SI.com is reporting that the Miguel Cotto-Sergio Martinez Top Rank PPV event that took place on June 7th only drew between 300-315K PPV buys which is well under the expected 500K anticipated.
After putting Martinez down three times in the first round, Cotto scored a 10th round KO of Martinez. It was a much anticipated fight fans and well promoted on HBO.
SI’s Chris Mannix writes that multiple sources working with the promotion confirmed the number. Mannix goes on to attribute the disappointing buy rate to a multiple of factors including the Belmont Stakes and the Stanley Cup which went into double overtime that night and well into the PPV.
In addition, UFC Fight Night 42 from New Mexico took place that night as well with Benson Henderson taking on Rustam Khabilov in the main event. It was the third most-watched Fight Night on FS1 so far.
Bob Arum admitted to ESPN’s Dan Rafael that, “[t]he numbers were not great.” He attributed this to “too many” PPVs.
Via ESPN:
“Pay-per-view was always designed, as was closed circuit back in the day, for true super fights, not just very good fights. There have been pay-per-views every month and people resent the fact that they’re asked to pay extra for anything halfway decent. Boxing pay-per-view numbers are down. Look at the (recent) numbers for the (Floyd) Mayweather and (Manny) Pacquiao fights. The UFC pay-per-view numbers are also down.”
Despite the rough numbers for PPV, Arum told ESPN that the gate drew $4.7 million.
Payout Perspective:
Arum essentially blames the low numbers on MMA fans’ favorite word when it comes to ratings: oversaturation. In fact, Yahoo! Sports Kevin Iole wrote a controversial piece on whether saturation is good for the UFC. With Canelo Alvarez facing Erislandy Lara in a couple weeks, boxing will have another PPV this year that caters to the steady boxing fan. Alvarez is still not a top draw and Lara is not known to anyone that does not follow boxing. So, are there too many boxing PPVs at this point? There will definitely be more this year than last and at a price point between $60-$75, its likely fans will be picking and choosing which to buy. Perhaps, many combat sports fans will implement a “one week rule,” which is to wait a week for the PPV fight to air on HBO/Showtime. Even if you were to pay for HBO-Showtime, your cable bill for those premium channels could rival that of you purchasing all the boxing PPVs. Plus, you would get all of the boxing shows on the networks…and of course the rest of what those premium shows have to offer.
Looking at the fight specifically, it was an under the radar good fight on paper. Certainly, the Puerto Rican fan base came out for Cotto. The same for the Argentinian fans of Martinez. But, was it something that the broader, casual fan would purchase, or wait to see on HBO a week later?
Being a boxing fan, i’m curious as to why too many PPV’s is a legit excuse for boxing but isn’t for MMA?
Wow. What a disappointment. Goes to show you the entire ppv industry is down, not just the ufc numbers.
Where are you at Sal? I thought that Cotto-Martinez was going to do better than any ufc this year? 300k buys ain’t gonna cut it.
Well so far it is up and competing with any UFC show and even is close to the last 2 UFC shows combined 173-174. Shit numbers and a lame shit excuse from Arum, but he is right, there are too many PPV’s, boxing and of course the UFC, a good point that PPV was designed for the super fight and now we get fleeced into buying most of this crap over and over again. I will say that Cotto had a great night and could do better in the future, Almost a million on the replay so there are still many many boxing fans interested in his fights and boxing. So Cotto matinez is not that far off from the top UFC number in 14 and boxing is still almost doubling UFC this year in PPV. Still waiting for 174 numbers maybe it does 100k. So once again Daaruk here are the numbers because I know you cant add up, Indians have their own way of looking at things, UFC ppv so far in 14 is
1.4 million, of by the way cotto still sold 100k more than 173, average ppv is 284 k. Boxing did 4 ppv, not including Froch that is said to be close to a million ppv, did 2.3 million buys with an average of 587k that more than double the UFC on average and is 60% greater in total buys. Now if we add froch groves at 800k
it puts boxing way over UFC. Numbers dont lie fuck tard only your paid bullshit does. If you add 174 to the UFC’s average its even lower dip shit. So I guess if its a bad year for boxing its got to be the worst year ever for Zuffa and the ass clowns running their ship into ground brick by brick. Spin that!
