Dana White Says Ufc Expanding To Germany, Phillipines And Australia

[Warchief]

The Ultimate Fighting Championship over the past year has made a significant move into the U.K. The promotion followed that up with a successful debut last month in Montreal where UFC 83 raked in a $5.2 million live gate.

“The Montreal event was big all the way around,” said UFC president Dana White. “We broke records with the venue. I think we broke every record in the venue’s history. Pay-per-views went very well, everything was good.”

It’s no surprise then that with all the success the promotion has had in expanding not only into new states across the U.S., but also in moving into the U.K. and Canada, the UFC will soon be setting up the Octagon in even more countries around the world. Next on the list is Germany.

In a media conference call on Thursday, White was asked of the promotion’s interest in France. He glossed over France heading straight to its neighbor to the North and a few other locals.

“We're focused on Germany, the Philippines, and Australia next,” he stated.

Pressed by Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports about a rumored location in Berlin, White said that it wasn’t a done deal yet. “We’re working on it right now,” he said, adding, “Germany is what we’re looking at next.”

White did not disclose a specific time frame for the move into Germany. He didn’t offer any details on the Philippines or Australia either, but did reinforce the UFC’s intent to promote in both locations.

“The Philippines is definitely happening, we're working on that right now, Australia and Germany, those three are right now,” he stated. “And now we're starting to focus on doing something in Brazil.”

Details on Brazil are far more sparse even than White’s secrecy on Germany. “Probably about three weeks ago, I did an interview and I said, ‘You know what? Brazil isn't even on our radar right now.’ And that's changed actually in the last three weeks. We're seriously looking at Brazil right now because there's a lot of interesting economical things going on down there right now.”

The plans to expand into Germany, the Philippines and Australia only serve to back White’s statements earlier this year, when he stated that the UFC and mixed martial arts in general are global in scope.

On Thursday, White once again used his comparison of the NFL’s troubled attempts to expand its sport into Europe to explain why he thinks that MMA will succeed.

As he said in January of this year, “Look at the NFL. There's nothing bigger in this country than the NFL. They've been spending billions of dollars trying to break into Europe and they can't do it, because nobody gives a (expletive) about football in Europe. They didn't grow up playing football, they don't know about it.

“I take two guys and put them in the Octagon and they can use any martial art they want. It translates through all different cultural barriers, language barriers... people love fighting.”

He continued, “I think that this thing can be global. I think that this thing can be the biggest sport in the world. I already know it's the most exciting sport in the world.”

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I hope this is not another B.S. from Dana...b/c if this happens in manila and australia i would be there.

[atj-lucko]

Why?? I think expanding to these other countries is a mistake. How about focusing on the U.S. market and getting that nailed first, Rome wasn't built in a day.
Whats the rush are they hurting for money.

Dana should focus on marketing and merchandise thats where the money at.

[Murray]

Originally Posted by atj-lucko

Why?? I thing Dana expanding to these other countries is a mistake. How about focusing on the U.S. market and getting that nailed first, Rome wasn't built in a day.
Whats the rush are they hurting for money.

Dana should focus on marketing and merchandise thats where the money at.

I don't think that is the problem, and if it is expansion is not the answer! It has been proven with the shows here (U.K) that expanding will only make the shows run at a loss. I have no proof but i'm sure they don't make money here because of the deal they cut with Setanta Sports (TV company who carry the UK PPVs live) as Setanta don't charge people to view the PPV's because it's a subscription channel.

I could be wrong but any expansion would result in a similar deal in Australia, Germany etc. and the time difference would make it difficult to sell as a PPV in the States.

If the UFC needed a cash boost i'm sure they would be running more shows in Canada...

[carbondioxide830]

you know what i wanna see? ufc in japan (again). i love watching fights in the ocatgon w/ silence (like on tuf, but a ppv in japan would have actual commentary). hell, what about a ufc event in japan where stomps, knees to the head of a grounded opponent, and soccer kicks are as legal as a RNC; that'd be fuckin awesome and a perfect setting for wandy/chucky II.

[Problematique]

Australia?!?!?

AWESOME AWESOME
pls let it be true

[mmasince91]

I wonder if he will ever try to get in the Japan or china market..... You would think they would make bank over there.

[Warchief]

Originally Posted by mmasince91

I wonder if he will ever try to get in the Japan or china market.

I remember Dana was mention months ago, that they are planning to expand UFC in Macao by 2009 or 2010

[POINDEXTER]

It doesn't seem like the expansion so far has hurt the UFC in any way; why not continue? It demonstrates, again, why the UFC is on a totally other level than these small startup orgs. If the Affliction show pulls it off, that will be amazing. I think the UFC has better planning and longterm foresight, however. Each UFC show attempts to deliver some kick-ass cards, but they don't try to break the bank and consequently bury themselves with the super-show that Affliction is putting together. I guess we'll see what happens.

[Clint]

Originally Posted by POINDEXTER

It doesn't seem like the expansion so far has hurt the UFC in any way; why not continue? It demonstrates, again, why the UFC is on a totally other level than these small startup orgs. If the Affliction show pulls it off, that will be amazing. I think the UFC has better planning and longterm foresight, however. Each UFC show attempts to deliver some kick-ass cards, but they don't try to break the bank and consequently bury themselves with the super-show that Affliction is putting together. I guess we'll see what happens.

Agreed. I think the UFC's main idea behind this expansion isn't necessarily to put on consistent shows in those places so much as to create a presence there so that people will watch the fights (through ppv or whatever). Sure they will probably have to hold an event or two in these places at a loss to get the media talking but the upfront loss is acceptable if it results in a longterm gain from having a higher total number of fans.

[hunterkiller]

“Look at the NFL. There's nothing bigger in this country than the NFL. They've been spending billions of dollars trying to break into Europe and they can't do it, because nobody gives a (expletive) about football in Europe.

Someone should tell Dana that the NFL sold out Wembley Stadium in England last year with a crappy game that no one cared about and is going back this year to do it again. And that game was in the pouring rain. The Europeans built a gigantic robot of Jason Taylor and marched it down the street before the game and he played for Miami last year who was 1-15. There were more than a million requests for the 80,000 tickets that were sold. That doesn't sound like there's no interest for American football in Europe.

The reason NFL Europe failed wasn't because there was no interest in American football, it was because the players in NFL Europe were minor leaguers mostly from the US who went there to play because they couldn't make it in the states.