MMAPayout has learned through Nielsen sources that World Series of Fighting’s event on Saturday night rebounded with 212,000 viewers. WSOF 8 took place at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida and was headlined by Gaethje vs. Patishnock and Anthony Johnson vs. Mike Kyle.
WSOF 1 – 198,000 viewers
WSOF 2 – 210,000 viewers
WSOF 3 – 201,000 viewers
WSOF 4 – 264,000 viewers
WSOF 5 – 227,000 viewers
WSOF 6 – 161,000 viewers
WSOF 7 – 94,000 viewers
WSOF 8 – 212,000 viewers
The 212,000 viewer average is a substantial gain from the history low of 94,000 average viewers back in December and stops the skid of three consecutive cards with decreasing viewership.
Payout Perspective:
It was a good night for WSOF to shine as there were no MMA events to compete with and only the Lucian Bute vs. Jean Pascal boxing bout on HBO in terms of combat sports, but even that aired later on in the night. The most watched sporting event on Saturday was College Basketball on ESPN with 2.1M viewers. It was a pretty low key night in terms of competition. The big NFL Playoff games between the Seahawks vs 49ers (FOX) and Broncos vs Pats (CBS), which did incredible viewership numbers, took place on Sunday.
As the WSOF heads into 2014, it will have an opportunity to be on NBC twice. Hopefully, it can sufficiently build interest in its product before both events on the network. Also, let’s hope for WSOF’s sake that the dates do not coincide with other major sporting events.
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