Early Estimates Have UFC 111 at 850,000 Pay Per View Buys
by Kid Nate on Apr 3, 2010 10:59 AM EDT
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Dave Meltzer reports in the subscription only Wrestling Observer:
Early cable estimates, and granted, anything this early in the week can be way off, indicate about 850,000 buys for UFC 111 on 3/27, putting it in the top six for UFC of all-time. The number had to boost the spirits of the company coming off four straight shows that did disappointing numbers. Dana White didn't give a number, but in an exchange of messages before we got any figures, he indicated being thrilled with the early estimates he had gotten and that it looked to be well above my prediction (700,000) going in. If this number holds up, it would be the largest since UFC 101 on 8/8.
...
The number speaks volumes for St. Pierre as a drawing card, where he has to be now be considered No. 2 in the promotion.
...
An interesting note is that even with the big buy rate, the one hour of prelims on Spike only did a 0.9 rating and 1.2 million viewers, the lowest of all PPV prelims to date. The most recent airing of prelims, before the 2/6 show, did a 1.2 rating and 1.7 million viewers, which was the best. But that PPV after doing the biggest Spike numbers, a show headlined by Randy Couture vs. Mark Coleman, only did 275,000 buys, the company's lowest for a U.S. show in four years.
This shows more than anything that the UFC is a star-driven pay per view business. Georges St Pierre and to a lesser extent Frank Mir and Shane Carwin drew these numbers, not St Pierre vs the over matched Dan Hardy.
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Man I was eagerly anticipating Zuffa in Trouble: Part 3
by Roujam on Apr 3, 2010 9:20 AM EDT reply actions 7 recs
What can I say about this joke that hasn’t already been said about Afghanistan, it’s bombed out and depleted.
by ufc4 on Apr 3, 2010 11:15 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
-Over? Did you say "over"? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!
You rang?
"My only hope is that the Big Lebowski kills me before the Germans cut my dick off."
by Earl Montclair on Apr 3, 2010 4:10 PM EDT up reply actions
niceeeeeeee
i wonder if these numbers include bars? And i wonder how the theatres figured into these numbers, if at all? I would like to hear some numbers on that. Im glad that alot of people tuned into to see Carwin KO Mir setting up another blockbuster event with Brock! I hope alot of people that tuned into to see GSP, wont be dissapointed and still buy his next fight.!
I was at the theatre for these and it was pretty bad ass, and also completely packed.
Consider yourself warned, im offensive and creative like handicap porn
by II SMASH II on Apr 3, 2010 9:50 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
There is a wow factor here..
Is it GSP or is it Mir or a combination of both ??
Interested to see what comes of this.. Either way it’s a clear indicator of just how strong brand recognition is and how much pull the fighters have with said brand recognition too..
8-29-09
Keith Jardine is now known as "The Dean of Antihistamine" because he is always sleeping early in fights..
For me, it was only Mir/Carwin, I had no interest in watching GSP vs Hardy for 25 minutes. I left the bar after that fight (and in hindsight, I think that I made the right call, though I’m sure that others would disagree).
Of course, that doesn’t count toward any numbers.
What kind of mma fan are u if you don’t stay to watch one of the greatest in our sport who hasn’ t competed in over 9 months?
The kind who enjoys competitive fights. I don’t want to watch someone get the shit kicked out of him any more than I want to watch a 49-0 football game (unless I have rooting interest).
Holy shit...
I though it would do something around 600K or so. Guess I underestimated GSP’s appeal.
If Derek Jeter clubbed a baby seal on earth day while wearing a mink coat and crocodile skin boots while burning tires on an iceberg, the reaction would be "Its OK Derek, you’re a Yankee." -First mammal to wear pants
I didn’t watch the prelims on Spike because I was on my way to a party to watch the PPV. I figure this could be an explanation in general for why the Spike numbers were so low perhaps.
I want to see the actual numbers for those who watched in the cinemas..
