Ch. 11- Developing and Managing Products

The UFC as a product has come a long way since its inception; the fights went from being available strictly on satellite TV Pay-per-view to now being available on a variety of mediums such as cable, satellite, and even YouTube.  On a normal UFC fight card, there are usually around 10 fights per event.  However the main card (PPV event) is only the last four fights since those athletes are the main attraction.  Unknown and up and coming fighters usually have to fight earlier in the fight card, and as a result do not get much publicity.  In order to help the development and marketability of a fighter, the UFC began airing these "Preliminary Fights" on a variety of medium for free.  Without a network deal, the UFC had to be creative in order to show these fights to fans.  The first medium they decided to use was the social media website Facebook.  By "Liking" the UFC Facebook page, people are given access preliminary fights for free.

Facebook Prelims are available to those who "Like" the UFC Page

Not only did this idea give unknown fighters the exposure they needed to gain followers, but it also boosted the UFC's social media presence.