UFC on Fox 27 drew 1,770,000 viewers on Saturday night according to Nielsen making it the lowest-rated UFC on Fox card ever. The event was headlined by Ronaldo Souza taking on Derek Brunson.
The previous low for the UFC events on the network was August 2016’s UFC on Fox 21 which drew 1,983,000 viewers. That event had an asterisk as the show was preempted in 15 markets due to preseason football.
The event drew 1.59 million viewers in “fast overnights” and there was a slight increase with the overrun although the first-round stoppage by Souza ended around the top of the hour.
The main event drew 2,224,000 viewers which is the second-lowest rating for a main event since Demian Maia-Carlos Condit at UFC on Fox 21. But, as we indicated, there was a preemption in certain markets. This past April, a Demetrious Johnson-Wilson Reis main event drew 2,874,000 viewers.
Payout Perspective:
You could have expected these ratings based upon the lineup for the event plus the Warriors-Celtics matchup on ABC which pitted two of the more popular teams in the NBA opposite UFC. With a new television deal to be negotiated, prospective buyers may be concerned with the downturn in ratings. While live sports are drivers for ad buys, the trend of decreasing ratings for the UFC network cards cannot be good.
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