Almost ten years ago when mixed martial arts events and programs started making their way into American homes via cable television, it was difficult for networks to attract sponsors. The sport was not widely known at the time. In fact, it was often referred to as human cockfighting or cage fighting around that period. Advertisers did not know what to make of it, which made it difficult for cable TV networks to distribute and air the fights and related shows.
The Rise of MMA on Cable TV
That is why Spike TV started out with the UFC reality TV series “The Ultimate Fighter” instead of just televising fights. The network knew that they first had to educate the public, as well as the potential advertisers, about this sport so that people would know all the rules and such when the fights started airing on television. This proved to be a good move as people continue to tune into the fights. As of 2013, MMA has been on cable television for just eight years. It is still a sport growing in popularity, as evidenced by the fact that FOX has begun airing MMA events on network television just recently. Also in 2013, UFC fighter Jon Jones became the first fighter in a mixed martial arts match to walk into a ring with a corporate sponsorship in the widely watched pay-per-view UFC 165 event.
Pay-per-view events are not the only MMA programs bringing in viewers by the millions. In fact, there are MMA fights and shows that regularly air on cable television and attract a large fan base that only seems to be growing in number. Many fights are featured on DirecTV Pay-per-view channels. If you’re looking for featured MMA fights, you can find upcoming scheduling on saveontvdirect.com.
When it comes to MMA popularity and fan bases, the UFC division is the most popular. This is likely due to it being the first to get televised and into American homes. However, Bellator is quickly gaining fans. Of course, it is nowhere close to the fan base of UFC, but it is the closest competitor in the MMA market.
In the spring of 2013, Bellator MMA ended its first season on the Spike cable network, but it was the eighth season for the show. Previously, it aired on MTV2 but switched over to Spike after the network lost the rights for UFC fights but wanted to stay in the fight niche. And if the viewership trend for Bellator is any indicator of mixed martial arts as a whole, it is only gaining in popularity on television. According to Spike president Kevin Kay, Bellator brought in four times as many viewers in its first season on Spike as it did with its final season on MTV2.
What is interesting to note about Bellator is that mixed martial arts fans now have even more televised options available to them with UFC fights, UFC reality shows, Bellator reality shows and Bellator fights. With the MMA sport still being rather young compared to others, the availability on television is only expected to grow. As it stands now, fans can catch various MMA shows and fights on major networks like ESPN, Spike, Fox, DirectTV and pay-per-view.
