The UFC 220 Prelims on FS1 drew 905,000 viewers according to Nielsen via ShowBuzz Daily. The prelims overlapped with Bellator 192 on Paramount which drew 770,000 viewers.
UPDATED: Bellator 192 was also on CMT network. Thanks to a reader who pointed this out. Based on the combined ratings Bellator 192 drew 931,000 viewers (CMT chipped in with the additional 161,000 viewers)
The UFC Prelims were highlighted by Julio Arce versus Dan Ige. The event on FS1 drew 0.39 in the A18-49 demo. In comparison, last year’s first PPV, UFC 208, which occurred in February drew 824,000 viewers. Bellator 192 featured Rampage Jackson and Chael Sonnen as it began the Heavyweight Grand Prix. It also saw Rory MacDonald win the welterweight belt from Douglas Lima. The event drew 0.32 in the A18-49 demo.
In addition, on Saturday night, the UFC Prefight Show on FS1 drew 286,000 viewers.
Payout Perspective:
Bellator 192 was the highest-rated Bellator event on Spike TV, now Paramount, since March 2017’s Bellator 175 which featured Rampage against King Mo. Bellator 180 had a higher viewership in the aggregate but was shown on Spike and CMT. While the event produced the best ratings in almost 10 months, it still does not come close to the initial tentpole events which drew near 1 million viewers. Obviously, the head-to-head with the prelims and the UFC PPV hurt Bellator this time around. For the UFC Prelims, the 905,000 is a nice rating considering the fights did not have any “named” fighter on them which bodes well for the PPV buys.
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