Huge numbers in theatres mean more people watched the PPV, but it also means less were able to watch the spike prelims.
by Anton Tabuena on Apr 3, 2010 10:28 AM EDT up reply actions
Discounting Mir
I think it was the Mir fight that drew people in, not GSP. Mir was making the most noise and was one of the most visible characters post UFC 100. GSP kind of disappeared and the Primetime show didn’t do that well.
It is Mir who should be thanked IMO.
Of course you think that. Your obsessive hate for GSP (literally have not seen a comment of yours that didn’t hate on him since 111) has made you irrational
Hello. I take shit too seriously.
by The Flying Gentleman on Apr 3, 2010 10:55 AM EDT up reply actions
GSP has always been one of the biggest draws in the company. The numbers he draws in Canada alone are enough to justify this number.
Mir is a good draw in and of himself but he’s never proved to have more drawing power than GSP.
Let’s compare the last two shows Mir was on:
UFC 107, with an established draw in BJ Penn did 750K buys.
UFC 113, with number 2 draw in the company GSP does an estimated 850K.
In both these situations Mir has been the co-main event with a very popular established main event draw. There is nothing to indicate that on his own Mir is a big draw.
Have you forgotten UFC 100 already?
Did people tune in to watch Mir as the main event or GSP?
With all the talk about Brock Lesnar and the heavyweight division Mir was the guy watch. GSP has always had a strong supporting cast to make him look better.
You say GSP has always had a strong supporting cast but where are you getting that Mir is the draw? When has Mir established a high baseline for himself?
You’re entitled to your opinion but if you honestly believe it was Mir responsible for this number than you need to read up some more on the buying habits of casual MMA fans and why historically GSP has been a huge draw.
1. Canadian, huge boost in buyrates in Canada when GSP fights.
2. Crossover appeal, frank may jaw more than GSP but Georges is the most visible MMA star in North America
3. Females, Georges is the only fighter I know of that can bring in a significant amount of female eyeballs.
As for UFC 100, it’s well established that 1.7 million is the result of four things:
1. UFC 100, the idea of the “100th show” alone was enough to significantly spike numbers.
2. Brock Lesnar
3. GSP
4. TUF
GSP has a proven track record of great PPV numbers. You can choose to ignore all historical evidence to the contrary and hold on to your idea that Frank Mir is a bigger draw than Georges in which case you would be wrong, or you can just accept that a fighter you obviously dislike is one of the most popular in the sport and move on.
by Worldisart on Apr 3, 2010 11:08 AM EDT up reply actions 3 recs
Dude, look at my profile
Who do I have listed as my best fighters? Where does this question of dislike come in? I’m just saying that i’m not going to anoint GSP some sort of PPV savior when there is a lot of unexplored evidence to the contrary.
I think its great that they did those many buys, but take a step back and look at the whole picture before resuming ballwashing.
Bottom line
All pot shots aside, I’ve presented you with a litany of reasons why GSP is the driving force behid this PPV number, none of which you have disputed and you have yet to back up your obvious fallacy of Frank Mir being the biggest draw in the company with any kind of evidence. You point to UFC 100 while ignoring all the reasons that show was obviously huge. You blatantly ignore Georges’ track record as a top 2-3 draw in the company. You can hold on to your fallacy if you want, it still doesn’t make you right.
by Worldisart on Apr 3, 2010 11:36 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Where does it say Mir's the biggest draw?
Are you saying that everyone bought the PPV because of GSP? The Mir-Carwin fight had absolutely no role to play in the final tally? You cant make any claim with certainty.
You can throw out a “litany” of anything. The fact is that GSP is not some huge PPV carrier on his own. There are other events and factors that make up PPV sales, which have not been elaborated and expounded upon. I would rather explore them all than jumping to some conclusion.
When you imply that Mir draws more than GSP or Brock, you’re implying he’s the biggest draw in the company.
by Worldisart on Apr 3, 2010 11:46 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
The only person who’s making that implication is you. Read my posts again. I’m just saying that the effect of Mir in garnering buys should not be discounted in total favor of GSP.
