WEC 50: $275,340 Gate

The Staff at MMAJunkie are reporting that WEC 50: Cruz vs. Benavidez earned $275,340 at the gate on the strength of 1,861 in attendance.

This month’s WEC 50 event officially drew an attendance of 1,861 and a live gate of $275,340.

 

….

 

Of the 1,861 attendees, 371 received complimentary tickets. The average paid-ticket price was $148, and 280 tickets went unsold.

 

WEC 50 marked the WEC’s first event at The Pearl since WEC 45 in December, which drew 1,741 attendees for a $102,700 live gate.

Payout Perspective:

There are a few things you have to consider when looking at this number:

1.) The WEC is paid a site fee by the casino to host the event, which means the gate revenue doesn’t necessarily reflect what the WEC took home that evening.

2.) By comparison, the UFC’s last event at The Pearl was the TUF 11 Finale which drew 1,708 fans for a live gate of approximately $430,000.

When people question whether the WEC is making money on these shows, you’ve got to look a little more closely than just subtracting fighter payouts and production costs from gate figures (which, themselves, are misleading). The WEC is also generating material amounts of revenue from Versus in the form of a television rights fee and money from sponsorship sales to the likes of AMP, MusclePharm, Harley, etc.

The television ratings may have been less than what was desired, but that has little to do with short-term profitability.