Tweet

Lesson #3: Give Them an Experience They Will Never Forget

Article Overview: “Three guys bought UFC when it was dead,” says White. “It was over. The sport was dead and no one cared.” But, if the sport was dead, how come these three guys decided to buy the UFC? Well, says White, “We didn’t buy this to make billions of dollars. We saw something in this sport and in the fighters that we thought was incredible.”

Lesson #3: Give Them an Experience They Will Never Forget

“Three guys bought UFC when it was dead,” says White. “It was over. The sport was dead and no one cared.” But, if the sport was dead, how come these three guys decided to buy the UFC? Well, says White, “We didn’t buy this to make billions of dollars. We saw something in this sport and in the fighters that we thought was incredible.”

White and his business partners, the Feretti brothers, saw potential in the UFC that few others at the time could see. But, how were they going to introduce it to the mainstream in a way that would make it catch on?

The three friends decided that if they were going to make a success of their newly acquired venture, they would have to give people something that they would never forget; they would have to give them the experience of a lifetime. “That's one of the things when you go to a UFC event live,” says White, “the energy in the place is crazy. People are there because they're passionate about it.”

It was precisely that energy that White felt was missing from his larger competitors in the boxing industry. “Boxing is a road map of what not to do,” he says. “The greedy promoters basically killed the sport by taking it off free TV.” White recalls how, as a young boy, he used to watch the likes of Riddick Bowe, Lennox Lewis, and Roy Jones Jr. on the Wide World of Sports and USA’s Tuesday Night Fights.

“I’m 37, Lorenzo’s 37. We grew up watching these fighters on [free] television,” says White. “This younger generation didn’t. The [boxing] pay-per-viewership is minimal compared to what it could be on a bigger platform.”

For White, boxing was always about the money, and never about giving customers what they really wanted. “Who really gives a bleep at the end of the day what the financials are?” says White. “I want to talk about the next fight. Who does everyone want to see fight, why do we want to see them fight?”

White is a self-proclaimed boxing fan, but says the sport has forgotten its fans. “We used to go to Tyson fights and go crazy,” says Feretti. “But if I spend $1,000 for a ringside ticket, $500 for a ringside ticket, I'm gonna show up early. And it was boring. There was nothing going on.”

UFC was going to be different, White promised himself. And, it was. Hours before a UFC fight, the ring is already packed. “We've got competitive [undercard] fights and we're feeding them video,” says White. “I used to sit at a fight and wonder what fighters are they talking about on HBO, what matchups. When you come to our fights, we pipe all of that into the arena.”

White also made his fighters accessible to the public. “You show up at a [Los Angeles] Lakers game, you'll never meet Kobe Bryant,” he says. “But when you show up to a UFC event, odds are pretty damn good that you're not only going to meet Liddell, but he's going to sign what you need signed and take a picture with you.”

UFC was going to be different than boxing because it was not going to be just about making money. “The deal-closers are the live events,” he says. “If you come to a live event, you leave that place done, you're hooked, you're in. It is the greatest live sporting event you will ever see.” White promised to give fans something they would never forget, and that was exactly what he did.

Related Articles
  Cold Stone Creamery serves up a Triple Scoop of making Sales Effortless
  Entrepreneur – How Not To Have A Bad Employee?
  How to link an article with a menu item into your Joomla website
  Who Is Your Proud Family?
  Sales Training Top Salespeople Stay in Touch with Prospects and Customers

Article Tags: bleep, business partners, crazy people, feretti, free television, free tv, lennox lewis, lesson 3, promoters, riddick bowe, road map, roy jones jr, three friends, three guys, ufc, usas, viewership, wide world of sports, world of sports, younger generation



Related Forum Posts
Off to get married, Congrats - Hi Evan, I am married over 34 years. So go for the long haul. It's worth it every minute. I hope you will have a 24/7 time away from the Forum. Forget all about it and enjoy each other. Your Dream begins..... Regards Beat
Re: Have a Security Clearance Question? But are afraid to ask? - I think I've already addressed your topic in another forum or thread, but I think the easiest way to generate additional traffic to your web site is to provide content that is fresh, new, and insightful. Give users a reason to access your web site besides purchasing your services. Give them a reason to gain knowledge and they will come back and give you business when they can. Good luck in your campaign, and I hope everything turns out for you! One question I have is do security clearances check your family information as well (family criminal offences, etc).
Re: Why Some Websites Sell and Others Don’t? - Thanks for starting this inspirational thread,am working on owning my own site.This is a vital info for me. I will take note of this important quote as a beginner "Forget about the magic bullet that will make you rich overnight. Persistence is more important than intelligence"
Re: What would you be willing to do for a million dollars? - Forget a million dollars... I recall one of my marketing teachers telling me that everyone he knew in his MBA program had lost their relationships during the process. The time commitment required from a full-time job and studying for an MBA had put so much strain on those people's relationships/marriages that they just fell a part.
Re: Are you going to use Facebook Timeline? - Hi apu, I Recently used Facebook Timelines, actually it seems like a Facebook blog which makes profile page more attractive but i don't think it will help in internet marketing because it also slow the speed of Facebook Page. Share your Experience!


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

How to choose your executive coach -1

Getting The Media Attention You Deserve

LISTENING SKILLS IN COACHING

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.