Despite several fights being called off over recent weeks due to positive COVID-19 tests, the Sports Business Journal wrote an article this past week praising the UFC efforts during the pandemic.
The article starts off with the lead, “The UFC does not get enough credit for thriving as a media property during the pandemic.” The lead is premised upon the rise in viewership during the pandemic of UFC programming. According to the article, “ESPN viewership was up 16% during the COVID-19 era…averaging 773,000 viewers for its events.” Executives have opined that UFC programming on the digital platform has helped the service triple its number of subscribers in the past 12 months to its total count of 10.3 million. In comparison, the Top Rank boxing’s return this past summer to bi-weekly shows from its ‘bubble’ in Las Vegas failed to register a blip in ratings.
While the public does not receive these numbers, the article was able to gather that nine of the UFC’s 10 most-viewed ESPN+ events came between May to October 2020.
This week, 3 fights were cancelled or postponed due to positive COVID-19 tests. Another fight was cancelled due to an injury. Last week, the telecast was moved back due to the lack of fights to fill-up the prelims as three fights were cancelled. The main event for last Saturday’s UFC contest was a fight set-up due to Kevin Holland testing positive for COVID-19.
To say the least, the UFC has rolled with the punches of scheduling and rescheduling fights. There are enough athletes on the current roster that the UFC could feasibly find last-minute replacements. Or, in the alternative, have a fill-in on stand-by. Notably, this past October, newcomer to the promotion Michael Chandler was slated as a fill-in for either Justin Gaethje or Khabib Nurmogomedov in the chance that someone would fall out. Obviously, this was also in the case of a non-COVID-19 injury but the company has been vigilant in ensuring that bigger events not fall by the wayside.
Despite the pandemic, the UFC will fall just one short of its pre-pandemic schedule of 42 events in 2020. The UFC was one of the first sports to return to action following the shutdown of sports this past March with events in Florida in May. The company put together a protocol to ensure that those competing and their cornerpeople had negative tests for COVID-19. The protocol was praised by many for establishing a standard for other sports to utilize. This, despite the fact that Dana White still does not wear a mask during any of its events.
The past several weeks has seen an uptick in cancelled or rescheduled fights due to COVID-19. Angela Hill noted in her announcement that she tested positive for COVID-19 was that “with mma training there’s virtually no social distancing.” Many fight camps have sequestered its members to ensure that they can train safely without the fear of exposure. But there is still rules infractions as was seen last month in Bellator with two Sanford MMA coaches being suspended for not abiding by the quarantine periods required of the company protocol. While the UFC has done well in establishing a protocol to ensure the health and safety of its fighters, it would seem that in latches upon the theory that due to the promotions measures it has drawn better business. One might argue that due to the lack of uncertainty of the labor market for athletes, fighters were much more willing to go back to work. Also, tying the ratings and subscription rates to UFC with the ability to return during the pandemic was in part due to the lack of alternatives. Recall, that since the UFC was one of the first to come back to live sports, there was no baseball, football or basketball. It should be noted that the UFC has established itself as a mainstay on ESPN and as a result, since it is normalized viewing on the network, there are built in ratings. Hence, even though there is no Conor McGregor fighting, casual viewers will still tune in to watch. This can be the only logical reason that something like last weekend’s UFC event drew over 1 million viewers. A positive for the UFC.
As the pandemic continues on and infection rates astonishingly rise in the United States, we will see how the UFC will continue to put on fights and ensure fighter safety.
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