Brian Knapp of Sherdog.com reports that the WEC had a record pre-sale for its forthcoming WEC 48 event, which is slated to be the organization’s debut PPV effort.
Harris thinks WEC 48 “Aldo vs. Faber” on April 24 could draw more than 15,000 fans to the Arco Arena in Sacramento, Calif. By comparison, the WEC’s most recent event in the Golden State’s capital city claimed an attendance of 10,027 last month.
“We had a record pre-sale,” Harris said during a Thursday teleconference. “Ticket sales are trending very well. I think there could be upwards of 15,000 or so there.”
WEC 48, which marks the promotion’s historic debut on pay-per-view, will feature a pair of five-round title bouts, including the ballyhooed headliner between featherweight champion Jose Aldo and former titleholder Urijah Faber.
Aldo, Sherdog’s 2009 “Fighter of the Year,” has not competed since November, when he blasted through American Top Team’s Mike Thomas Brown and captured 145-pound gold in a second-round technical knockout. Spawned by the Nova Uniao camp in Brazil, the 23-year-old will carry a nine-fight winning streak into his showdown with Faber. Aldo rose to the top of the featherweight division without much resistance, as he finished his first six foes inside the WEC, three of them inside one round.
Still the promotion’s most marketable commodity, Faber submitted Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Raphael Assuncao with a third-round rear-naked choke in the WEC 46 co-main event a month ago. The charismatic 30-year-old Californian has won 15 of his past 17 fights, losing only to Brown in that span.
Though the $44.95 price for the PPV remains a point of contention with some, Harris believes fans “will get their money’s worth” with the WEC 48 card, which includes a rematch between WEC lightweight champion Benson Henderson and Donald Cerrone. Still, it figures to sink or swim on the strength of the main event.
“In talking to the guys upstairs, [UFC President] Dana [White] and all them, they all believe this could be one of the best fights of the decade,” Harris said. “We’re very confident about it.”
Payout Perspective:
Sacramento, California may be the fighting home of Urijah Faber, but it’s also quickly becoming the unofficial home of the WEC. The organization has scored consistently high gates and ratings in the market – largely on the back of Faber – and now it’s poised to bring the biggest show in WEC history to the ARCO Arena. Not surprisingly, the fans in Sacramento have yet to disappoint.
Big crowd, big gate – what’s the big deal? Aside from the obvious larger-than-normal gate receipts, the importance of a sellout live crowd from the perspective of the PPV can be equated to credibility. WEC 48 is going to be the organization’s first PPV event, and rightly or wrongly, first impressions often have lasting effects. If everyone in the MMA community – Dana, Reed, the fighters, etc. – are telling MMA fans that this is the biggest fight of the year, then it damn well better have that look and feel.
Fifteen thousand screaming fans will help.
15K… LOL
I just bought 12 tickets in row easily front row, 4 tickets at the cheapest price, of course i didn’t buy them, just checking this clowns facts. Maybe the 40$ tickets are selling well, thats about it. 6 tickets at 70$, holly cow I can buy 10K right now if I wanted to.
FULL OF SH&T ARTICLE
It will be very interesting to see the buyrate estimates for this show. $44.95 is a hell of a lot to ask for a promotion’s first PPV offering, especially when most of its fan base is used to watching their events free on versus, as well as the fact that there will be a UFC PPV event only two weeks prior featuring two title fights. I would expect that Zuffa will hold the buyrate numbers very, very close to the chest. I am very thankful that I live in Sacramento and do not have to face the dilemma of whether or not to spend the money on two major Zuffa PPVs in one month.
Sidenote: As ridiculous as the WEC PPV price point is, the $25 for a ticket to see UFC 111 in a theater is far more ludicrous.
I’d like to see a Payout Perspective on that.
Especially when tickets to the Mayweather/Marquez theater shows were only $15. I have a very hard time believing that UFC 111 will do near the amount of PPV buys that this event did (1 million+).