Will the Versus-DirecTV Deal Reinvigorate the WEC's Ratings?

Promoted To The Frontpage From Fanposts By Kelvin Hunt

Following the poor ratings performance of WEC 47: Bowles vs. Cruz, Zuffa's smaller promotion was surely thrilled to learn of some good news as it limps toward its first pay-per-view on April 24. Today Comcast, which owns the channel, and DirecTV reached an agreement which would return the Versus to the DirecTV lineup after months of anguish for MMA fans with the satellite provider.

The deal comes as welcome relief for the promotion which showcases smaller weightclasses with minimal starpower, as MMA Junkie spoke to the WEC's Vice President Peter Dropick today:

"We're excited that Versus is back on DirecTV, and it allows the WEC fans to see our fights," Dropick said. "There are 14 million fans who were missing out for a few months, but we're excited that we're back up."

The WEC and Versus first teamed up in June 2007 with its debut broadcast, WEC 28, which drew 416,000 viewers. Despite steady growth – the WEC had a record-breaking WEC 34 event (1.54 million viewers) a year after that first airing – the five WEC shows since DirecTV pulled Versus from the lineup barely averaged that initial audience (435,200 viewers per event).

Although WEC 47 lacked the promotion's one true star, Urijah Faber, it did feature former Bantamweight champ Miguel Torres and legend Jens Pulver en route to pulling a very disappointing 373,000 viewers. As the promotion moves forward, hopefully the new deal with DirecTV will bump up those ratings and position the WEC as a showcase event should Comcast decide to transform Versus into NBC Sports.