UFC Still Hunting TV Deal in Germany

In the eleven days since the official announcement was made by co-promoter MLK that the UFC will be coming to Germany next summer, the U.S. promotion has entered a “hot phase” in negotiations with ProSieben, one of the big three commercial TV stations in the country, to air live events.

Contrary to various reports that misquoted a Nov. 24 article in Der Spiegel, Europe’s largest weekly magazine, no broadcasting agreement has been reached with any of the TV channels that Zuffa LLC., the parent company of the UFC, is currently negotiating with.

There is still ample time to hammer out a deal, however. UFC 99 is scheduled to take place on June 13 at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne.

Should Zuffa and ProSieben reach an agreement, it will not only give the Munich-based channel the rights to UFC content in Germany, but to Austria, Switzerland and Eastern Europe as well.

ProSieben has a market share of 6.5 percent for approximately 5.5 million viewers. ProSieben also enjoys strong ratings in the coveted 18-to-34 demographic (sometimes as high as 18 percent) and boasts the most successful German television host in Stefan Raab.

Raab, a hybrid of David Letterman and Jay Leno, has captured the attention of viewers by taking concepts which appear to be totally incompatible to primetime TV -- like high diving and parallel slalom -- and making them into big hits with huge ratings. The 10-year veteran has also hosted celebrity boxing events and is said to an avid MMA fan.

Not coincidentally, Randy Couture has already been booked to appear on Raab’s late night show “TV Total” in the week leading up to UFC 99. Couture has been identified as the top main-card candidate for UFC 99, primarily for his ability to speak German from his days as a U.S. Army soldier stationed there. A fourth bout between Couture and fellow legend Chuck Liddell has been suggested to anchor the event, though both fighters have said they have not been officially approached with the fight by the UFC.

While ProSieben seems destined to air live events and a possible German/European season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” Sherdog.com has also confirmed that Zuffa has begun talks with DMAX, a men's lifestyle channel in Germany which is the home of programs like “American Chopper” and “Miami Ink.” DMX would be a solid choice to broadcast previous seasons of “The Ultimate Fighter,” as well as other programming like “UFC Unleashed” and “UFC Wired.”

“It is true, we are currently in talks with the UFC,” wrote Stefanie Braun, national press officer for DMAX, in an email to Sherdog.com. “DMAX is interested in ‘Ultimate Fighting’ because young men are interested in it and DMAX, as the men's lifestyle channel in Germany, is catering to exactly this target audience.”

Complete viewership numbers for DMAX were unavailable, but the channel has released figures for the 14-to-49 year old demographic and are just under one percent at 0.9 percent, which equals 750,000 viewers.

With major efforts being made to break into the German market, it is unlikely that UFC 99 in Cologne will be a one-night stand. An anonymous source that asked not to be named told Sherdog.com that Zuffa and MLK are indeed contracted for five events through 2011. However, the agreement allows Zuffa to unilaterally terminate the deal should the first show not reach expectations.

As far as UFC 99’s fight card, persistent rumors are circulating that Zuffa is pushing for a lightweight title defense between defending champion B.J. Penn and number-one challenger Kenny Florian as co-headliner for the Cologne show. This bout is only likely, though, should Penn be unsuccessful in his quest to become the first simultaneous two-division champion in UFC history when he takes on welterweight titleholder Georges St. Pierre on Jan. 31 at UFC 94 in Las Vegas.