You're doing poorly here cyke.
"He's in trouble, I'm telling you right now."
- UFC Welterweight Champion George St. Pierre on Dan Hardy's hopes.
This isn’t “unexplored evidence”, just look at the trending numbers before the event. And you can bet Zuffa has spent plenty of money researching who their top draws are and why. Just because you are unaware of the evidence or choose to ignore it doesn’t mean it’s nonexistent.
by ufc4 on Apr 3, 2010 11:39 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
I'm pretty sure people tuned in for Brock Lesnar
And GSP helped because he’s the solid #2 draw.
twitter.com/thisredengine
by Matthew Roth on Apr 3, 2010 11:08 AM EDT up reply actions
LOL, people tuned in to watch Brock as the main event, not Mir.
by ufc4 on Apr 3, 2010 11:18 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Well then we can just as easily say people tuned into 111 to watch Carwin but we know that’s not the case. If Mir had been fighting Cain Velasquez at 100 and talking the same kind of shit it probably would have done a half million fewer buys.
by ufc4 on Apr 3, 2010 11:36 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
I think the Mir got people to buy the PPV because they all thought that he was fighting Brock.
"My only hope is that the Big Lebowski kills me before the Germans cut my dick off."
by Earl Montclair on Apr 3, 2010 4:11 PM EDT up reply actions
But i thought Zuffa was doomed and GSP was boring?
;)
Hello. I take shit too seriously.
by The Flying Gentleman on Apr 3, 2010 10:52 AM EDT reply actions
GSP is the draw. His trending numbers over the weekend blow Mir’s out of the water.
This show just a year ago would have done about 600,000 buys. Zuffa has nothing to worry about it seems, the low numbers were for shitty shows, and now that their names are back they’ll do well again.
It does suggest they need to make a bigger effort to create new stars.
by Michael Rome on Apr 3, 2010 11:17 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs
It has been shown that stars and titles matter. All the more reason for the UFC to add two more weightclasses and get 3 or 4 more cards a year headlined by a title match.
by John Nash on Apr 3, 2010 11:45 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
I don’t know why they don’t just merge the WEC in. Aldo vs Faber would do HUGE numbers with the UFC hype/marketing machine behind it.
Hello. I take stuff too seriously.
by The Flying Gentleman on Apr 3, 2010 11:57 AM EDT up reply actions
I think they really missed the boat with Faber. If they would added featherweight back in 2006 or 2007 right after they purchased the WEC they could have built Faber into a monster star during his run. It would have been like adding a BJ Penn to the roster.
by John Nash on Apr 3, 2010 12:33 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Creating stars
Why doesn’t the UFC use TUF to create new stars?
What I mean is, why doesn’t the UFC have a TUF where the contestants are people like Jon Jones, Lil’ Nog, Luiz Cane, Phil Davis, etc., with the intention of getting them more exposure? Winning TUF could mean getting a title shot or something, since it would mostly be fighters they already have.
What is the business problem behind doing things this way? It seems like a great method to build up fighters to become headliners.
by Lauren J Darkbloom on Apr 3, 2010 12:13 PM EDT up reply actions
I bet if they did a survey of this card you’d find a much higher percentage of Canadians and women then the usual UFC event.
by John Nash on Apr 3, 2010 11:38 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Rankings
The UFC has to get a Real ranking system, inside & especially outsiders will have somthing to go by. It’s not the best for promoters but at least Dana’s flavour of the month would be gone. Boxing was is ? 1 mandatory fight against the # 1 contender every year & 1 or more against whom ever. It might work here, something has to be done.
I think a key takeaway too is that the UFC should be looking to Canada for its next “superstars.” The fans are rabid and buy at a much higher rate than everyone else. When GSP can pull in 200k buys from Canada each fight, just doing a standard 400k number in the US makes the show a massive success. Who knows what happens when a huge star from Toronto or Vancouver emerges.
