Ultimate Cash Machine

Miller, M. (2008, May 5). Ultimate Cash Machine. Retrieved from Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/forbes/2008/0505/080.html#31ada053e9e4

Summary

This article covers how the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) went from a violent fight club to a billion-dollar sports phenomenon. This story serves as a testament of how a risk was turned into a success through a deep understanding of the audience that the sport was targeting and how to work through regulatory agencies to legitimize a sport many thought was too violent.

Experience

I am well aware of the UFC. It’s not a sport I particularly enjoy, but there is no doubt it is has woven itself into the fabric of popular sports. What is amazing to me about their rise to fame is how they stuck to their narrative that the UFC is MMA and that all of their competitors were pretenders. The owners and president of UFC demonstrated a real business savvy with their product and were shrewd in the way they ultimately worked with state licensing commissions to legitimize the sport.

KEYWORDS: UFC, legitimize, pay-per-view, athletic commissions, strategy