Who was saying it was going to hit 500 k ppv buys?
Wow. You really are shameless. Most people would run away with the idiotic prediction you made.
So far the ufc hasn’t put on any big fights yet. They are going to do a number in the 2nd half that will draw better than this one.
Almost a million on the replay is first off not a big number and second irrelevant because we were discussing the ppv.
Cotto did 100k more than 173 and 174 because they were title fights that didn’t even exist in the ufc a few years ago and no one has a ton of interest in. Rousey against a no namer outdrew Cotto-Martinez.
Also, there is no one with credibility that made any claim about the Froch-Groves numbers. Which of course cost $26 or whatever.
You are grasping for every pathetic straw you can. You are trying to compare boxing numbers so far this year with ufc numbers. The UFC numbers will go way up in the 2nd half. Not to mention they lost their two biggest stars from last year and everyone knows this will be a transition year. But regardless, boxing is putting on more ppvs this year than they ever have in the past, and I guarantee you they won’t do more buys than the ufc did last year. Also, if we look at the last 12 months, the ufc still has done more buys.
You just got embarrassed because of another one of your lover’s(Bob Arum) predictions. You are just too shameless to admit you were dead wrong.
Go back to sucking Arum’s dick and spreading his bullshit propaganda you queen.
Sal likes poo
What’s funny is that Sal initially thought the tv viewership for the replay that was just under a million for this was the amount of ppv buys. He was thrilled. Only to find out that it went way below expectations and did less than a third of what he initially thought. Haha.
Yea I did think that at first I made an error, wow I can admit when I’m wrong. Still waiting for a big UFC fight for 14 yaaaaawn! If you look at the price of gas and living in the UK 26 bucks is about what people can afford, regardless it sold 80k in a stadium , still waiting for that big ufc stadium show another yaaaaawn! You are right 173 and 174 are smaller names I will give you that. Cotto is supposedly a big name, he did sell out MSG for 4.7 million ouch! Dream on UFC you clowns had your window and its over unless the company is completely restructured. 1 mil on HBO is better then any replay the UFC has had in 14 on free tv so who’s the moron? Oh wait doesnt the UFC make people pay for replays? I dont have time to research or Google it. So far 2014 looks like dog poop for the UFC and boxing is down to doing double the ppv buys as mma ouch!!!
“boxing is down to doing double the ppv buys as mma”
Is that a prediction Sal?
Also, you’re a racist jackass. And all the Indians I know are great at math.
I agree with Arum’s stating of the obvious – PPVs are down all over. I also agree that PPVs used to be reserved for special fights (a few time per year) and now in both MMA and boxing they are becoming too frequent.
For example, I don’t think Canelo v. Lara is PPV worthy. Canelo may pull off a few 100k in buys based on his drawing power with hard-core Mexican fans, but honestly, it’s not worth the money for me, and I say that as a big fan of boxing.
I can say the same about the last few UFC PPVs, great talented fighters on the cards, but not something I’m going to spend money on.
I did get the Cotto-Martinez PPV (grudgingly) but I’ve been a big fan of both fighters for a long time and I hadn’t seen Martinez fight in over a year.
I think I’m probably spending the same amount on PPVs this year than I did last year, but it means that I’m missing out on a lot of PPVs.
It will be interesting to see at the end of the year what the total PPVs for combat sports (MMA, boxing and Kickboxing) are and how that compares to 2013. I suspect the totals may be close, but the average per event will be much lower.
Hahaha….whats the number of 174? hidden? Im sure its easy to count
Tops go to boxing websites
Yeah, your world revolves around errors. You should be admitting how you are wrong about everything you post then if you are going to keep things honest.
I don’t care what people can afford in the UK. People in Belize can afford less. What is the point? The only thing that matters is revenue.
Cotto did a 4.7m gate, but the gate is only a small percentage of what a good ppv does. Cotto-Martinez was a major disappointment. No question that the distributor lost money on this one. Arum probably did too.
The UFC doesn’t replay their fights the following week underneath a major tv fight like HBO/Showtime boxing do, idiot.
Another prediction that will be proven wrong and then you will shamelessly attempt to spin it like you are doing here because Arum is making you.
