Will Vince react to UFC's tv success badly?

[Cbear]

I say yes. The more successful that the reality show becomes, the less happy Vince will be. There hasn't been a successful show to follow WWE programming so Vince has remained the ratings leader (or one of them) and allowed to call his shots for the most part. The only problem is that wrestling does not attract good advertising dollars even with good ratings. Thats why networks might be willing to drop them even though though pull good numbers--the nets can make more ad money with less successful shows; that becomes critical if they can get other shows cheaper. If the UFC continues to grow or maintain ratings, a key component will be if they can attract more/better advertisers who will pay more money. If so, I think Vince could quickly be put on the defensive as the network courts the UFC and puts Vince in second place. If that happens, expect Vince to do whatever it takes to put the brakes on UFC.

On a separate but related note, what most people don't realize is that Pride has to do delayed broadcasts on ppv because most of the dates they pick are already taken up by WWE or other ppv events and the cable companies do not want competing product that would take away money by diluting the audience. My point is that anyone who thinks MMA isn't affected or related to pro wrestling is missing the big picture. When it comes to business planning the WWE is first rate. Their booking and creative sucks, but their business planning is killer.

[guyincognito]

If the UFC continues to grow or maintain ratings, a key component will be if they can attract more/better advertisers who will pay more money.
Is the UFC fan demographic one advertisers will want? I guess it depends on the company. I look at the makeup of the fans in attendance and it is not pretty. Drunken clowns spend money like everyone else I guess.

[Cbear]

It is the 18-34 age bracket which is what advertisers want. But, you are right that we just don't know how the advertisers will view the TUF UFC fans--legit sports or rasslin type fans?

[robbypark]

I think TUF is contributing to RAW's higher ratings as of late. MMA fans know that TUF is right after Raw, so even though they normally do not watch Raw on a regular basis, they'll watch it each every Monday just as something to do while waiting for TUF.

The last two weeks for RAW have been two of their highest rated RAWS in this year. The last two episodes for TUF have been their two highest rated shows thus far. Coincidence? I don't think so.

I think Vince may recognize this as well.

[BruceLee]

It is still my contention that Vince has secretly bought the UFC just as he secretly bought the ECW.

1. Vince has at times wanted to buy the UFC.
2. Vince knows that associating WWE with the UFC might turn some fans off to the real vs. worked nature of the event.
3. I doubt SpikeTV would allow TUF to be carried without Vince's approval.
4. Years ago when the UFC was gaining momentum, Vince stole the UFC's most charasmatic All-American fighters in Ken Shamrock and Dan Severn. So Vince realizes the threat of MMA to Pro Wrestling.
5. MMA is opening up in the States. Arnold is opening up California to the MMA.
6. Pro Wrestling and MMA working together or as one entity is not such a far off match. (Look at Pride in Japan. How MMA origninated from the Japanese Pro Wrestling organizations).
7. Puder is on tough enough and wins. Good timing, or Vince slowly introducing and building MMA to Wrestling fans.

I think once MMA is succesful, it will come out that Vince had bought the UFC, just liked he bought the ECW in it's prime.

[Cbear]

Bruce, while Vince might one day consider buying into mma if it grows like the 1993 version did, thats not already a done deal. The WWE is a publically traded company on Wall Street and an a cash outlay to buy an assett would not be able to be hidden (such as if it was a privately owned company). Also, there are way too many insiders in the WWE to keep anything secret. Right now, with Vince literally being wheelchair bound, his activities are very limited. The WWE focus is much more on Japan since they just made a boatload of money on the last tour and want to develop is as a foreign market. They also made good money in Puerto Rico and will return there for a ppv. Its an old proven wrestling business tactic to tour foreign countries when the U.S. cools off. They can tour Europe, Australia, Japan once a year and make big money.

I would be more inclined to think Vince would go on the attack if TUF gets too popular. He is also smart enough to reverse the situation and claim that its his ratings that are bumping TUF--which is true. But, its equally true (in my op) that the last quarter hour of WWE RAW is getting a big bump from mma fans tuning in early so as not to miss the UFC. I dislike that HHH will get the credit for those big quarter hour ratings when I don't think he has crap to do with it. What could Vince do? Well, in the past, he forced cable companies to choose between his ppv business or what was then Turners show. The cable companies went with Vince. When Turner had the first big ppv show set to air, Vince put on a free special tv show that night in competition--that might have been the start of the survivor series. While TUF ratings have definitely made the network happy, they still know WWE is the bigger draw and will listen to Vince.

Another potential big problem is that if the network truly does try to raise the intellectual level of their programming (as rumored) and cut wrestling, there is no doubt they will cut UFC also. Jamie Kellner killed WCW dead (it was horrible by then anyway) and another tv exec could do the same with WWE and UFC if they choose. This is why WWE is pushing so hard for their 24/7 Wrestling Channel and have been buying up the old regional tape libraries--they want to make sure they have a way to reach fans if either of the networks pulls the plug.

[guyincognito]

4. Years ago when the UFC was gaining momentum, Vince stole the UFC's most charasmatic All-American fighters in Ken Shamrock and Dan Severn. So Vince realizes the threat of MMA to Pro Wrestling.

That may be the most misguided statement I've ever read here. Ken Shamrock was okay but I would never put Severn and charisma in the same sentence, even with a guy like Flair. With Severn in the sentence it would suck a lot of the charisma away from Flair. That's just how bad he was and still is.