Mark Cuban: Is he the ‘Contender’ ?
Published by on February 14th, 2008 in Operation Cleanup

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Charles Jay
IS HE THE “CONTENDER”?

Will Mark Cuban eventually mount the big challenge to the UFC? Or is he a bit player?

When people scoff at the idea of Mark Cuban being involved in the business of mixed martial arts, I think they’re missing something that is going to become very critical as time passes – they are severely underestimating that he is already involved in the professional sports business, and at the highest level possible. He is an owner of a team in a major American sports league, and you don’t get any more major than that.

And carries with it great value in his would-be role as an MMA insurgent, not just because he isn;t another know-it-all from some area of business trying to be a big-time promoter, but because he will have instant credibility and recognizability with the mainstream media, which works not just in the realm of sports but across the board. And if he is going to be relatively open and honest in his business dealings, instead of trying to create an air of mystery to his operation (a fair assumption considering he operates a blog, posts his email address and answers many of those emails personally), he is going to have a leg up (in the mainstream media) on those people who are running the UFC, who have heretofore been notoriously secretive about how their organization operates.

Do not underestimate that either. Because I can tell you Cuban doesn’t. In fact, that appears to be one of the unique seeling propositions he wants to offer – that at least in terms of the headliners, they are going to be looked upon more as partners and less like chattel. That will become something exploitable.

HDNet Fights, the official name of Cuban’s MMA arm, has been involved with telecasting a number of live events, and has promoted its own, though nothing yet of major proportions. It seems clear that what Cuban wants to do is get people used to going there for this kind of content; to develop his network as a place to find MMA news and support programming; in fact, much more of it than can be found anywhere else. That includes the UFC fan as well, since he does air an MMA news and features program. And then once he’s got them, he’s going to introduce them to his own promotions as they get bigger.

Part of the initial plan appears to be in establishing strategic partnerships with organizations for which Cuban’s network serves as a distribution channel foe event programming. What I see here is at least an informal association that has the potential to evolve into a full-scale consolidation and concentration of effort. There is strength in numbers, and as his viability as an outlet increases, the small players will continue to be drawn to HDNet.

At first I had some reservations as to how committed Cuban was to his project. And I know that there has been a February show postponement that has fueled the speculation of doubters. But I see what Cuban is doing now, and I am not one of the doubters. In fact, there is little doubt in my mind that he intends to stay in this thing and that he is committed to going head-to-head with UFC in the long run. Anyone who knows him knows that he is a visionary; he doesn’t hit a home run with everything, but he is not flying blind here.

And if you’ve heard his comments lately, throwing out the Muhammad Ali Act, talking about fighter partnerships and free agency, you just know this is a salvo directed right at the UFC. He’s been waiting for the point in time where fighter awareness about their own worth would emerge, and we are coming into it now. Furthermore, because his long-term business model depends on selling stars, he can find himself in a fortuitous position indeed. He’ll be able to hook up with some major names, and turn them loose in every way he has available to him.

I couldn’t speculate as to whether he’s going to wind up with the involvement of Randy Couture, or Fedor Emilianenko, or Tito Ortiz, or Vince McMahon, or Floyd Mayweather. The way he’s going to present his product and his approach, he’s going to be offering something that is a very attractive alternative for some UFC competitors. He’ll have takers.

If he wants to swim into the deep end of the pool, he’s going to have every opportunity to compete. And in terms of disposition, he is well-suited for it.

For the most important thing Cuban has going for him is that he is a fighter. He’s a guy who can roll up his sleeves and get down and dirty; an aggressive type who will take it into overtime (to use a basketball metaphor) to come out on the winning side. Dana White may have come dangerously close to meeting up with Tito Ortiz in a boxing ring, but this may wind up being his toughest opponent yet.

I hope Cuban gets all the way in it, because it’s something I’d love to see.

The sport would be better for it.