,” said Zelaznik. “There are certain content that they don’t want to see in the spots. So, we will create, from time to time, spots that don’t have big impacts. You might flash the impacts. We’re literally back in those late ’90s (in the U.S.) trying to deliver spots that can actually air on TV. So that’s the big struggle, I think, overall.”
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