Why "WEC" was not used

Dana White explains the disappearance of the WEC brand on last night's Faber vs. Aldo broadcast:

"[The WEC and UFC] are two different brands on two different networks," White said. "Even though they're owned by the same company, they're two different brands owned by the same company. The networks aren't going to let us do it."

"Those of you that have been around the TV business know what a battle it is when you have two different brands and all this other stuff," White told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). I really have to thank Spike and Versus for working with me on this thing."

"For me to get Spike over the hump to put this thing on and promote the 'Countdown' show and all the other stuff, thank God these guys went ahead and delivered and put on a good night for the sport. It was awesome."

"Whenever you promote a pay-per-view, you don't want to limit yourself. WEC is on Versus. UFC is on Spike TV. We went with no branding for this one, and we got as much promotion as we could."

"They'll figure it out," White said. "At the end of the day, it's about the fights. If you're going to buy tickets to come to the show, if you're going to buy the pay-per-view, it's about the fights that night.

"We just wanted to make sure that we could expose these fights to as many people as possible. A-B-C-D-E-F-G, it doesn't mean [expletive] to me. Sell some pay-per-views. That's what we are at the end of the day: a pay-per-view company."

makes sense VS blew it they work hard, their product is in its biggest moment ever

.....and they got fucking NHL playoff on, bet the viewership was HORRIBLE

I would have believed him if this rang true just for the Spike telecast, but it didn't. Why not use the brand even during the PPV telecast? That is a UFC owned broadcast.


Not. Buying. It. Dana.

wolf, clearly tv is at the center of it, and it's the reason why there has not been, nor will there be, a full merger of the org's any time soon. I've been saying this for awhile now.

Captain, the TV situation is the single reason the merger hasn't already happened. The WEC brand phase out has already begun in earnest. As soon as whatever remaining deals with the WEC expire or are bought out the WEC becomes Pride and the WFA.

The name WEC was treated like leprosy last night even on a completely Zuffa owned broadcast. It was almost militant in the attempt to unbrand the WEC. The UFC is on VS, now, and as soon as they work out the details, say good bye to initials "WEC".

your forgettin that spike has an interest in this. and numerous ufc cards on vs is not in spike's best interest. the ufc-wec seperate entity distinction keeps things very clear and legal like.

Spike fucking TV doesn't own a singe shred of anything having to do with a Zuffa PPV broadcast. The TV deal thing is an excuse. That is no reason to unbrand the WEC on an entirely Zuffa owned telecast. The merger is happening this moment.


The UFC is just trying to minimize collateral damage in a situation that will get ugly for many Zuffa employees that are going to be out of a job by the end of the year.

but who televises what? and I'd assume spike has some level of exclusivity in regards to broadcast rights.

zuffa wants to keep both channels. 2 orgs is an easy way to keep it as such.

Birdofthad wrote:

makes sense VS blew it they work hard, their product is in its biggest moment ever

.....and they got fucking NHL playoff on, bet the viewership was HORRIBLE

The NHL Playoffs do huge things for VS tv ratings. They have a big spike in viewership for them

Yeah, wolf is right. No mention of WEC on the SpikeTV prelims makes sense but what does that have to do with the champs not being announced as the WEC champs on the PPV? Spike and VS. had nothing to do with that...Zuffa puts that on.

I didnt see Aldo's belt, was there electrical tape covering WEC?

You may or may not have a full understanding of the situation. Not that I am some insider either, but here is what is known ; The WEC was bought only to hold VS. for Zuffa when the IFL was shopping around for a tv deal. This was before the UFC's current deal with Spike, when they had signed an exclusive agreement. The new agreement obviously isn't exclusive. The WEC is just a liability now, because it makes perfectly marketable UFC level fighters underpaid and harder to sell, and forces them to retain a second phantom promotions worth of staff, like Reed Harris ect.

There is no reason for the WEC to continue to exist.

Wolfgangsta wrote:

You may or may not have a full understanding of the situation. Not that I am some insider either, but here is what is known ; The WEC was bought only to hold VS. for Zuffa when the IFL was shopping around for a tv deal. This was before the UFC's current deal with Spike, when they had signed an exclusive agreement. The new agreement obviously isn't exclusive. The WEC is just a liability now, because it makes perfectly marketable UFC level fighters underpaid and harder to sell, and forces them to retain a second phantom promotions worth of staff, like Reed Harris ect.

There is no reason for the WEC to continue to exist.

your right, my argument is based on assumption. But if the tv deal is not the holdup, then what is? I figure it has to be, cause otherwise I don't see a reason for not merging. I argued the merits of a merger way back when on the espn board.

and who owns the re-air rights to the ppv portion of the card?

In stead of just merging them overnight, they're slowly but surely gonna merge them IMO. You can see each little step as it comes.

If they would just change the WEC's name to something with the UFC in it, like for arguments sake "UFC-max" or something, all the problems are solved.

does anyone know who owns the re-air rights to the ppv?

Zuffa?

I meant where can we expect to see the replay of the ppv? Unleashed on spike, or Wrecage on vs?

I think it is safe to assume they didn't brand it so they could promote it alongside their flagship fights on Spike in the future. Vs has WEC events. That wasn't a WEC event was it?

I just wish the UFC would absorb it already. It would be better for the WEC fighters and it seems inevitable.

Wolfgangsta wrote:

I think it is safe to assume they didn't brand it so they could promote it alongside their flagship fights on Spike in the future. Vs has WEC events. That wasn't a WEC event was it?

This has kinda been my main point here. (although vs has shown a UFC event.)