On this week’s Press Row Jordan Breen and Josh Gross discussed Zuffa’s purchase of Strikeforce, including the events leading up to the sale, what the immediate future will hold for Strikeforce, and the UFC’s potential television deals and partnerships.
In addition, Gross criticizes people’s attachment to promotions, as opposed to fighters.
In principle I agree with the sentiment that one should support and follow fighters, not promotions. I’m especially baffled by what appears to be biased promotional attachments on the part of many fans.
However, the reality doesn’t always support those principals, especially when saturation becomes a factor.
In my first blog post I talked about Zuffa’s saturation strategy — basically, if fans have time to follow any non-Zuffa promotions, then Zuffa isn’t producing enough content.
Consider your favorite weekly television series. It’s your favorite because it has the best combination of actors and story lines, and it has a reliable schedule. If that series starts airing more than one episode per week, you’re going to do your best to keep up. If that continues, then other shows are going to be relegated to the DVR until eventually you don’t have the capacity to follow them.
Furthermore, if one week I tell you that a specific episode of another show is better than the episode of your favorite show that airs that day, are you going to forsake the show in the series you’re following? No, because you’re invested and you want to see the drama unfold.
That’s is how it is with MMA promotions. If you can, you want to see the fights unfold like a television series, hopefully with good story lines. This investment in the story lines, the characters, and the developing narrative causes fans to support and follow the MMA promotions that offer them a series of payoffs on that emotional investment. Once a promotion has earned those fans’ loyalty, they remain fiercely invested in the continuation of the series, regardless of the cast.
