The bottom line is they triple dipped in Vegas and needed to do this to pack the venue. Still a very good overall number, and they’ll do over 4m for 94.

Also worth noting that included in that number is something like 2500 in casino buys, which are only complimentary in a roundabout way. Casinos pay, and then give them to their high rollers.

Also worth considering when you talk about gates is the cost of doing a show out of Vegas for the UFC. All of their crew and employees are out of Vegas, when they do a show in Columbus or somewhere else they end up flying out and putting up in hotels upwards of 100 people for multiple nights, dealing with meals for all of them, excess crew costs, additional local advertising costs, and generally more flight costs because a lot of fighters are out of vegas. I’ve heard an estimate of the cost of doing a show outside vegas at 300-500k more than doing it in Vegas. Add the ease of doing it there, and the fact that besides Montreal almost no other city can do a 3.5 million gate, and the Las Vegas choice starts making sense.

I don’t know about other people but Christmas broke my bank. I went to a crappy bar with no cover to watch this one rather than buy it like I usually do.

I know the economy is going through tough times. I also understand that the UFC tripling up on events in Vegas looks like it would contribute to the “necessity” of giving away tickets but that’s not the case.

The reality is that at the end of the year it’s time to set the table, or square up, with future/current sponsors and PPV/marketing partners. There is no doubt that the UFC could have sold all these tickets but the requests from the satellite/cable companies and/or sponsors, at this time of the year, is huge. This doesn’t include requests from casinos/hotels. The UFC has to comply with most requests if they wish to stay in the good graces of these entities.

Most mid-to-executive level management personnel at these companies feel “entitled” to a free vacation during the holidays and what better provider than the UFC. A huge fight during the Holidays in Vegas? Forget about it.

What’s my basis for this opinion? I’ve been on the receiving end of these comps 3 times in the last year. Having been in marketing for my entire professional career, I know how these companies operate. The UFC complies hoping that the Comcasts, Time Warners, etc. don’t slow pay with PPC revenue.