MMA Junkie reports that ratings for WEC 51 were up 54 percent from WEC 50. Last Thursday’s show out of Broomfield, Colorado garnered 486,000 viewers. The event featuring Jose Aldo versus Manny Gamburyan received a 0.49 household rating.
The numbers should please the WEC as the past two events drew disappointing numbers.
Payout Perspective:
Hypothetically speaking, if you were a fighter, which would be worse to see when receiving final instructions from Herb Dean: Brock Lesnar staring you down or Jose Aldo staring down at the stare down.
Jose Aldo is a fighter worthy of PPV status. His performance last Thursday was impressive and the WEC might be concerned that he is cleaning out the 145 pound division in a dominating fashion.
Overall, I thought the card was entertaining. The Varner/Cerrone match-up brought all the animosity and fire the pre-match hype promised. Wouldn’t have been cool if the Korean Zombie got right back up after George Roop hit him with that clean head kick? It would have totally played up to his nickname. Also, the WEC debuted Chinese fighter Tiequan Zhang in a solid performance. Expect more from Zhang in the future as the WEC (and Zuffa) attempt to gain more interest in China.
Are fans tuning in to see Jose Aldo? Or was WEC 51 a card stacked with interesting matchups? The next two WEC events should maintain solid ratings as WEC 52 features Urijah Faber and WEC 53 features two championships on the line with Benson Henderson versus Anthony Pettis and Dominick Cruz versus Scott Jorgenson.
Hopefully this is the beginning of another slow build for the WEC in its ratings battle.
The drop in viewership has been a little perplexing; a reflection of a transition between title holders (Faber, Torres, McCullough to Aldo, Cruz, Henderson) and the WEC brand struggling to step out on its own.
If Aldo keeps whipping people like he has, it’s only a matter of time before people are going to tune in en masse. However, the WEC has to promote him to a level equivalent to his talent in order for this to work. Part of the reason Urijah Faber was so successful (other than his fighting ability combined with his looks and charisma) was that he was literally on every big fight card and piece of promotion the WEC had to offer. He was the product. Aldo and others must be marketed in the same light.
For Aldo, I think it may be a language barrier that may be an obstacle in successfully promoting him.
With that being said, the WEC has no excuse for not promoting Benson Henderson. He was defending his title on the WEC PPV but didn’t even get his picture on the promotional poster. He’s a nice guy, personable and has dominated his division. Will we see the WEC market Henderson more in 2011?
Another reason may be Versus. I know the NHL has had problems with its product on Versus and the WEC may be hurt by it too. This seems silly, but many people complain that they just can’t find the channel.
The uptick in ratings is also probably due to a slow month so far in MMA. Things will pick up starting the weekend and there should be lots of MMA coverage next week with Brock headlining.
WEC always puts on great cards. I have yet to be disappointed by their events. I rate them #1 right now as far as shear entertainment. #2 is Strikeforce for all it’s issues, followed by #3 UFC and #4 Bellator (Last season was just so much better). #2 to #4 can be argued, but I can’t see how anyone can argue that the WEC is not putting on the best shows.