The thought of the UFC having their own subscription-based service is both exciting and obnoxious at the same time, with most people unable to decide which side it’ll fall to until we get some pricing information on the network. With the UFC things can go either way, as sometimes they are either extremely fan friendly while other times they are the polar opposite and bleed fans dry.
In 2014 the UFC will debut this new subscription service, which will air out-of-market shows from other countries, allowing the UFC to keep those events at reasonable local times, compared to what they do now trying to appeal to US audiences. The fact that Mark Hunt and Antonio Silva will be banging it out in the early afternoon in Australia just seems strange and cruel, doesn’t it? According to Dave Meltzer the UFC is planning on pushing more than just those fights, though, finally using their library for something. [source]
The service was described as UFC’s answer to Netflix or Amazon Prime, and would also include other exclusive programming, which will evolve over time. There are expected to be exclusive fight week features on location in the days preceding the shows.
There will also be a video-on-demand component that will allow subscribers to watch thousands of hours of archival programming from the UFC, as well as other videotape libraries the company owns, including Strikeforce, WEC, Pride and WFA.