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All Business - Carter ALL BUSINESS: The UFC's 10 Year Expansion Plan - Step 3 - Think Like A Heavyweight, Move Like Lightweight
Jul 20, 2010 - 4:55:03 PM
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By Alvin Benjamin Carter III, MMA Torch Specialist
The Ultimate Fighting Championship has taken their biggest step in global expansion to date. Unlike other organizations that have grand plans, the UFC has actually got the ball rolling. Earlier this month, the UFC announced the opening of an office in China, and they launched www.UFC.cn. The fact that China has 1.3 Billion people, and is an exciting market with a strong martial arts history is not even the cornerstone of this moves significance. The cornerstone is that the UFC has began to move full steam ahead with their globalization plan shortly after announcing it.
Critic’s of Dana White and the Zuffa, LLC fold may think 2020 is an unrealistic timeframe for making MMA the biggest sport in the world mainly because it does not seem like enough time. Well, according to the original report on MMAJunkie.com, Dana White reiterated his 10 year deadline and his attempt to follow through business commitments.
"I'm telling you, in the 10 years that you guys have known me, have I ever said (something) that I didn't at least try to make happen? When we say we're going to do something, we do it. We don't just go, 'Oh, yeah, we're going to go to China,' and then we just kick around for six months. If I say we're going to China, we're going to [expletive] China."
That mindset right there is the story. The UFC is acting quickly on its proposed ventures. In a sport based on hype and sales, Dana White does not appear to be making statements about the globalization of MMA just to promote a pay-per-view. The UFC is actually doing it. Various organization have plans, and they all move at their respective passes, but so far the UFC is the only organization that has set such a lofty goal and has taken the necessary steps to realize it.
Some organizations cannot decided whether there is going to be a tournament in a particular division, or if a scheduled fight is going to take place even if the competitors are not injured. The UFC is showing the world that they move, and make it happen. This amount of action so early on in their expansion might serve as an indicator of their planned aggressive growth which will most likely increase exponentially.
In that original MMAJunkie.com report Dana White makes mention of moving on to India next an then South Korea. Establishing Ultimate Fighter: China is how the organization plans to start the expansion. (In the first article of this “Step” series, I played with this idea: Link To The UFC's 10 Year Expansion Plan - Step 1: Abu Dhabi ) Moving quickly to India is an intelligent follow up seeing how it is another densely populated country that will provide a great fan base for the UFC.
When Dana White specifically said that UFC will be the biggest sport in 2020, he knew what he was doing. With the very nature of the UFC being a major promotion with celebrities that have reached an international status, the organization is cornering relatively new international markets that will become fans of “Ultimate Fighting” in name recognition even though the sport is called mixed martial arts. (How many people use a Xerox machine when it is really called a photocopier?) All the countries in this global expansion are more likely to us “UFC” over “MMA” by 2020, and that is a branding victory in and of itself.
If the UFC can setup shop in a major geographic region in every continent by 2015, they will be in good shape. I still am not completely sure about the the 2020 goal, but a lot can happen in five years. Look how far the organization has come since 2005 in the United States (which was sparked by the Ultimate Fighter). The huge amount of momentum created by the organizations success in the United States will obviously act as a catalyst to the development of the brand in other countries. Another factor is their partnership with Flash Entertainment which may help with production on the continent of Asia.
Overall, the Ultimate Fighting Championship is not just elevating a sport, they are pushing an “Ultimate Culture” that sports fans can get behind. Dana White always says that everyone in the world can “get” fighting. Along with the fighting, there will be many opportunities for companies to promote their brand and products to certain target markets. This will make for common universal consumption of certain lifestyle and combat sports products. The UFC’s expansion is ushering more than fights. It is giving what was once an alternative sports community a legitimate international leg to stand on... and they are doing it faster than some might have thought.
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Follow Alvin on Twitter: @AwwwSnap
Alvin Benjamin Carter III is an MMATorch Specialist columnist focusing on the business and statistic side of the sport of MMA. He trains in SanDa / Shan Shou (Chinese Kickboxing) and MMA at Redline Fight Sports. He also has a business background in music production, management, and clothing. He has launched two companies which cater to niche markets, giving him experience in examining trends and attitudes that can affect a particular business model, which he applies in his weekly column for MMATorch to the sport of MMA.
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