According to a source from the New York Post, the future of UFC in China seems very bright.
While the economic war between the two sides has not shown any signs of stopping, the Chinese people have found a new hobby with UFC sports and this will probably lead to a race to invest in China’s UFC.
According to the New York Post, UFC is aiming to double the value of its contracts in the Chinese market. Accordingly, UFC can receive up to more than $ 100 million over a 5-year period. UFC’s franchise agreement with PPTV Sports, signed 3 years ago, brought the company $ 10 million per year, which means that UFC will collect $ 50 million in five years.
The Post also reported that many large Chinese entertainment companies such as Alibaba and Tencen were also approached to discuss the distribution of UFC.
According to information from The Post, UFC hopes to double the annual fee of the current contract. UFC believes it has found a diamond in the Chinese market thanks to the Chinese people’s high demand for American sports.
Zhang Weili, the fighter won the title of strawweight weight two weeks ago and made her the first Chinese to win the UFC. Many other US sports tournaments have also achieved success in China in recent years. The NFL draws a significant audience every week with 2.2 million views for matches in China. And two years ago, the NBA achieved 25 million tracking strategies per game.
UFC senior executive Lawrence Epstien told the Post that UFC has found a perfect market in China thanks to its love and martial arts knowledge here.
Epstien said: “Chinese culture generally leans heavily on martial arts.”
On the other hand, he also declined to comment further on the broadcast contract. He also revealed that UFC intends to open a training center of more than 8600 square meters in Shanghai and train UFC fighters and Olympic athletes in wrestling.