So are you saying if Zuffa could lure Gina Carano away from Strikeforce and sign her to a match against Celine Dion that it would do better numbers than UFC 100?
by ufc4 on Apr 3, 2010 11:42 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
id pay to see that
a celine dion beatdown would get around a million buys easy
in a few years I think that will be Rory MacDonald… and GSP will be a MW by then I guess
by Anton Tabuena on Apr 3, 2010 11:51 AM EDT up reply actions
What’s also interesting is that Canadians put out the higher buy rate while paying 10 more bucks for PPVs then Americans. And that is literally 19 more dollars now that the Loonie is pretty much a parity.
Hello. I take stuff too seriously.
by The Flying Gentleman on Apr 3, 2010 11:59 AM EDT up reply actions
bleh
“literally 10 more dollars”
stupid lack of an edit button!
Hello. I take stuff too seriously.
by The Flying Gentleman on Apr 3, 2010 12:01 PM EDT up reply actions
Wow, Frank Mir is a draw. Last four ppv numbers:
UFC 111 – 850,000
UFC 107 – 620,000
UFC 100 – 1,600,000
UFC 92 – 1,000,000
That’s an average of over 1 mil per event or twice what the usual UFC ppv does. Incredible. Of course, if we wanted to tell the whole story we should add
111 Headlined by GSP
107 Headlined by BJ Penn
100 Headlined by Brock, and had GSP and TUF 9 Finale
92 Not only was TUF 8 Finale, had LHW title match headline and had Rampage vs Wanderlei on the card
Right now Mir is Orlando Bloom. Does great in films surrounded by other stars but hasn’t shown he can carry a picture by himself. Let’s see what happens when the UFC gives him a card to carry all by his lonesome.
As for airing the prelims on Spike, the UFC should rethink what purpose they serve. On big event nights it seems likely that people are skipping the prelims because they are too busy getting to the viewing location or they aren’t interesting in watching an extra hour of mma when the already have plans to watch it for 2 or more hours. Conversely the weaker sellers seem to do better because either fans are at home and free to watch or looking to get a UFC fix and after being saited have no need to pay for an uninspiring card. Either way, the free prelims don’t serve as a gateway to draw fans into ordering the ppvs.
by John Nash on Apr 3, 2010 11:33 AM EDT via mobile reply actions
Airing on spike is clearly having no big effect on buyrates. I like it because I like free fights, but for buyrate purposes it’s not helping.
Mir was a much bigger factor on 107, you can tell by looking at his online search numbers.
by Michael Rome on Apr 3, 2010 11:36 AM EDT up reply actions
I disagree...
Is there any data to back up this claim, or any insider sources? It might not be having a massive impact, but even something like an extra 25 or 50k in buys is substantial. It’s revenue they wouldn’t be getting otherwise for an event they’re already producing.
The UFC always tapes their prelim fights anyway, so it’s not like they’d have to pay much more in production costs. In return, they get a chance to make a last minute sales pitch to fans who were either undecided, or who didn’t realize there was an event on that night. On top of that, considering the ratings, I’m sure Spike is more than happy to pay the UFC for the opportunity to air these live fights.
And to respond to nottheface:
Conversely the weaker sellers seem to do better because either fans are at home and free to watch or looking to get a UFC fix and after being saited have no need to pay for an uninspiring card. Either way, the free prelims don’t serve as a gateway to draw fans into ordering the ppvs.
I suspect it’s the opposite. Those weak sellers are weak sellers for a reason – because the fans had already decided not to buy the event. Depending on the fights, they might tune in for the free show, but aren’t following through with a PPV buy because the PPV card is weak. It may be true that for the big events, there are less potential viewers because many fans are already in transit to their viewing locations, but for those who tune in, the UFC is able to make a more compelling pitch because they have a more compelling product to sell.
