MMA Fighting reports the PPV buy rates for UFC 161 and 162. The Anderson Silva-Chris Weidman fight drew 550,000 PPV buys whereas the unheralded Dan Henderson-Rashad Evans fight drew only 150,000 PPV buys.
In the post-fight press conference of UFC 162, Dana White had estimated 800,000 for the July 6th event. It looks like based on the information that this estimate was off. The 550K PPV represents a bump in viewership since Silva’s last appearance at UFC 153 (410K PPV buys) where he toyed with Stephan Bonnar. But that event was in Brazil and those cards usually do not do as well as those in North America when it comes to PPV.
In addition, UFC 161 only did 150,000 PPV buys as many fans decided that the June PPV would be one that they would skip. While Henderson-Evans was a replacement main event, the Barao-Wineline scheduled main event would probably have not drawn more viewers.
Update: From Wrestling Observer Newsletter, we get a bit more information on the PPV numbers. UFC 160 is estimated to have done around 380,000 buys while UFC 161’s full estimated range is between 135,000 and 150,000.
Payout Perspective:
Its almost expected that UFC 161was not going to do well. The card didn’t have anything compelling and the numbers reflect the fact fans weren’t into it. It seems that fans almost tune out on the June PPV. Recall last year W. Silva versus Rich Franklin from Brazil drew only 140,000 PPV buys. The year before that JDS-Carwin from Vancouver (a main event which could have been JDS-Brock) drew only 330,000. Maybe June is a time UFC fans take off.
The PPV buy rate for 162 is a disappointment considering the expectations set by White post-fight. Weidman was an unknown although the UFC utilized established UFC fighters (e.g. GSP, Rashad Evans) as the influencers to promote Weidman’s prowess and that he could upset Silva. Well, fans didn’t buy it and it looks like that a good portion didn’t buy the PPV either. This could be a reason why the UFC has gone on a full on assault with the hype for the last four PPV cards of the year. Not only is it doing a press tour in various cities, it is producing Primetimes for 166, 167 and 168.
UFC 160 was Cain vs Big Foot and JDS vs Hunt. You mean UFC 161 and UFC 162.
Hahahahaha…800k yeah right…no wonder dana desperately chase Anderson for a 2nd figjt he knew both 60 and 61 were a disappointment….and the official numbers we’ll never know….might be lower..then all of a sudden he has a world tour…not for expansion but now we know a necessity
….I think media organizations should do some investigative journalism on real ppv buys…not just to know the actual figures but because Dana uses the figures as marketing tools for his next event….
Dana is a clown, He wants UFC to be as big as other pro sports but doesn’t wanna pay the $ others do. Throw in the fact of how expensive PPV’s are across the board not just UFC but boxing, wrestling etc. and people are not going to throw hard earned cash down the toilet to pay for Dana’s next head shave.
Half a million buys is nothing when they were hyping this thing to the max. I watch all sports and there’s no doubt that the Mayweather Canelo fight will do 1.5 mil at least. UFC needs some new stars and a more professional approach.
Tops of on, you can rely on the PPV number that Dave Meltzer reoprts. he has solid contacts inside all of the PPV companies and the UFC.
If Dave reports a number, its pretty much the real number.
BS – Got it. Thanks. I’ve made the changes.
They could also be much higher than the 800K. Point is. If you are not going to take the only source for numbers. They don’t be a bitch and try to claim numbers are always lower. IF you don’t know and Dave isn’t credible. Then they could just as likely be much higher than Dana’s estimates. See this is why no one takes you serious. Not only as a person but as a troll either. But your lack of intelligence shines through each time. If you are going to troll. You have to disguise it better than that. When you claim it is always lower than estimates. You show you are just hating. Trolling is better when people are not sure if you are trolling or not. Sadly you lack the brain power to even pull that off.
Look for meltzer to revise these numbers as he has done in the past with wrestling observer. also i knew it would not be that high. so the bigest hyped event as eveyone said only got half a million? Sad. Its still no excuse for them to pay so poorly
Hahaha i said it might be lower…
If its really high and they published it low numbers…than Dana by now would be complaining /disputing that the number is inaccurate….
I reiterate I hope mainstream journalists to investigate the ppv buys of the UFC so that there would be comparison of numbers unofficially released…
So that the UFC cannot use this unofficial numbers to market their future events….imagine Dana saying it would reach 800k then says the rematch would be the biggest fight in UFC history….casual fans (who did not watch)who read that would really think it was really 800k buys and can be swayed to buy the rematch
.Because dana announced his projections of 800k with a lot of media around so casual fans heard about it but did not hear the 550k report..
I know marketing and hyping is a big part of any business…but if the facts that you are telling the public is false(800 and 550 too far off)with the intention making your next event profitable then it’s very unethical and wrong….
Fastest growing… what was that?
For those wondering, UFC 160 (Cain-Silva/JDS-Hunt) did 380K PPV buys as reported by Meltzer
Dang. that’s a far cry from what lesnar was pulling as champ. i miss that guy. he is beast enough to rag on ufc sponsors and ride heath herring like a bull. he put asses in seats. White is oversaturating the fans. there are literally so many events that people have to not buy one event so they can afford the next one. ufc is signing anyone just to deprive smaller orgs from having good fighters. ufc should switch to quality. over quantity. but that would put too much emphasis on the fighters vs getting max exposure for the brand. they need more free events and less shitty events. White has a lot of nerve charging 50 for a non title ppv.
Payout was about on the money with their 600k estimate.
