The UFC is like most other fighting sports in how you can view their events. UFC offers Pay-Per-View for all of their big fights through traditional cable and satellite providers. However, they have branched out into different streaming services, like offering fights through gaming consoles, smart TV's, and Amazon. Most recently, ESPN bought out UFC's TV contract with Fox Sports for $1.5 billion (USAToday.com) and is revolutionizing how the sport is distributed. Not only will less popular UFC fights be broadcasted on basic ESPN cable, but thanks to ESPN+, the new subscription based streaming service offered by ESPN, their bigger events will be able to be streamed from any cable device, along with an on-demand feature containing a large fight catalog (ESPN.com). According to USA Today, "ESPN+ also will stream preliminary coverage for UFC's pay-per-view cards, which average about 12 per year." This is an enormous step for the sport to reach a broader audience and gain a larger following.
Social Media has been where The UFC has taken their biggest strides in regards to promotion however. "For a relatively niche sport to have 20 million followers across its different social media channels, with 80 brand accounts, is seriously impressive given that it has only been around for 24 years" (TheInnovateEnterprise.com). The same article references Forbes.com, which calculated that one of their most successful pay-per-view events had over 13 billion impressions, 3.2 million engagements on Facebook, 246 million impressions on Vine, had over one million uses of the custom UFC 200 emoji, as well as 4.3 million engagements on Instagram and over 270,000 new followers on Facebook.
But the UFC had to have a strategy in place in order to create successful social media platforms. Dana White didn't grow a 43 million follower base across three platforms overnight. One of the biggest things the UFC excels at is telling a story, specifically what it is like to get in a UFC ring and be a UFC fighter. Only a select few people obtain the skill set to fight MMA, and fans love learning what it is like. Whether their posts include videos (both first and third person), pictures, live streams, fight updates etc., they do a fantastic job of engaging their fans.
The UFC is no stranger to the world of influencers as well, which they find in house. Their fighters are the main attraction, and they use social media in an incredibly engaging way. Take Conor McGregor for example, former double UFC champion, and arguably the most popular UFC athlete on social media. Conor includes a wide variety of content styles that depict his life as a UFC fighter, allowing his audience to step into his shoes and learn about his life. McGregor has posts about training, videos of him in action, content about his wife and son, just to name a few. Casual fans aren't incredibly familiar with the inner workings of an MMA fighter, so that is how the UFC attracts social media followers, by having their athletes display their lives on full effect. This strategy is implemented from the lowest of fighters all the way up to their founder, Dana White. Not only does White promote every UFC fight and event on his Instagram, but posts highlights from fights as well as memes to engage his followers and keep them on their toes as to what to expect from his platform.
The UFC is a prime example on how a sports league should promote themselves in the age of social media. We have yet to see the full potential of this new form of marketing as teams and leagues are just getting their bearings on how to use this type of communication. The rest of the world needs to take some notes on how the UFC has done it so far, however. By giving an inside look into what life is like as a UFC athlete, branching out into new and improved content distribution services, and an aggressive promotion and content schedule, they are at the forefront of sports social media marketing today.
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