UFC president Dana White compared his Power Slap league to the NFL and NBA in terms of social impact. Social media that is.
While the UFC is one of the biggest brands in sports, Power Slap was an interesting experiment. There’s no doubt it has a huge presence on social media for viral clips.
But apparently Power Slap has a bigger reach or more views than the biggest sports in the world.
“The deal that I just cut for Slap is bigger than the UFC deal we cut with Spike TV after the first season of The Ultimate Fighter,” White said. “I don’t give a (expletive) what the media says about it. They don’t matter … It’s been unbelievable. Not only is it unbelievable money-wise, it’s been unbelievable as far as social media goes, We’re number one in all of sports. And when I say all the sports, if you take the NFL, the NBA, the NHL, F1 WWE and whom I forgotten? And added them all together, their numbers don’t compare to Slap’s.”
When questioned by a reporter during the post-fight presser of UFC 288, White clapped back.
“You can doubt it all you want,” White said.
Dana White compares Power Slap to NFL, NBA in metrics
Power Slap was streamed on Rumble and White claimed the viewership numbers went way up.
“There were people watching it,” White said. “It did 3.2 million viewers, and 1.7 million of them had never been to Rumble before … I mean, we were the biggest stream on a Saturday for Slap. The good thing is, most of you guys don’t understand social media and how it works … I’ll give you the numbers on Slap that were done by a third party that does this. These guys are like the Nielsen numbers for social media. We destroy everything in sports with Power Slap.”
White was then asked if Power Slap is a form of people laughing at him and the league and not with them.
“Do you think I give a (expletive),” White said. “I just did a deal that’s bigger than when the UFC did when they went on Spike TV. I don’t give a (expletive). You know who’s laughing? This guy. That’s who’s laughing.”
Whether White and Power Slap are sustainable together remains to be seen. But whatever money came in based on social media and streaming numbers seems to be working for the UFC boss.
