What has long been rumored and discussed has finally become reality, WEC is making the move to PPV with a UFC-comparable price tag of $44.99 per event.
In an interview held yesterday, World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) general manager Reed Harris announced the upcoming WEC 48 to be held on April 24 at ARCO Arena in Sacramento, CA will be the organization’s first PPV event. Along with the PPV announcement, Harris announced three big fights that will take place on the five-bout main event card: WEC featherweight champion Jose Aldo vs former champ and local favorite Urijah Faber, a rematch of last year’s super fight between Ben Henderson and Donald Cerrone, and former champ Mike Brown vs UFC transfer Manny Gamburyan.
Also discussed in the interview was the reasoning behind the $44.99 price tag. “We talked about pay-per-view last year and actually had Dana White (UFC President) and Lorenzo Fertitta’s (UFC Owner) blessing.” Harris said. “But we decided to wait because we really wanted a card and main-event fight that reflected the WEC. And I wanted it to be a fight that people definitely wanted to see. I think we have that.”
Still, how does a WEC fight card, as star-studded as it may be, warrant a comparable price point to the UFC’s $49.99 per event mark? Harris explained the final decision came from the executives at UFC, WEC’s parent company. “The decision as far as pricing came from Lorenzo and Dana,” Harris said. “They felt our product is every bit as good as the UFC’s since we’re actually part of the UFC, and they felt the value is there.” Harris went on to say, “We always hear that our cards never disappoint. So we felt it should be similarly, especially with a card of this magnitude.”
Nearly lost in this huge announcement was Harris explanation that not every WEC event, going forward, is going to be on PPV. While it’s parent company, UFC, holds one and sometimes two events per month at a price tag of $49.99, the WEC only plans to move one or two “major” shows per year to PPV. The organization will still hold the bulk of their events on the Versus cable channel free of charge. It should be noted the WEC has seven contractual events with Versus channel in 2010, which includes WEC 47 held on March 6th.
One or two PPV events per year doesn’t sound bad, at first. But timing of the events is key. In months where the UFC holds two PPV events, will loyal UFC PPV-paying customers be willing to shell out $44.99 for a third event?
“I’d just ask the fans to support us,” Harris said. “Get 10 friends together, buy the event, and I promise you, you’ll be satisfied. If you know the WEC, you know what you can expect.”
Is that a money-back guarantee, Mr. Harris?
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