Diego, exactly. It is the entire industry for a variety of reasons. But, I would even admit it is an injustice that Martinez-Cotto did so low considering that was probably going to be the most exciting big fight of the year. Everyone knew heading into that it would be very active unlike Mayweather’s fights. They should be the ones doing around a million per fight. This was one of the few fights I actually really wanted to see for boxing, but I didn’t get a chance to catch the replay. I’ll take a look at it for one of the replays.
@saldathief who said Froch and Groves got close to 1 million buys? From what’s been rumoured is that it may have broken the record for most buys in the UK which was previously 400K.
call me raciest whatever. My spew is at D its a joke ! Yea add up the numbers boxing is smoking UFC in PPV in 2014 so far and is close to doubling it. Revenue is important 4.7 million is more than any ufc gate in 14 and almost double any 2 ufc shows .guess numbers only matter when they are favorable to your paid agenda. The hype before Froch Groves was 1 mil ppv who knows . but 80k in wembley is epic. 24 $ is a smart price for the UK only someone with actual experience in promoting would know that. And income and the cost of living is a huge factor in setting prices in business. Raise the price too high and no one buys it. also the sponsors pay more for more buys. I guess the UFC sponsors are jumping for joy with the lowest ppv in ufc history.
The UFC smoked boxing for each of the previous 7 years, not to mention the ufc lost its two biggest stars and their biggest fights are all coming up in the 2nd half of the year.
You are really dumb. That 4.7m gate, is nothing compared to a big ufc show if you are only doing 300k buys. When the Weidman fight out gains this fight in revenue as you denied it would, are you going to admit that you are just one of Arum’s cocksucking minions?
Just because the hype for that fight was 1m, doesn’t mean it did a million buys. The one who was saying that was the promoter, you know, the people who exaggerate everything in both sports. I never said $25 or whatever was a foolish price, you can’t read. It was a good price for the UK crowd, because they don’t spend nearly as much money as we do here in the US or people do in Canada. My point from the beginning was how stupid it is to compare a big UK card to a big US card. The US market dwarfs the UK market.
Do you do any fact checking on anything that you say? Aren’t you embarrassed that you get proven wrong this frequently you little queen? This was the lowest ppv in ufc history???? They’ve done ppvs that weren’t on in demand cable that did well under 50k buys. Are you saying this didn’t do 30-40k buys? Fucking idiot.
I’ll wait for you to back track and come up with more bullshit in an attempt to cover up your idiotic claims.
I expected more but the undercards were HORRIBLE for this card. not one good one. if Arum put Rios on the undercard it would have cleared 400k. why cant this old man realize undercards matter. they have helped Mayweather a great deal.
http://deadspin.com/whatever-happened-to-the-ufc-1596400838
James=Topps=Sam=Sampson, etc. etc.
Between boxing and mma, the last one to put up over a million buys is mma.
Yes true UFC had a great ppv over a million, boxing has done under that. What happened??? How can you go from that, and doing better then boxing to doing half of boxing?? oops! answer complete underestimating and careless foolish business policy!! In other words idiots and morons running a great business into the ground with stupid ideas. The bubble popped and they dont have a clue what to do.
Well, because you are focusing on a 6 month period and ignoring that mma has still done more ppv buys in the past 12 months….oops!
Most obvious answer….transition period from GSP/Silva stepping down. I wonder what you’ll be saying as the second half of the year is complete and their numbers go back up. Since you are a troll, you’ll just continue to rant over and over again about some bullshit.
Let me ask you this queef boy, are you going to say it is complete underestimating and careless foolish business policies that lead to a complete nose dive in boxing ppv when Mayweather/Pac retire or are you going to acknowledge those two stars are two of the biggest selling boxing stars of all time?
By the end of the year we aren’t going to be talking about how poor the ufc numbers are because they are having all their big fights in the 2nd half.
Ufc ppv source is meltzer…unoficial…..hbo and showtime release official numbers….cant compare both
HAHAHAHA!!! No HBO/Showtime DO NOT release official numbers. Nice try. How many times has Schaeffer called out Arum on his numbers and vice versa?? They are not released publicly.
MMA has Meltzer, Boxing has Rafael.
