TUF 20 Finale on FS1 draws 989,000 viewers

MMA Payout has learned from a Niesen source that the TUF 20 Finale on FS1 Friday drew an average of 989,000 peaking at 1,219,000 viewers during the main event between Carla Esparza and Rose Namajunas.

The Prelims which preceded the main card on Friday night between 7:00pmET-9:00pm ET produced 719,000 viewers.

The TUF 20 Finale main card provided a boost to Fox Sports Live’s Postfight coverage average 300,000 viewers from 11:48pmET-1:00am.  The ratings post-fight were a 39% jump from last year’s December average.

Last December, the TUF 18 Finale on FS1 drew 1.13M viewers and the prelims drew 938,000 viewers.

This past July, the TUF 19 Finale on FS1 drew 1M viewers and the prelims drew 774,000 viewers.

Payout Perspective:

It’s the lowest ratings for a TUF Finale on FS1 thus far (main card and prelims).  And while the post-fight coverage may have been up this time around, the viewership was down.  Of course, this may be due to a number of factors including two UFC events on back to back nights.  Also, the previous two events were not on Friday night.  TUF 18’s final card was on a Saturday and TUF 19 (which was the second event of a back to back) was on a Sunday.  TUF 20 did not have as strong a main event as the previous two TUF Finales (18 had Nate Diaz-Gray Maynard; 19 had Penn-Edgar).