UFC Signs Deal With Japanese Pay Network
The UFC, in their quest to enhance brand awareness in Japan, announced on Monday that they have signed a deal with WOWOW, a Japanese pay outlet that features a variety of American programming. The deal begins starting with this weekend’s UFC 89 event, of which the broadcast would be on short delay (much like overseas events that are televised on Spike TV); the deal would be for a period of 2 years in length.
Japan, by and large, has been a hotbed for MMA – except for the UFC; the country had been dominated by PRIDE, but with the collapse of that promotion almost imminent, UFC purchased PRIDE in 2007. UFC president Dana White had at first stated that PRIDE would continue operations in Japan, but no events ever took place, and the UFC eventually shut down the promotion and folded into their organization some of PRIDE’s bigger stars. White claimed that chiefly the inability to secure a TV deal, in addition to PRIDE’s financial mess, led to the inevitable demise of PRIDE.
