The UFC 247 Prelims on ESPN drew 1.491 million viewers after almost an hour overrun due to the overtime game between North Carolina and Duke.
Notably, the college basketball game between the two rivals drew 2.674 million viewers on ESPN. Due to the overrun, the UFC 247 Prelims were aired on ESPN News which drew 134,000 viewers.
The featured bout on the UFC 247 Prelims saw late-replacement James Krause lose a split decision to hometown favorite Trevin Giles. The other fight shown during the ESPN portion of the Prelims saw Lauren Murphy defeat Andrea Lee. Murphy, also from Houston, won a close decision over Lee.
Ratings via Nielsen per ShowBuzz Daily.
UFC Prelims 2020
UFC 246: 1.767M
UFC 247: 1.491M* (CBB overrun)
Payout Perspective:
Obviously not the optimal start to the night for the UFC but the viewership was there for them. The basketball game went long which is a disappointment to a lot of the other UFC Prelim fighters on the card as most of the fans that tuned in at 5pm (PT) to watch the UFC did not see the earlier bouts. Notably, the viewership did fall off considerably after the game, yet 1.491 million is a very good number.
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