The prelim fights serve as a free appetizer to draw in potential PPV buyers. The PPV event is the bait. The number of bites they get depend on the quality of the event, and how well the UFC presents it.
by Meeaaat on Apr 3, 2010 8:08 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Right now Mir is Orlando Bloom. Does great in films surrounded by other stars but hasn’t shown he can carry a picture by himself. Let’s see what happens when the UFC gives him a card to carry all by his lonesome.
This is what I would like to see. It’s hard to distinguish sometimes who is drawing what exactly. Chances are though, if Mir is smart, he’ll continue to find a way to appear on cards with other stars.
I don't want to lick any butt. - GSP
If a Mir-headlined card is half as good as the Director’s cut version of Kingdom of Heaven i’ll be happy.
Hello. I take stuff too seriously.
by The Flying Gentleman on Apr 3, 2010 1:05 PM EDT up reply actions
Speak for yourself nate
I bought UFC 111 on ppv only because dan hardy was fighting
first ppv i had purchased since 104
by TheBiggertheyare... on Apr 3, 2010 11:36 AM EDT reply actions
back at you.
speak for yourself, because majority of the people bought it to see GSP, Mir and Carwin.
by Anton Tabuena on Apr 3, 2010 11:52 AM EDT up reply actions
Lol, you shoud have contacted nate before the post, so he could know people actually bought it for hardy, and be totally wrong.
I'm a lover not a fighter
by spectaa on Apr 3, 2010 2:22 PM EDT up reply actions 2 recs
Is there another article coming?
Paragraphs are written about Zuffa in trouble.
A nice big buyrate commands 2 sentences.
No wonder they refuse to refund me my money
So they can add +1 to their PPV number. My UFC.com/live stream cut out at the Carwin VS Mir fight. Furthermore, the quality went down to nasty and they even sent out a “technical problem” message in the middle of the fight. Yet, they refuse to refund me my money. If you want to support the UFC and you don’t have cable or Satellite, I recommend Yahoo instead. At least these guys had the decency to refund my money when they had technical trouble.
UFC = great. UFC PPV streaming = the sucks. Avoid at all cost!
Do you think...
…UFC 116 can compare to or top the numbers of UFC 100?
UFC 100 did an outrageous 1.6 million!
I say it could definitely go over the 1 million mark however I wonder just how far over…
Adam Lawman
MMAPrime.TV - Contributing Writer
Follow me on Twitter @AdamLawman
it'll be tough
Depends what else they throw on the card.
Wand Vs Sexy is a great start though. Those two fights at the end of the card alone should translate into 1mil+.
Hello. I take stuff too seriously.
by The Flying Gentleman on Apr 3, 2010 12:49 PM EDT up reply actions
I think Toney vs. Couture would give it a good chance.
by ufc4 on Apr 3, 2010 1:34 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Am I the only one who doesn't care about Zuffa's finances?
I mean are we MMA fans or Zuffa business partners? We know they are going to continue to put together the best matchups possible and have their stars fight as much as possible. All these articles with lengthy, but entirely speculative, breakdowns of these numbers are so pointless, and often dead wrong (see the whole Zuffa in Trouble series). I care about the fights, not Zuffa’s bottom line.
If I'm driving I'll have to drink, because I'm very self-conscious about my driving--Peter Griffin
You should care about their success as an MMA fan because as goes Zuffa so goes the sport we love.
Hello. I take stuff too seriously.
by The Flying Gentleman on Apr 3, 2010 12:50 PM EDT up reply actions
Except that Zuffa’s finances aren’t the constraining factor on the growth of MMA. Zuffa is rolling in money yet that hasn’t brought mainstream acceptance, nor has the fact that UFC sells more PPVs than boxing. The true barrier to MMA’s growth is mainly cultural.
Perhaps the only argument I could see in favor of Zuffa’s finances being relevant is how much they pay the fighters. However, despite the fact that boxing sells fewer PPVs than the UFC boxing stars are paid way more—indicating that Zuffa has very high profit margins and is simply too greedy to pay the fighters what they’re actually worth.