D = obsessed = sad = UFC desparate
James=topps=sampson=sam=dozens of other aliases=obsessed=pathetic=boxing fanboys hate reality
Meltzer is a freelance writer working from his house…rafael is for espn….no comparison hahahahaha
Meltzer is a contributor to the following:
Yahoo Sports
LA Times
The Oakland Tribune
He is considered to be a much more prestigious journalist than Dan Rafael.
D good point, I will call it like I see it. True this could be a transitional period after losing their only big draws. And yes if you look at the last 12 months you would be correct. I guess the UFC didn’t have a plan B or plan C or if they did its not working. We will have to wait and see what the rest of 14 looks like.I can say this anyone in Zuffa not drunk or on Prozac are crapping in their pants from the horrible first 2 quarters of 14!
Their $500 million debt is due in 11 months
Is meltzer employed as a writer with the said companies?on the payroll? Hahahahaha
HBO Real Sports/SI journalist, Frank DeFord called Meltzer: “”the most accomplished reporter in sports journalism”.
By the way, Dan Rafael doesn’t even have a wikipedia page. It is very difficult to even find a full bio on the guy.
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/05/15/sports/wrestling-reporter-dave-meltzer-tries-to-keep-it-real.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
Article on meltzer…wrestling masks hanging on his walls hahahaha….in his home office
Read the article d…the line that deford said….its for wrestling….hes the most accomplished reporter in sports journalism…when it comes to wrestling hahahahaha…not olympic wrestling…wwe kind of wrestling of course he ‘s the best because who among reporters of sports would cover a fake sport as a career hahaha…and now he. is the resource ppv of the ufc…great
Dana’s debt could be be 45 million in 11 months or more ouch!! He is reported to be 9% owner of the ufc. Sucks to be him. All PPV numbers could be flawed boxing ufc all of them We are talking about a group of people that are completely full of shit!
Dana at the top of the list IMO.
I read the article before you did and who cares what field he was talking about. DeFord is one of the most reputable sports journalists there is in the world. You do realize that SI, Real Sports, ESPN, etc. all cover pro wrestling, right? Notably things that Meltzer had inside information on, like the steroid scandals, premature deaths, financial numbers, etc.
Meltzer chooses to work from home. If he wanted he could buy an office building. The guy makes probably 10x what Rafael makes. To be clear though, I’m not trying to knock Rafael, he is an honest guy that does his job, he just hasn’t been a journalist for nearly as long as Meltzer and doesn’t have the same prestige. Like I said, you can barely even find a full bio on the guy. Meltzer has been covering the business side of ppv, gates, etc. since the 80s whether it be pro wrestling, mma, or anything else.
Also, what is funny about this is the fact that you were caught in a lie saying the HBO/Showtime numbers were official. Now you are mocking a highly prestigious journalist who has direct ties with the insiders in the ppv industry. You are a retard.
By the way, aren’t you a huge pro wrestling fan? I’ve seen you make comments before about pro wrestling rooting it on. Nothing more pathetic than that.
Sal, you never cease to amaze me.
Sucks to be Dana White?? He is probably worth a couple hundred million, is a celebrity, meanwhile, you shit in diapers and are on disability.
Your barometer of success ass backwards.
Also Meltzer doesn’t get his info from White or anyone at the ufc. Dana White is not a big Meltzer fan because he tells the truth about the lies Iole spews(from white of course). Same goes for Rafael, who is hated by guys like Schaefer, Espinoza, Arum because he calls them out on their bullshit. The two of them are independent from their respective industries when it comes down to this subject.
Highly prestigous journalist hahahaha
..a freelancer hahaha…
You read the article before me but didnt mention that it was a reference to him with regards to wrestling….your doing a pr spin for meltzers credibility hahaha
White is worth 100 million in Mexican pesos I bet he’s leveraged out the ass to play up the part and owes more then he will ever earn. He charges everything on a corporate CC and they will be calling that in soon. If he’s worth so much then Zuffa is worth way more then why the fuck would they barrow half a billion ass clown, answer they are all paper and no liquid.
