Dan Radoff
On last night’s episode of This Week Tonight with John Oliver on HBO, Oliver took some time to offer up free marketing advice for Dana White and the UFC concerning Fight Island.
The show’s main focus last night was the impact due to the loss of sports during the COVID-19 pandemic both for the athletes, employees, and fans of each franchise. The UFC hosted three events last week in Jacksonville, Florida, at the VyStar Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum, becoming the first major sports league to return in the United States since the Corona lockdown began. Oliver began:
“Yes, the UFC is apparently building a facility on a private island that they’re calling fight island. Now, is that a clever name? No. Is it the perfect name? Yes. Because it’s the first thought an idiot would have if they wanted to name a private island where fights happen. “
Oliver went on to smugly suggest several alternatives, including “Brawlhamas,” “Puerto Ruckus,” “Owie Maui,” “Slam Miguel,” and his personal favorite “UF-SEA.” Spoiler alert: as was shown on last weekend’s installment of The Last Dance on ESPN, most often simpler is better, after Michael Jordan helped his agent with his comeback press release. Going with: “I’m Back!” Oliver went on to say:
“But clearly staging events is risky at the moment. Just the day before last weekend’s UFC event a fighter had to pull out after he and his cornermen tested positive. Underscoring the fact that if you want to come back completely without risk that’s just not possible right now and yet many sports organizations are feeling real pressure to ignore that risk…”
Spoiler alert: life is inherently risky.
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