Fox Executive: Creating Stars Key to Sustainability

Fox is going to push its UFC product to the masses. | Photo: Sherdog.com

Fox Sports Co-President Eric Shanks joined Jack Encarnacao on the Sherdog Radio Network’s “Rewind” show to discuss who will handle matchmaking, the promotional push Fox will give the UFC and more.

Shanks on whether they’ll demonstrate techniques to educate viewers: “If you watch our NFL on Fox pregame show, if you watch our games, our philosophy is that first and foremost sports is entertainment. We’re not a huge X’s and O’s network. We like to think we’re more about storytelling and we’re more about letting you enjoy the game. I think if you want hardcore X’s and O’s, you’re going to watch the NFL Network or ‘NFL Live’ on ESPN to get that fix. We also like to think that you coat the information pill with a little bit of sugar and a little bit of entertainment.

“The approach of UFC on the Fox network is going to be the same. If you come on the air and you do full-page graphics and animations on what is a triangle, I think you’re going to hear the TV click off all around the country. Through the course of the broadcast you educate people, but I think the main thing is, OK, number one, on November 12, why should I care about this sport? Why is it here? Why is it so popular? And then, who’s going to win the fight? Why should I care about these two fighters? And then I think that Joe Rogan and [Mike] Goldberg, as the fight goes along, that’s when you start to get a little bit more of that information and technique, is in the course of the fight itself and the analysis of the fight.”

On whether he’ll have a say in matchmaking (a topic he laughed and joked about): “They’re the experts in matchmaking. I don’t think you can argue with their ability, Dana and Lorenzo’s ability, to do matchmaking. Look, I’m a fan. I’m a fan that happens to be in business with them on the non-pay-per-view side. I just happen to be a fan that can actually have the debate with them. Whether they actually care what I think or will actually give [credence] to a guy who’s coming in and now all of a sudden thinks he’s a matchmaker, we’ll see.

“We were at dinner the other night and Dana was like, ‘You know, some guys, they get to know us and then within a week, they think they’re a matchmaker.’ I said, ‘Well, Dana, it probably will only take me a day or two for me to think I’m a matchmaker.’”

On whether a show could be made about matchmaking: “We’ve been talking about, is there even a show around that [that could air] on Fuel? Can you put together a show that has Dana, Lorenzo, other experts and maybe even fighters and actually kind of debate the pros and cons of certain matches that you might actually put together? I actually think it would be a really fun show.”

On how the Nov. 12 show will influence future Fox shows: “There’s going to be a little bit of a learning curve. The guys at UFC … they get it. They get the TV side, and it shows with the strategy that they’ve taken both in the U.S. and internationally. We’re going to evaluate how well we all think that a one-hour show starting at nine o’clock does on November 12. We’ve jointly agreed to say, ‘All right, can it do better in a different time slot at different lengths? Did it work for us?’ We’re going to make changes if necessary to bring the absolute best product to the fans on television.”

On how UFC pay-per-views will interact with the Fox shows: “If pay-per-view does well, we think that UFC on Fox and on FX and Fuel will do well and vice versa. … If the UFC on Fox pulls a huge number and creates new fans, it means more pay-per-view. And if you have more hardcore fans for pay-per-view, that just means they’re going to have a huge appetite for what is on FX and what’s on Fuel and what’s on the broadcast network. I don’t think anybody can argue that there is a circle that’s been created that will feed from one thing to the other.”

On how to keep a good product going: “I think that sustainability is really all about creating stars. These guys, through ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ and the new format of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ -- which I am so excited that they even thought of the idea of the new format for ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ -- but creating stars that people care about and not just one star at a time but multiple stars that people actually care about, that’s what sustains the interest in the sport first and foremost. Then the fact that you put on really consistent, really upscale matches and performances and fights from all those stars.”

On the push Fox will give the UFC: “The very day that we announced this deal, we had a preseason NFL football game and we ran two 10-second promos for the UFC on Fox coming this fall in those games that night. We were prepared to put our money where our mouth is. In the highest-rated telecast of the night in the country, we started promoting a deal that we just announced that day. We have unbelievable entertainment assets, whether it’s the launch of probably what will be the number one show in America in ‘X-Factor,’ obviously ‘American Idol,’ all of our sports properties. This will get the full treatment from Fox for a launch. We’re excited about some of the ideas that have been percolating here internally about taking the Fox attitude and marrying it with the UFC in a marketing fashion.”

Listen to the full interview (beginning at 37:00).