@ Diego I WILL SPELL IT OUT SINCE YOU CANT READ OR ADD UFC PPV 1.4 million Boxing PPV 2.3 million without Froch Groves 2 so yea Boxing is roughly double UFC PPV for the first 2 quarters of 14 Its not a perdition its fact! Are you and D they same retard? I guess you do Indian math too
Saldaqueef, you aren’t very bright. In order to be able to borrow that type of money, you have to have the credit for it. If they were in debt prior to that, or were struggling, then it would be impossible to secure that type of loan. Their credit rating even after securing the loan has been good. You talk about all of the overhead they have only to follow by trashing them for nickle and diming the fighters. It can’t be both you stupid idiot.
You know who is even more all paper and no liquid? Amazon. How are they doing you fucking amateur? And they have shareholders to answer to. You don’t know shit about business.
What did DeFord say about Rafael?
Sal, you do realize everything you say is either so fucking stupid, you must have a mental deficiency or you just straight up lie.
You are taking a 6 month period here and saying this is reflective of what has been going on for a while between the two sports, all the while ignoring the fact that the UFC has dominated the market share for the past 7 years. Not to mention this was a period where they lost their two biggest stars, and have all their major fights coming up in the second half. Plus, boxing just had one of their major ppvs bomb pretty badly. Also, mma’s ppvs are at 1.6 seeing how the 174 numbers are probably around 100k and the Bellator fight did 100k.
Sounds like it is time to change those diapers.
Multiple reports (over 5) have said that Cotto-Martinez actually did 350k.
So if that’s true, then it out sold every UFC ppv this year so far.
Now I know D is going to scream and kick his legs and say it only did 300k, but boxing news, Dan Rafael, yes D the same Dan Rafael that you quote all the time when you claim Mayweather-Guerrero numbers, said that it did 350k.
Many sites have it at 350k,
So……
Every boxing ppv has outsold ever UFC ppv this year.
UFC 174 80k? That sucks ass bro.
Also D, its irrelevant and out of context to claim that the UFC has dominated the ppv market the past 7 years.
Boxing was only putting out 4 ppvs a year while the UFC was having 10-12 ppvs a year.
How can you even compare that?
Now that boxing is putting so many ppvs out its easier to compare, and of course boxing is blowing them out of the water.
Canelo-Lara will do at worst, 350k ppvs.
Canelo-Angulo did over 350k, and Lara is better and a little bit of a bigger name than Angulo.
I would like to say 500k, but looking at the overall numbers being down, ill say 400k.
Then you still got another Mayweather and Pacquiao fight. That’s 1.75m at least right there depending on who they fight.
Canelo will also have one more fight on ppv as well.
If he fights Cotto then that’s a 600k at least fight. Probably more.
No way the UFC outsells boxing this year.
Its impossible
Please disregard the mental patient everyone. He tracks people down from website to website.
Rafael didn’t claim the fight did 350k buys, he was pointing out what Lou DiBella, Bob Arum and HBO said, who promoted and distributed the event. It wasn’t from his sources. The only people making the 350k claim were journalists who got their information from the above 3.
Arum even pointed out that they barely profited and the gate is what “saved them”. That means that HBO almost certainly took a loss, if not everyone else considering the fact that Arum lies so frequently.
This fight was a major disappointment, they expected it to hit in the range of 500-600k buys.
This is what happens when you spread out ppv, your numbers dip. That plus the entire industry is down. Arum even acknowledged this.
Yea Im crazy D number don’t lie but you are delusional and completely restarted. You cant keep going through life living in the past. YES im going by the first 2 quarters of 2014 sell your bullshit somewhere else non one believes you or is buying your paid propaganda its sad and pathetic. Money is lent to people, companies and Governments all the time who cant pay it back. Im sure you can google that. Google American Business chapter 11 fuck stick. Talk about a researcher who has no experience only academic theory that is flawed. You dont pay 20 million in interest a year if you have the capital ass clown!
HAHAHAHA!! Living in the past? 6 months ago? HAHAHAHA. Thanks for proving my point.
Hey moron, the UFC is paying it back though, their credit rating is still in good standing according to Moody’s even after the massive loan. Do you have any concept of how a credit rating is analyzed? Anyone who couldn’t afford to pay the debt back or who wasn’t paying the debt off or had a negative assets to liabilities after the loan, would have their credit plummet. According to their credit rating, history tells us companies in this standing have a median default rate of less than 1%. So, I guess they are doomed, right? Even if you are correct about the 20 million in interest per year would literally be somewhere around 4% interest for a long term loan. You see, what you pay in interest is only relevant to what you have borrowed dummy.
