The Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC): The Evolution of a Sport Case Solution And Analysis, HBR Case Study Solution & Analysis of Harvard Case Studies

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Introduction

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was created in the year 1993 by Davie and Gracie and are considered as the premier of the Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). The concept of UFC was to entertain the best ability of an individual for Martial Arts by overpowering another individual. The company was acquired by Zuffa LLC when it was near to file bankruptcy in the year 2001 by Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta. Since the year 2004, the company has revealed greater revenues and has been able to gather a larger target audience than any professional Boxing and WWE event.

The paper attempts to discuss the internal and external analysis of UFC through the use of SWOT analysis and Porter’s five forces model. The paper also enlightens the relationship of UFC with its wrestlers and the motivation level amongst the strategic partners. Furthermore, the paper provides recommendations for the expansion strategies for UFC and to make improvements in the current business processes applied by the organization.

Problem Statement

Due to the increased competition in the domestic and the international market, the company needs to devise strategies which are sustainable for a longer run and with an improved business model that could yield good revenues and to maintain the current market share.

Analysis

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

The Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC) is the first organization to introduce the concept of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). The organization has dominated 90% of the US market and has a huge fan base and follower in North American region. The organization has many talented wrestlers which has higher fan ratings and are followed closely by many people across countries. Due to its strategic partnership with Spike TV, the company had been able to cater a huge market through televisions and by viewing pay-per-view (PPV). UFC has also showed its strength by capturing the larger audience for the PPV event which has surpassed the PPV of Boxing and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Dana White’s publicity for his aggressive behavior and having a different personality is a successful business strategy for the company as it has grasped viewers’ attention (Snowden, 2008). UFC also have some great commentators such as Joe Rogan which has also remained a host of a reality show fear factor. Many viewers have also diverted to watching UFC due to Joe Rogan’s hiring.

Weaknesses

In different countries such as Japan, the idea of UFC has not appealed them much as they consider the sport as Americanized. The particular response from the Japanese crowd is due to the reason because every country has its own culture and traditions. Many countries do not promote extreme fighting clubs which could result in serious injuries. Therefore, the particular strategy has become a hurdle in its expansion strategy and its acceptance worldwide. UFC does not have many rules which makes it the bloodiest sport where everything is allowed. Therefore, the strategy restricts viewing in those countries where families could watch the particular show. It has a limited target market with a narrow focus. At UFC, there are no significant procedures and rules to promote young fighters and their entrance in the arena. Limited procedures are provided for young fighters to continue their careers at UFC. The pay structure and the promotion structure of fighters is very low which is why many big fighters have not agreed on the particular payout structures and have left the organization and joined smaller organizations with good pay. A low motivation level could also be found for fighters because of low payments (Mathis & Jackson, 2010).

UFC lacks the union formation in its organization due to which the fighters are unable to express their interest and show their protest against any decisions made by an organization. This reduces the expectations for improving the current business model of the organization. The increase in licensing fee for its sponsorship has also reduced the number of sponsors which has made the sponsorship future in trouble as companies could not afford the higher fees for making its advertisement in UFC.

Opportunities

UFC has an opportunity to expand its business in different countries while targeting the host country’s cultural trends and traditions. The expanding of business could be performed with the areas of interest and the number of UFC followers. UFC also have made strategic alliance with Harley Davidson and Bud Lights for sponsoring its events so that the followers of these brands could also follow UFC. By highlighting this strategic alliance, the company can target European and other Middle East market where the presence of Bud Lights and Harley Davidson is bright....................

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This case looks at the Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC) and its parent company, Zuffa LLC (Zuffa), through the role of the newly hired Director of Marketing (CMO). As CMO of the largest organizations in the fast-growing sport in the world, mixed martial arts, he is faced with many decisions about the future of the organization. CMO to determine the best way to manage the ambitious international organization initiatives to enhance and protect the UFC brand into new markets, while maintaining major league experience for North American fans. CMO must assess sponsorship relationship and develop a strategy to cope with increasing competition in the domestic and international markets. "Hide
by Matthew Thompson, Jesse Baker Source: Richard Ivey School of Business Foundation 16 pages. Publication Date: May 18, 2010. Prod. # 910A12-PDF-ENG