Say it ain’t so, Viacom. Can this really be true? A user on The Underground discovered on a Time-Warner cable listing stating that it will cost $45 for the HD broadcast of the upcoming Bellator PPV. Considering the vast amount of MMA, boxing and other entertainment in our lives, can any of us really justify spending $45 on this Bellator PPV, or even the $35 for the standard definition broadcast? I could go out for 3-star dinner with a guest of my choosing for $35-45. I could buy many videogames featured on a Steam sale for that kind of cash. Why can’t they just make it $15-20? I would gladly purchase the Bellator PPV for that amount, but now I think I will just enjoy a rare weekend off from fighting considering I refuse to pirate out of respect for Shlemenko.
$35 is over half way to EA UFC and that will likely provide a hundred hours of entertainment to the right person. All of these people need to start realizing it’s 2014, not 1994. No, I don’t want to gather a bunch of my friends in my home and divvy up the cost. Why should I be forced to do that? Simply on principle.
I get that Viacom wants to recoup some Bellator cash and fast, but the PPV model is dead. Who knows how many of the UFC PPV buys are from bars around the nation. Considering these bars won’t be showing Bellator’s PPV (I’m assuming), and only the most hardcore of hardcore fans with a disposable fight-watching income that will reach into the hundreds of dollars with 2 UFC PPVs and the Mayweather fight all taking place in the weeks surrounding the Bellator PPV could afford this. How can this be a success? How can this even get more than say, 10,000 buys realistically?
MMA is officially the most expensive sport to watch, and that is hindering its growth, despite what the promoters and executives may think. And onus is on them to make their business work.
