The Staff at MMAJunkie are reporting that the UFC’s debut show on Versus at the 1stBank Center in Broomfield, Colorado sold 6,443 tickets for gross gate revenue of $568,125.
The UFC’s first-ever event on Versus, “UFC on Versus 1: Vera vs. Jones” drew a sell-out crowd of 6,443 attendees for a live gate of $568,125 according to UFC president Dana White.
Payout Perspective:
The gate is a solid result for the UFC, but it didn’t exactly match the strength of the card on paper (or by actual performance). Somehow I have a feeling that if Jones headlines another UFN-type card he’ll likely surpass the existing gate record of $753k. Although, at this point I’m inclined to think we’ll only get to see him on PPVs from here on out.
Interesting to note some of the discussion in our Payout Perspective. The UFC paid out $200k in disclosed bonuses, alone – factor in payouts and production costs (plus other revenues) and they probably didn’t make a killing on this fight.
Interesting Kelsey,
Wonder what the TV deal looks like, any idea what Spike pays for an event?
Dude! If you recorded the fight you will see bud light, Harley , and other commercials in between rounds and during the fighter walkouts . That’s where all the money came from.
I’m pretty sure that Versus paid the UFC a pretty penny for this stacked card, if it’s one thing we know about the UFC is that they know how to make money off all of their shows by balancing names and payout against guaranteed money.
EJ, Bryan, this was a purposely stacked card which made no $$$ regardless of sponsors. Unless they got a stack of money from Versus, they likely just broke even. Smart move, but the event felt sour.