The Days of Joe Rogan Screaming at You During UFC Matches May Soon Be Over
His announcing partner and catchphrase guru Mike Goldberg could be on the outs too.
In 2018, the UFC’s broadcast deal with Fox is up for renewal and the fight promotion has already made it clear that the price to put UFC on TV is about to go way up. The UFC and its new owners are reportedly seeking $450 million annually from a broadcast partner, nearly 400 percent more then the $115 million it gets from Fox per the deal signed in 2011.
But a network isn’t going to hand over that kind of cash without putting its own imprint on the broadcasts, and now reporter Dave Meltzer has some details on what they may be looking for.
Note from Meltzer regarding TV negotiations. Networks want to remove “hype master” Rogan/Goldberg style of announcing, UFC willing to change
— Fight Ghost (@Fight_Ghost) November 29, 2016
The departure of Rogan, who’s been with the UFC since 1997, wouldn’t be an enormous surprise. The longtime fight commentator and boisterous hype man has already signaled his desire to cut back on UFC duties. Earlier this summer he said he’d signed on for “at least one more year,” but made it clear that commitment was becoming too much.
Rogan’s partner Mike Goldberg, on the other hand, doesn’t appear to have any plants to step down. If the longtime UFC play-by-play man is ousted though, there will be some cheers from his critics, who are plentiful. But hey, if he does get the boot, he could always take another crack at the NFL. After his one and only game for Fox in 2014, there’s no where to go but up.
Mike Goldberg's Awful First Day in the NFL… by Complex” tml-embed-width=”600″ tml-embed-height=”315″ tml-render-layout=”inline
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