Campbell McLaren

Campbell McLaren is an award-winning television producer and TV executive. He is the co-creator of the UFC and the CEO of Combate Americas, the first Hispanic MMA sports and media franchise.

Early life

McLaren was born in Scotland and emigrated to the United States when he was six years old. His father was a former RAF Flight Officer and hospital executive and his mother was a Presbyterian Church administrator.[1]

Education

McLaren went to primary school in Cowie, Scotland, elementary school and middle school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and high school in Indianapolis, Indiana.

He received an AB from the University of California, Berkeley. He also studied video production at MIT, with documentarian Richard Leacock.

Professional Life and Creation of the UFC

McLaren began his career in New York at Caroline’s Comedy Club (now Caroline's on Broadway) as talent director. He began producing TV shows for cable, network, and pay-per-view in 1989, winning awards including the Cable Ace and the Imagen Award.

In 1993, McLaren was the head of programming for SEG, BMG’s pay-per-view television company. He received a call from Art Davie representing Rorion Gracie and his “War of the Worlds,” a martial arts tournament idea.[2] McLaren envisioned a reality version of the hit video game Mortal Combat, and immediately put the concept into development. The result was the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), which premiered on pay per view November 12, 1993.[3]

McLaren's controversial marketing slogan “There Are No Rules” along with his notorious interview in the New York Times, "Death is Cheap: Maybe It's Just 14.95,"[4] launched the franchise and delivered a high pay-per-view buyrate.[5] Public interest and the popularity of the UFC increased leading to its appearance on Friends (The One with the Ultimate Fighting Champion), on the cover of Mad Magazine, which featured McLaren as the promoter “Marky D Sodd,”[6] and in the Denzel Washington film, Virtuosity.

In 2000, McLaren and David Isaac’s, with whom he worked on the early UFCs, founded the VC backed College TV Network, Zilo, which was an early version of a user-generated content programming network. Zilo launched Collegehumor.com with the TV series Sex Violence Collegehumor.com

Campbell McLaren also launched the Iron Ring, a MMA competition reality series, with Floyd Mayweather, Ludacris, Nelly, and T.I..

Campbell McLaren is currently CEO of Combate Americas, the first Hispanic MMA sports and media franchise.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Heffernan, Tom. "The UFC comes to Scotland: Exclusive Q&A with MMA pioneer Campbell McLaren". Daily Record. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  2. ↑ Gentry III, Clyde (2011). No Holds Barred. Chicago, Illinois: Triumph Books. p. 40. ISBN 978-1-60078-545-0.
  3. ↑ Miletich, Pat. Blood in the Cage. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing. p. 57. ISBN 978-0-618-98261-5.
  4. ↑ Sandomir, Richard (March 8, 1994). "Death Is Cheap: Maybe It's Just $14.95". New York Times. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  5. ↑ Shapiro, Dan (January 23, 2014). "How Campbell McLaren Spun UFC Into the American Cultural Milieu". Huffington Post. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  6. ↑ "Mad Magazine" (348). August 1996.
  7. ↑ Ozanian, Mike (July 23, 2014). "Combate Americas Targets Hispanic MMA Fans". Forbes. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
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