Ariel Helwani calls 'cap' on Dana White claiming Power Slap numbers outdoing WWE, NBA, and NFL combined
Despite overwhelming opposition, UFC President Dana White has continued to defend his venture, Power Slap League.
In the past, Dana White has stepped up his defense of the Power Slap League's viewership ratings, saying that they are on par with the NBA. In the post-fight media scrum following UFC 288, White made the shocking assertion that the Power Slap League has been performing better on social media than all other major sporting leagues.
White claims that the Power Slap League's new broadcast deal with Rumble is more lucrative than the UFC's pathbreaking distribution deal with Spike. White continued by saying that when social media data are considered, Power Slap League performs better than WWE, NBA, and NFL combined.
Catch Dana White's comments below:
Dana White claims Power Slap's social media metrics are "No. 1 in all of sports."
"If you take the NFL, the NBA, the NHL, F1, WWE ... and added them all together."
Full interview: bit.ly/3LDqwMs https://t.co/mnjmqOMraP
A veteran MMA journalist Ariel Helwani shares the skepticism of many others who have not seen any evidence to support White's claims. In a lengthy segment on the most recent episode of The MMA Hour, Helwani responded to White's assertions, saying:
"If you [Dana White] would have said like we beat the NHL, even if you want to say like we beat the NBA, it's fine. Who's going to look through these numbers and compare? But to imply that we are better than the NFL, the NBA, the NHL, the MLB, F1, and WWE... To imply that Slap's social numbers are bigger than all of them combined... So my question is, does he actually believe this nonsense or this just brilliant promotion?"
Helwani added:
"There is no way in hell that any entity by the way, do NBA vs. all of them combined, do NFL vs. all of them combined... No entity is bigger than all of them combined. Certainly not two truck drivers from Idaho slapping each other in front of six people at the Apex."
Catch Helwani's comments below:
Thread
Ariel Helwani asked about Dana White's Power Slap comments during the UFC 288 Post Fight Press Conference.
#TheMMAHour https://t.co/oXbHeQCyvT
Dana White Power Slap League: UFC President reveals that he's "thrilled" with the new Rumble broadcast deal
On March 11, 2023, the season finale of Dana White's Power Slap League took place at the UFC Apex facility.
Despite not being broadcast on PPV as intended, the event still attracted over two million viewers on Rumble.
During the post-event press conference, White compared the new Power Slap League broadcast deal with Rumble to the UFC's agreement with Spike TV in the past:
“Watch what happens in the next two years with this thing. And if you look at the progression of UFC, we started on Spike TV with a deal, from Spike TV we went to FOX, from FOX we went to ESPN. And this will play out the same way, except I believe the Spikes, FOXs, and ESPNs will end up being social platforms. Everything is heading that way. We’re f**king thrilled with the Rumble deal."
Catch Dana White's comments below: