Ultimate Fighting Corrals Advertisers

Spike TV has found an unexpected ratings heavyweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Once a vilified spectacle boasting of its lack of rules, UFC upped its sanctioning and is now the leading proponent of the interdisciplinary combat sport called Mixed Martial Arts (MMA).

But old impressions die hard. And Spike has been combating a major hurdle with its three-year-old franchise: convincing advertisers the adrenaline-packed content is not too bloody to sell their products against.

The network has found a gentlemanly solution. A subset of its sales force is now devoted to making the league more palatable to those advertisers. A three-man sales group wines and dines the clients, shuttles them to live events in Las Vegas and Florida and holds special sessions with UFC athletes at gyms and training centers, all in the name of quelling their skittishness...More?

source: broadcastingcable.com