Dana White stated that he does not want to hold UFC events in arenas until the company is allowed full capacity. With a projected fight between Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor ambling down to reality for January 23rd at ATT Stadium, one has to wonder whether the fight will go forward.
White has been insistent that the UFC not go back to fans unless there is no limit on capacity. Earlier this month, the state of Texas allowed for crowds to return to combat sports events so long as they follow safeguards to prevent the spread of COVID-19 as well as draw up there own set of standards which would protect athletes, corner and staff. The attendance would be up to half the capacity of the venue.
While he was not committed on the event at Cowboys Stadium happening as of yet, he did state that they have a good relationship with Jerry Jones which should indicate that the event will happen.
But it’s a matter of who will be in attendance. White likely wants the optimal number of fans paying for the company’s biggest draw and could recoup a lot of its lost attendance with a huge figure at Cowboys Stadium which could pack well over 100,000 people. But, having a scaled back venue would help with gate revenue but would be bad in terms of optics.
Payout Perspective:
I think the first part of this Conor-Dustin fight to happen in Texas must be an agreement on the contracts. Secondly, will Zuffa lobby the state of Texas for them to open up the full stadium for the event in January. This would be a hard ask since they cannot project what COVID infection rates will be at this time.
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