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UFC 248 Prelims on ESPN draw 1.195M viewers

March 10, 2020 by Jason Cruz Leave a Comment

The prelims for UFC 248 drew 1.195 million viewers on Saturday night per Nielsen via ShowBuzz Daily.  The Prelims were second in overall cable ratings only to its lead-in, the college basketball game between UNC-Duke.

The game between the two rivals drew 2.232 million viewers.  Once again, there was an overrun but a slight one this time of just 7 minutes.  The prelims drew 0.48 in the A18-49 demo and 0.66 in the M18-49 demo.

The prelims featured the return of Sean O’Malley as he easily handled Jose Quinonez with a KO in the very first round. 

UFC Prelims 2020

UFC 248:  1.195M

UFC 247:  1.491M

UFC 246:  1.767M

Payout Perspective:

Strong ratings thus far for the prelims in 2020.  Maybe this past Saturday’s ratings were the most impressive considering it was not attached to a big name UFC star on the tail end of the PPV (i.e., Conor McGregor, Jon Jones). The UNC-Duke game helped although there was a considerable drop-off in viewers which goes to show you know every basketball fan is an MMA fan. Still, the prelims in 2020 are off to a sizzling start.    

Filed Under: ESPN, ratings, UFC

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