WWE Network vs UFC Fight Pass: Which is better value for money?

By Chamatkar Sandhu

Ok so yes this is a MMA information and news website BUT let’s be completely open and honest with the fact that the UFC and WWE have been competitors for years. Competitors on two fronts PPV dollars and the 18-35 male demographic. Just before UFC 168 Lorenzo Fertitta and Dana White held a special press conference launching UFC Fight Pass, the UFC’s own digital network. Yesterday the WWE along with its CEO Vince McMahon launched their own digital network, the WWE Network.

Now both companies are targeting $9.99 of your money per month and for some who can’t afford both you might want take a closer look at both networks to see what is better value for money right now.

UFC Fight Pass

• Live UFC events from Europe and Asia. Lorenzo Fertitta stated that there would be 6 events held in each continent. This includes UFC Singapore which took place last Saturday and the upcoming UFC London on March 8th.
• International versions of The Ultimate Fighter. Season 3 of TUF: Brazil will air exclusively on Fight Pass, with coaches Wanderlei Silva and Chael Sonnen continuing their heated rivalry.
• Extensive on-demand archives of past UFC, Strikeforce, PRIDE, Affliction, EliteXC, WFA, and WEC fights.
• Live preliminary card fights for Fox, Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2, and PPV events. These fights, previously streamed on Facebook and YouTube — and before that they weren’t aired at all — will now be known as UFC Fight Pass Prelims.
• New and original UFC programming and exclusive behind-the-scenes reports and fighter diaries.

Pricing is set at $9.99 per month and is presently available in the USA, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. However, subscribers will be offered a free trial that lasts until February 28th.

WWE Network

• The Network will be the first to launch with a 24/7 streaming service. There will be live content and an on-demand library of programming accessible at all times from ANY platform and from ANY device.
• All 12 live pay-per-view (PPV) events will be included. That includes WrestleMania, at no extra price.
• Every single WCW and ECW PPV will be available to stream. There are over 300 total that are available on demand, whenever you want.
• Live pre and post-shows for Raw and SmackDown. There will also be a live daily show at some point, much like Sportscenter.
• The price of the network will be $9.99. It was later revealed that that price comes with a six-month commitment.
• The launch date: Feb. 24, 2014, at 11:05 p.m. ET immediately following Monday Night Raw that evening.
• At launch, it will be available through WWE.com on desktop and through the App on mobile devices. XBOX, PlayStation, Roku, and others will also have access. XBOX 1 and Smart TVs will have access by the summer.
• The U.K., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and Hong Kong will have the Network by late 2014 or early 2015 with many more countries to follow.
• The slogan for the Network: “It’s way over the top.”
• NXT will finally have a home and it is being marketed as a place where developing superstars compete to make it to the main roster.
• Legends House, the reality show WWE filmed last year featuring the likes of “Mean” Gene Okerlund, Roddy Piper, and more, finally has a home.
• WrestleMania Rewind is another show that has a home. It’s a documentary style look at the biggest show of the year on the WWE calendar.
• WWE Countdown is a new show that will debut, an interactive program essentially featuring all the various lists WWE.com breaks out that we love so much here at Cageside. This time, though, you’re getting it in video form.
• The story of the Monday Night War will be told with a new series.
• To purchase the WWE Network, you have to either have a WWE.com account, or some sort of social media you can connect through. It’s only a matter of clicks to get there. One click will get you there through most other devices, like mobile and PlayStation.
• The video will be 720p, HD quality viewing.
• You can set up reminders to be delivered straight to your e-mail or mobile device for upcoming shows.
• There is a partnership with the folks at MLB TV, a similar network that streams some 20,000 hours of programming. It’s a huge undertaking but they’ve made it work to near flawless results. It’s a good partnership for both sides.

Let’s take a few things into consideration, not every MMA fan is a WWE fan and vice versa BUT there are plenty who are fans of both. Some will be able to afford both and some won’t, but in addition to the dollar factor, there is also the time factor. How much time does the consumer have to watch content? There have already been complaints about UFC Fight Pass not delivering what was promised at the conference call and there seems to be an idea floating around that the UFC rushed it and it just wasn’t ready for launch yet and although it is free you do still need to enter your credit card details and REMEMBER to cancel it before the first month goes ‘live’. I have read plenty of reports that the UFC customer services department has taken over a week to get back to consumers who have already tried to cancel. But when the WWE Network launches how much of your time will be spent watching that content and how much time will be spent watching UFC content?

First impressions are everything in today’s global consumer market and I think it’s fair to say the UFC Fight Pass while looking good on paper just got off to an unfinished clunky start. I have received feedback from users that even finding fights is a task in itself sometimes and the ‘dark ages’ fights which were promised are not there yet.

So UFC Fight Pass made its debut and the WWE Network makes its ‘walk down the aisle’ on February 24th at 11:05pm ET right after Monday Night Raw. This is significant because this kicks off the 6 week road to WrestleMania. This is where the WWE really broke the mould. All 12 of their yearly PPV events are included in the WWE Network service and under the monthly $9.99 subscription fee. This includes their biggest event of the year WrestleMania which typically draws around 1 million buys.

So going back to cost for $9.99 with the WWE Network you get everything the WWE has to offer under the sun. For $9.99 with the UFC Fight Pass you get your European and Asia Fight Nights and some pre-lims but you will still be paying for their PPV’s so for the first time ever the argument can be made that from your arm chair it is more expensive to be a UFC fan than it is to be a WWE fan.

You just have to applaud the WWE for taking this bold move forward in their distribution and no doubt in the coming months and years the UFC will have to rethink its digital network strategy too. A few attendees at the press conference yesterday in Vegas said there were some Zuffa employees in attendance.

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer says that for the WWE Network to be profitable the WWE needs one million subscribers, which in my opinion given how much further ahead they are in their global expansion compared to the UFC will be a pretty easy feat. Dave says that the UFC will only need one tenth of that audience for it to enter a profit.

There are differences between the UFC and the WWE PPV business. The WWE earns a much smaller percentage of their annual revenue through PPV than the UFC as they get most of their money from TV and marketing deals while the UFC gets over 50% of theirs from the PPV business. In addition aside from WrestleMania the WWE’s PPV business has been in decline over the past few years which I think makes this a smart move on their part.

So you have all the information, the breakdown, and the costs. If you are a fan of both UFC and WWE and you right now based on what is available on paper and what has been provided to us by the UFC Fight Pass so far, which would you subscribe to if you only had the budget to choose one?

Let me know on Twitter @ChamatkarSandhu