I wrote a post on pacman amd high rollers before here’s a Good article on why boxing gets more money from casinos from fight opinion
“I One of the interesting situations the UFC is dealing with has to do with site fees at casinos. It’s common knowledge that boxing fights attract the whales and that’s what the casinos want. Conversely, MMA attracts more of a younger crowd and not many whales. The hope was that as UFC and MMA matured that more whales would start to be attracted to the fights. Unfortunately, that is just not turning out to be the case and many casinos, big and small, are starting to recalibrate what site fees/four wall deals they will offer. In California, this is becoming more of a factor on tribal land because players like Fantasy Springs, Morongo, and Chumash are taking a pass on MMA in favor of traditional boxing spot shows. Only Pechanga (with Bellator) and Thunder Valley (independents) are willing to touch MMA events.
Casinos are second-guessing their Return on Investment when it comes to pouring money into the MMA space, similar to what sponsors who have crashed & burned discovered in a hurry. A touch of irony given who owns the UFC
.
Ed Fishman, who wanted to buy PRIDE, had the right idea after all. He wanted to buy the organization, keep it up-and-running in Japan, but run major casino events and attract whales by having a product featuring a lot of Asian fighters. History sure would have been different if Sakakibara & Ishizaka actually wanted to stay in business… but they couldn’t given that police basically wanted them out for good. If they hadn’t viewed Ed Fishman as simply a money mark, PRIDE could have been a very interesting casino play today.
The other trend of note is that many UFC fighters are starting to sign very long-term bout deals.
Average PPV per event is still higher that last year, mainly on the strength of the GSP-Diaz fight.
550k isn’t bad, I’m sure the UFC was hoping for more, but considering that Weidman wasn’t well known it shouldn’t be a surprise. The re-match should generate higher PPVs.
150k is horrendous for two quality fighters like Rashad and Henderson, but Hendo has never been a big draw and Rashad only moves the needle when he’s doing his trash-talking (a la Jones-Rashad). 150k is bad no matter how you look at it though.
Hopkins-Dawson did less than 50,000 buys and Morales-Maidana was the same, both fights were HBO PPVs and were held in 2011.
http://theboxingtribune.com/2011/10/40k-buys-for-hopkins-dawson-ppv/
http://theboxingpalace.forumotion.com/t3143-morales-vs-maidana-ppv-buys
Hendo-Rashad is hardly a marquee fight, it’s not surprising that poor PPVs do poor numbers.
The growth phase for the UFC in the US is over.
It has priced itself out of the market to continue growing.
I don’t get why all you ppl argue about which sport is growing and which is dying. I hope you both know that boxing and mma won’t die
MMAPayout PPV Blue-Book has now been updated with all latest numbers:
http://mmapayout.com/blue-book/pay-per-view/
Thank you Andrew. I agree.
MMA has peaked already….what Dana decision to do next can make or break it…..paying the fighters right…would be a good step….because most of casual fans are shocked at how low they pay the fighters with all the hyping they do…and money they spend for marketing
i would say most casual fans have no idea what most fighters are paid. Mainly because most fans are not following the sport online to hear sissy fans bitch. Secondly because even hardcore fans dont know for sure what the fighters make. Which is even more reason to STFU until you are no longer ignorant. BUt it Tops case i think that would be a life long vow of silence.
Too bad for MMA….mainstream sports announce how much they’re athletes make…because its big money and good marketing for they’re teams or promotions….on the other hand UFC is making it a secret because the pay is really low and embarrassing hahaha….they know that hype they’re making for the sport does not equal the pay of the fighters ..hahaha…UFC champs are made famous like celebrities but not paid like them….
Good. Then they are respected for who they are and what they do rather than people seeing a dollar sign on their head. Im sure there are lots of leaches like you who care about what someone makes so you can gravitate to them and hope for a handout. IS that why a athletes pay is so important to you? Why are you not asking for First responders to get more money or teachers? Could it be the “vicarious” word again? Stop being a scumbag and be proud of your own life instead of living through others.
Hahaha….excuses excuses Dana is the hype machine…he puts the UFC all hyped up….so big etc…etc….so he is the first one that wants people to see a dollar sign to his promotion…they even apeared on forbes list and dosent stop telling how much ufc is worth…
it just so happens he pays shit money to his fighters and can’t Bragg about it….the music industry,film,mainstream sports all cater to mass audience…and globally so they get paid much higher….they are employees of businesses.true.but they are called talents……they get paid because they have extra ordinary abilities,either in,skills,looks,voice etc….stop comparing them with a 9 to 5 employees…for example an accountant– there are plenty of people who studied accounting and heck computers does accounting as well…while an MMA fighter risks a lot,,,his health,injuries,career over in his thirties and they perform skills that not a lot of people posses and have to do it as a career…
Famous people have a double edge sword life.the good side they get fame and fortune(house,cars,financialmsecurity for life) the bad side….lost of privacy,gossips and scandal,hangers on etc…which they call Price of Fame.they continue with this life because of the positive side….
A UFC fighter on the other hand gets the fame and all the bad side but not the financial aspect of the good side….They get a raw deal…….
Brainsmasher you are the good about making red herrings. what do teachers salaries have to do with anything? how would fighters getting fair pay result in handouts for anyone? oops. i got trolled again by bs. you are good.
And for all you know tops is at the monthly pta meeting lobbying for teachers wages.
That’s a lie. He is always at his computer just like you waiting for me to post a comment.
I’m waiting for your mom to bring me my slippers.
“waiting for me to post a comment”. A CRY for help? Hahahaha