MMA Junkie reports on the UFC looking forward to its Sunday night Fight Night in Boston. Despite the concerns that it conflicts with the AFC Championship game in the same town as the event, Lorenzo Fertitta looks forward to it.
Fertitta told MMA Junkie that he looked at this date as “beachfront real estate.”
Fox has been doing its part in promoting UFC Fight Night 59 during the NFL divisional round of playoff games this past weekend as well as during its slate of college basketball games.
The AFC Championship game is the second game on Championship Sunday in the NFL as it officially starts on CBS at 6:40 p.m. ET. The NFC Championship game is the early game at 3:05 p.m. ET.
The UFC Fight Night 59 prelims begin on FS1 at 7 p.m. ET. Thus, fights begin just as most Patriot fans will watch them play the Indianapolis Colts. Certainly, many attendees at the UFC event will be checking for updates and/or a stray TV in the arena.
Fertitta remains optimistic with the results of the card on TV citing the fact that many saw the promos during the NFL games this weekend.
Payout Perspective:
What UFC Fight Night 59 amounts to is counterprogramming to football on CBS. While there have been tons of promos for the event on Fox, it’s hard to imagine the casual fan of MMA and football choosing to watch the UFC event live. Certainly, one could look at DVR ratings to seek out how many folks will watch the event to get a better sense of viewership. The placement of the card occurs on the middle day of a three day weekend in the U.S. so one would think this was a good choice. Of course, knowing that it happens during a time when most fans in your demo are watching football will hurt live viewership. The fact it now happens in the same town as the Patriots game could hurt local attendance as well.
Pink Pig says
Zzzzzzzz
tops E says
Pr moves….making excuses before another low rating show lol after the event and ratings are low theyll say we told u so hahahaha
BrainSmasher says
I’m sure there is a lot of Irish oeoe who are not American football fans who this will bring in. But I’m sure the truth here is the UFC was banking on the Patriots being eliminated from the playoffs or at least playing this week on the road.
saldathief says
the ufc and the nfl shouldn’t even be in the same sentence, its the ufc trying to look relevant to mainstream sports fans, what a complete fucking joke!!!
d says
Salsmellslikeaqueef is back at it again. No surprises from the boxing paid troll.