The UFC announced that it will be showing UFC 143 in 3D in movie theaters. Tickets for the in theater PPV will go for $25 and can be purchased in advance.The main event Super Bowl Weekend has Nick Diaz battling Carlos Condit for the interim welterweight title.
Via UFC press release:
Las Vegas, Nevada – The Ultimate Fighting Championship®, in conjunction with Cinedigm Digital Cinema Corp. (NASDAQ: CIDM) and NCM Fathom, announced that tickets for the first-ever live, 3-D broadcast of a UFC® Pay-Per-View event on the Big Screen are on sale now. The championship fight card,UFC® 143: DIAZ vs. CONDIT, airs live and in 3-D in more than 100 theatres nationwide on Saturday, Feb. 4 at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT from Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.
The night’s main event pits the fiery and unpredictable Nick Diaz against hard-hitting knockout artist Carlos Condit for the interim UFC welterweight title. An exciting co-main event features heavyweight Roy “Big Country” Nelson battling submission ace Fabricio Werdum.
Tickets for UFC® 143: DIAZ vs. CONDIT are available for purchase now at www.ufc.com/3D, as well as at theatre box offices across the country. Fans can visit the website for information on which theatres will be carrying the event in their respective regions.
“I know the fans love 3-D, so I’m happy to give them this championship fight live and in 3-D in theaters across the country,” UFC President Dana White said. “I cannot wait for this fight between Diaz and Condit to determine the interim UFC welterweight champion!”
UPDATE: The above press release web site takes you to Fandango where you can purchase advance tickets. The cost is $25 per ticket in the Seattle, WA area although I’m not sure if this is region specific.
Payout Perspective:
This will be an interesting experiment to see if the 3D concept will catch on with MMA. Last year, the UFC and Cindegim announced this partnership. The UFC first tried 3D with UFC on Versus 3. Depending on the price of the tickets, this could be a successful experiment and another option from having to pay $50 plus to order a PPV at home. But, I don’t recall past attempts for movie theatre live events doing well. It would have been nice to have had bigger names on top of the card as this could draw more interested fans to this event.
Are there plans to offer a 3D PPV as well? I’d like to buy a 3D TV in the future (sometime); some friends who saw FNF on ESPN 3D last year said it was sick and it would be great to get UFC in 3D in the comfort of my couch. I can’t picture myself going to a movie theater to watch the UFC – they don’t sell beer in NYC theaters.
No word yet on a 3D PPV at home. I think the partnership with Cindegim may help foster something in the near future. But at what price point? You have to figure it would be $65-75 for a 3D PPV at home.
“I don’t recall past attempts for movie theatre live events doing well.”
Isn’t that why they haven’t done another in a theater for so long? Does boxing still do this for big fights? And is there any information on how successful the initial offerings were? I doubt it but figured I’d ask.
Why are the ticket prices so high? It really takes the steam out of the idea that you’re “saving money” going to the theater. I’ve NEVER heard of someone (outside of journalism) ordering a PPV and watching it alone. If I wanted to go with even one friend we might as well stay at home to enjoy some alcoholic beverages while we watch. It’s ridiculous and will fail again, 3D or not.
MV,
I think that’s the issue. The UFC has done it in the past without much success. Will 3D really draw in fans.
The last live event to do it was Pro Wrestling’s TNA last year. TNA charged $14.95. According to this article, it was poorly attended and not well promoted by TNA. Another thing pointed out was the lack of food and (alcoholic) beverages in theaters.
Good on Zuffa for trying something new, but I agree that it will probably fail. I just don’t think the concept works. I’ve never been remotely tempted to watch a PPV in a theater.
Came across this article, cause I was talking to a buddy of mine about going to see it at the closest location (about half an hour away) and before purchasing the ticket, I thought to myself, do people actually do this?