Bellator MMA Live drew 725,000 viewers on Spike TV Friday night per Sports TV Ratings. 160 represents a slight increase (approximately 8%) from Bellator 159 last month.
The event featured Benson Henderson as he took on Patricio “Pitbull” Freire. Henderson won via TKO due to a broken leg sustained by Pitbull. Henderson will take on Michael Chandler in November.
The event scored 327,000 viewers in the adult 18-49 demo. It was an increase from last month’s 283,000 viewers in the demo.
Payout Perspective:
A rather light night of viewership in sports TV cable ratings as no event surpassed 1 million viewers. The live NFL Preseason game on the NFL Network drew 918,000 viewers. The game was opposite Bellator in the second hour of the Spike event. Also, ESPN’s College Football Primetime scored 782,000 viewers in the same time frame. Either the event was not heavily pushed or Benson Henderson is no longer a fighter to watch as the ratings saw a modest increase.
good numbers, well done Bellator