Again, go see Amazon.com, their yield is horrible. They roll everything over, constant growth. Where’s the liquidity there? Would anyone accuse them of falling apart? No. I guess Uncle Bobby didn’t tell you that info after one of your many visits to his private chambers.
Your theory is that they won’t be able to pay back the loan. I guarantee you when they are still going strong next year when the loan is due, you will be back here making up more fucking excuses like you did with the Cotto numbers and everything else that Fat Bob tells you to spew, that proved your dumbass wrong again.
More google research nonsense! you sound like some stupid College kid who’s never had a job and thinks he knows the world and business bahaha Comparing Amazon to the UFC is completely moronic. One is a retailer and another is in entertainment idiot. Shows you are an academic and know nothing. Did you read that on gooogle baha Yup first 2 quarters are in the toilet, whats your point? how does that make you right? and me wrong? how does it prove your point? How long are you going to hold on to UFC 168? you keep waving that flag like its paying the bills for the last 2 quarters. One good ppv last year wont change the facts this year. If spider makes it back in 14 I see the UFC having a shot at 1, yes 1, decent ppv other than that idk what to say. As long as the UFC pays its interest their credit rating will stay good, as soon as they default its over. Also a private company can hide, stall, and lie about assets until they try to borrow again. A public company can even lie and do but its illegal. What assets does the UFC even have? A bunch of dirty mats and T shirts
Google is all you’ve got. I run a business, I know how they operate. You are a geriatric moron who doesn’t know basic tax information.
The principle is still the same between the two businesses regardless of what they provide in terms of goods and services. We were discussing liquidity or a lack there of and how it pertains to the stability of the business. Of course you dodged the analogy because it leaves you in a position where you were proven wrong for the 10000x. Fucking idiot.
How long am I going to hold onto ufc 168 for? How long are you going to hold onto ufc 169 for? Your entire argument relies on a 6 month span, dismissing the prior 7 years in the business. This 6 month span also is a period of time where they lost their 2 biggest stars and scheduled no major bouts, all of which are occurring in the 2nd half of the year. That is the ultimate grasp of straws. Also, it wasn’t one good ppv last year, can’t you reading idiot. The estimated numbers are at the top of this website. They had a number of very good ppvs in 2013. Plus, when talking about the stability of the company, you are ignoring the fact that 45% of their income these days is non event related.
They will most likely do a few ppvs that go over 500k buys. Jones-Gustafsson should do around 600-700k buys. You’ve got Weidman-Machida, the winner against someone else late in the year, a potential Pettis-Aldo fight, Cain-Werdum.
D, UFC 168 was a fluke.
It was Anderson Silva, your biggest star getting KO’d for being a clown.
It took so many things to factor in for that to reach 1m ppv.
You know the last ppv that hit 1m before UFC 168 did? UFC 116 Lesnar vs Carwin.
It took 3 and a half years for the UFC to hit 1m ppvs again. It took 52 ppvs since UFC 116 for that to occur
2014 is all that matters tho D.
Your in a new era.
No Lesnar, no Silva, no GSP, no Liddell, no Couture, no Rampage, no Ortiz.
Everything that mattered a few years ago holds no weight. The fighters of those days are gone.
So yes 2014 only matters, and by the ppv numbers its proving us boxing fans right.
Jones-Gus might not hit 500k and UFC 175 might not either.
On their best outings they hit maybe 600k.
MMA is over.
HAHAH
Im sorry I just noticed that D said Aldo-Pettis and Cain-Werdum would get over 500k ppvs.
What fantasy world do you live in D?
Cain vs JDS could only get 300k, how in the fuck would Cain vs Werdum do better than that?
Aldo-Pettis? Doesn’t Aldo ppvs do like 200k at best?
Mental illness is a growing concern in our society.
It is a fact that the last 3 shooting rampage madmen were stalking people from blog to blog.
The Gayest should seek a mental health evaluation immediately.
D is losing it..hahaha…
Settle down D.
Your just mad that I stumbled upon you spouting this non sense on here as well as yahoo.com.