WWE And UFC: 10 Shared Values Of Sports Entertainment

3. Both Sell Their Product As Sports

As WWE look to make a big money return on their up for grabs TV rights, they've marketed their product as 'sports' to potential broadcasters. This will no doubt infuriate purist MMA fans where the competition really is a sporting contest of ability. Admittedly, there's nothing about WWE that could be considered sport. It's fixed. It has more in common with a rehearsed performing arts routine than it does a fight. It flat out isn't combat, if a pro wrestler lands a punch then they are not doing their job properly. Still, WWE are now declaring themselves a sport in order to attract a Network, with the belief that live sport concepts are more attractive due to the need to watch instantly as opposed to DVR. I guess that the broadcasters might be convinced that WWE is a sport in the context of it being 'acted sport'. It's also worth noting that rehearsed performances are Olympic sports in some cases. So WWE's athletic brand of performance really isn't a million miles away from being sport. Keep your eyes peeled on Raw as they make some subtle changes of their product to make it more like sport, probably taking it closer to the presentation of UFC than it ever has been.