MMA Fighting reports that uFC 197 drew between 375,000 to 450,000 PPV buys. The event featured Jon Jones taking on Ovince Saint Preux.
The PPV buy rate estimates are very good but reveals what we know about Jon Jones. While he may be the best pound for pound fighter in the UFC, he is not a top draw. Clearly, you can say the same about Demetrious Johnson who was also on the card.
UFC PPVs for 2016
UFC 195: 1.032 million
UFC 196: 1.5 million
UFC 197: 375,000 to 450,000
Notwithstanding his showdown with Cormier last January, Jones has put up marginal PPV buys. UFC 172 against Glover Teixeira drew 350K PPV buys and his UFC 165 against Alexander Gustafsson drew 310K.
Payout Perspective:
It’s a respectable number considering that there were only 50,000 google searches for UFC 197 after the weigh-ins. Recall that this event was to be Jones-Cormier. But, with Cormier needing to pull out, the top of the card took an extreme hit. With Johnson not being a draw, Jones stayed on the card and OSP was the fighter the UFC picked to face him. Jones has not had a huge PPV buy rate since 182 when he faced Cormier.
Ufc 195 did 300k and i doubt UFC 196 did 1.5M.
I also doubt UFC 197 did 300k.
I doubt it all.
The beef between Jones and Cormier and the fact it’s on 200 with an amazing undercard, should see it do well, I don’t know if it touches a million but who knows.
Conar-Nate 2 would obviously do much better but I assume they put that fight on 202 or 3, perhaps at 155 with a title shot for the winner.
The Greatest read the AL Haymon – Top Rank story, see what Jason said.
You will doubt it but that’s the only numbers out there, so we can only discuss that, unless of course another source other than your doubts appears.
The Greatest is right about 195 but I assume you guys put in 194’s number by mistake.
Did Canelo and Khan numbers
Goes to show you that even the UFC, like boxing, is star driven when it comes to ppv. And to add to that, I think both boxing fans, mma fans, and those of us who are a bit of both are by and large turned off of the ppv model. Be that as it may, put 2 stars on a ppv no matter which sport, and you will see the numbers rise. Not bad numbers, certainly it looks to have turned a bit of profit, especially if the fighters are low paid.
Canelo-Khan did 600k chief.
The Greatest…that good and all, but someone of the star power of Canelo should be doing over 1m buys to be honest. Its all based on his opposition. Do we have any doubt that if he were in there with lets say GGG, Daniel Jacobs, Chris Eubank, a rematch with Lara (who I thought easily beat Canelo), or Lemieux that it would not be closer to or exceed 1m? I was at the Houston fight with Canelo vs. Kirkland and baby that stadium was 31,000+ and wasnt even promoted properly in houston. Had inept Golden Boy taken out some billboards in the city and done some local radio shows IN ENGLISH that place would have been 40,000+. Even so, i think the ratings were 2.1m for that HBO show.
So really, 600,000 or a bit under it isnt so hot, i think people were a bit turned off by him fighting someone who began their career at lightweight….which is a very seriously problematic trend with that fighter and that shameful promotional team he has.
This was a solid ppv output considering OSP is barely on anyone’s radar and was a last minute replacement. Jones fight coming up at 200 should hit 1m plus buys.
Hey Jason, perfect example right here: you’ve got the greatest coming on here starting this argument attempting to stir things up. I think it would be nice to see some moderation here. I think the new policy is good. It should clean up these comment section and people can have a reasonable discussion.
For anyone who wanted to know the numbers posted here were sourced by Dave Meltzer. That makes it a valid source.
d and Greatest.
Nah nah nah..nah nah nah…hey hey hey…
Even if you make it past someone, you won’t get past me…
What exactly did I post here that was a violation of your policy? Only thing I was pointing out was what he was doing.
And I was also addressing the article.
See how it feels when you disregard a post and write what you want…
You don’t like the article. Fine. Lots of people don’t. You want to say something that adds to discussion. That’s fine too. We’re going to shape up this comments section and make it great again.
I think its a good idea to clean it up. I’ve been saying it for a while now. Only thing is, I didn’t ignore the article here. I actually read it, responded and pointed out who was dismissing it and your new policy.
Objectively looking at the numbers, it doesn’t bode well for UFC 200 breaking UFC 100’s record (unless Conor now holds the record).
MMAguru, further proof that Dana White NEEDS his hype jobs in order for the UFC to truly pull numbers. We are living in the post Rousey era of UFC now, and this is what it looks like….White NEEDS McGregor right now, and he knows it….and God help him if conor loses….
Wil, even if McGregor loses, he still will have another big fight. Keep in mind, he is still the 145lb champ. A fight against Edgar will sell big, regardless if he loses against Diaz.
Based on the new normal that’s a good result. Jones for some reason, despite his dominance, has failed to catch fire with the fans. Probably it has to do with his out-of-cage antics as well as his dominance in the cage.
It has always been a minority of PPVs that can do over 1M – in boxing or MMA. Now that number is even smaller. If you can consistently deliver 400k PPVs that’s a success by current standards.
Add to the last minute substitution of OSP – not a guy who is a big draw – and I think this PPV met expectations.
And for anyone who doesn’t believe the numbers – we always use Meltzer. Maybe they’re right, maybe not, but they’re the best estimates out there and we’ll keep using them.
Diego, real talk. Few fighters from either sport can pull over 1m ppv buys. and one of the reasons i dont think Bones pulls the big numbers is because his technique. he is a smart fighter, who ha a complete game, and he often wins on points rather than scores knockouts. Many of the “i just want to see some violence…a brawl” type of “fans” who think the be all end all of combat sports is the knockout and no mind for technique dont connect with such fighters. Even GSP used to get guff for his style, as of course did Mayweather.
Decent PPV numbers considering the last minute replacement by an unmarketable OSP.