Report: UFC 110 Trending Towards Poor PPV Buys
by Kelvin Hunt on Mar 11, 2010 1:15 PM EST
in News
14 comments
That's the word according to Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer(subscription only):
I don’t have a number of buys, but based on trending data which has historically been pretty accurate, it could be in the 215,000 to 240,000 range, basically along the lines of the tape-delayed foreign shows. This was foreign, but wasn’t tape delayed. One cable industry source gave an estimate of 215,000.
Zach Arnold ponders why the show appears to have done so poorly:
I’m actually asking this question for real — because the main event was great on paper. It had meaning and significance, too. Plus the news about the show being a sell-out in Australia was known for a couple months. And…the show aired live on PPV (Sunday afternoon Australian time = Saturday night American time), so it wasn’t taped and there weren’t spoilers on the Internet beforehand.
I think the show did poorly for quite a few reasons:
1. Cain Velasquez isn't a star yet. He has only appeared on 3 PPV's in his entire career, and one of those was a 'foreign card' at UFC 99. Many think he's the next coming of Christ, but the UFC really hadn't gotten behind promoting the guy until UFC 110. Of course, now they will promote him heavily with his destruction of Nogueira.
2. Nogueira isn't and never will be a proven PPV draw to casual fans. They know who he is roughly, but unless it's a title fight against another promoted fighter, he's not going to do much PPV wise.
3. While Wanderlei Silva is a moderate draw, he hadn't fought since UFC 99.
4. UFC 110 was the second PPV in the month in the month of February for the UFC and the 3rd consecutive event that did not feature a title fight.
5. Fans are simply being more selective in which events they purchase IMO.
Now with the return of two title fights and one of the more popular fights in GSP at UFC 111, I expect things to return back to normal with this show doing in excess of 500,000 buys. Also, just remember these are trending numbers and not concrete numbers. The show sold out in a day, and the media blitz around the show was pretty good. The traffic here for that event was off the charts for a foreign show. I would expect these numbers to creep upwards to around 300K or so, or maybe I'm just being optimistic?
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I agree
I also think that lately Dana is trying to appeal more now to casual fans, and casual fans arent going to want to drop $100/month on something they are really not that into or on names they dont know that well.
@fjbar on twitter...formerly El Mexicutioner
You know you might be right…the idea is not to keep the UFC or general MMA as an underground sport as it once was. I’m sure Dana White wants to move more mainstream which means appealing to the ‘normal’ Joe. Look in the retail stores like Wal Mart, Kohls, etc…these days you have Tapout and other MMA apparel all over the place. To keep Joe Public interested in MMA, White’s going to have to ‘sell out’ for lack of better words and book some off the wall fights to get people interested. The UFC PPVs have been so stacked lately that the casual fans are now thinking that’s the norm…they are expecting that every month and they have become spoiled. I know I have to check myself sometimes and say 3 out of 5 fights on the main card is a pretty solid deal for $50 with free viewing of the pre-lims instead of thinkin it’s a rip-off cause not every fight contains a high profile fighter. We gotta appreciate it and how far this sport has come.
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If they arent stacked
then they arent necessarily PPV quality or worth $50.
After 113 I wont buy another PPV as long as Toney stays in the UFC. That DanaXC signing is a total fucking joke.
And sell out is the right word. He is doing shit he blasts other promotions for doing. It really is laughable.
@fjbar on twitter...formerly El Mexicutioner
Keep something else in mind too. With the salary model in the UFC being heavy on “% of PPV” for its stars, they are generally in position to not be hurt by a quarter of a million buys. In fact, I’d wager they still made out pretty well on this event (though not as well as they would have liked). They make money hand over fist when an event eclipses half a million buys. When it’s at 250K they are still in position to make a profit.
Indeed
Not to mention…probably only Wandy and Nogueira have a % of the PPV tied into their contract at this point…Nog because he was a champion at one point…and Wandy is a decent draw PPV wise I think…
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I say it's a combination of
4. UFC 110 was the second PPV in the month in the month of February for the UFC and the 3rd consecutive event that did not feature a title fight.
5. Fans are simply being more selective in which events they purchase IMO.
Some folks like MMA, but they don’t like it enough to drop $100 a month on it. I’m honestly surprised that it did such low numbers, because it was a strong card, but it may be a sign of over-saturation of MMA on TV.
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It was a strong card matchup wise
but to the casual fan…it was nothing to get excited about…I mean if UFC 110 would have been headlined by Frank Mir vs. Brock Lesnar III? Yep…much higher numbers….so I don’t think we’ve reached the oversaturation point yet.
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I agree
I like the idea that there is over-saturation. If that is true, we will defintily see it this month. Upcoming we have 3 UFC events. One PPV and two free shows. If there was ever a time where we could test the idea of over-saturation of the UFC/MMA, this would be the time. Two free shows and one you have to pay $50 for. I would not be surprised if the average fan skipped the PPV and the $50 and just watched the two free shows.
We seen a event in which a UFC primetime was needed. I mean GSP does not need the exposure, every body loves him and with a healthy month to promote the fight UFC 111 was safe.
Still could have used it for this upcoming fight don’t get me wrong but a show like primetime should be one of those things that are needed when there are two events in one month. If Nog and Cain had that show there is a good chance the numbers would have done well.
There were many talking points about that fight such as Cain’s inability to finish top talent and having pillow hands. What the UFC/ Promotions need to do is sneek in a bit of what the Hardcores are talking about so the casual fan can get an idea of the under lying meaning behind the fights. Many look at it like boxing where a fat 0 in the loss column means more then anything. MMA is a much more dramatic sport and the win loss record sometimes does not reflect the magnatude of the fight.
does anyone know
how much revenue the ufc makes off of there tv deals around the world? And do u think if they get enough tv deals and make enough money that they will give up this ppv model and give us our damm fights for free, Why must we continue to pay for fights while other countries get to watch for free, it sickens me, I am a fan and will continue to watch but come on already.
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