If I'm driving I'll have to drink, because I'm very self-conscious about my driving--Peter Griffin
I would also say that their finances are important because it has been Zuffa spending the money to lobby state governments to get MMA legalized all these years. Yes, at the end of the day it’s really just an investment in their own business, but getting the sport legalized everywhere is a benefit for everyone involved in MMA and not just Zuffa.
Perhaps the only argument I could see in favor of Zuffa’s finances being relevant is how much they pay the fighters. However, despite the fact that boxing sells fewer PPVs than the UFC boxing stars are paid way more—indicating that Zuffa has very high profit margins and is simply too greedy to pay the fighters what they’re actually worth.
Please not this bullshit…everytime somebody makes a comparison between Zuffa and some other sports organization, they inevitably get it wrong. You do realize that Zuffa, unlike the relationship between HBO and Golden Boy, must finance their events as producer AND promoter, right? You do realize that Zuffa doesn’t have venues actively fight over who gets to sponsor their events, as the MGM Grand does, correct?
Most sports rely on radio and television broadcasting for their revenue. Zuffa has neither if we’re talking scale. Perhaps this is where Zuffa’s finances are relevant: so that armchair critics can be exposed for not knowing what they’re talking about.
Nobody HAS to know this kind of stuff, but why should it hurt NOT to know this stuff? We all want to watch fights, but it’s nice to be informed too. Plus, as was already pointed out, Zuffa’s finances are relevant insofar as their active battle to help MMA get legalized is integral to this. How can MMA be sincerely embraced by mainstream media if a handful of states (New York among them) don’t even acknowledge it’s legal?
Their foreign endeavors can’t be understated enough, and to be sure, these are costly, directly and indirectly. And that’s great with me, as fighters like Dan Hardy, Ross Pearson, and Andre Winner have proven to be more than capable of competing with their contemporaries.
by David Castillo on Apr 3, 2010 5:52 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
And this tells you…what exactly? I admit I don’t know much about all the business deals and various expenses that the UFC vs boxing promoters have, but, frankly, I doubt you do either. You’re position would imply that Zuffa pays its fighters less because it makes less profit than Golden Boy or other boxing promotions, which I doubt. Also, the position is illogical…these are expenses associated with the promotion of the fight as a whole, regardless of who bears them directly. It’s not like things happen magically for boxing that don’t happen for the UFC and expenses suddenly disappear while profits miraculously remain. If it were truly so advantageous and the UFC could get rid of all its costs while keeping all the benefits by partnering with HBO, then it would do that.
And even if you did subscribe to the theory that Zuffa’s finances are so essential, this still doesn’t tell you that. You know how this particular PPV did relative to other PPVs but none of us know about the true inner workings of Zuffa accounting. I do believe is that Zuffa is very profitable, regardless of the fluctuations that may occur from buyrates of PPV to PPV, and that they underpay the fighters in terms of how much value they bring in.
If I'm driving I'll have to drink, because I'm very self-conscious about my driving--Peter Griffin
Of course I don’t know specific details, but I’m not the one making claims over what Zuffa should or should not do with their expenses. I’m not the one saying “they underpay the fighters in terms of how much they bring in”
The simple point is that critics often cite Zuffa’s profits like they exist a vacuum, which is patently absurd. I’m not saying Zuffa pays its fighters less because it makes less profit. But they operate financially on an absurdly different spread, which I’m still not sure you even recognize.
Also, the position is illogical…these are expenses associated with the promotion of the fight as a whole, regardless of who bears them directly. It’s not like things happen magically for boxing that don’t happen for the UFC and expenses suddenly disappear while profits miraculously remain.
facepalm The expenses for the producer are not the expenses for the promoter. And no where am I suggesting that this difference validates fighter pay because no one knows Zuffa’s bottom line, but it’s foolish to ignore this as a factor. I’m not gonna belabor this point though. Even Zuffa’s most staunch critics can agree that they are willing to spend their own money for important things besides strippers and Dana’s new ferrari: like lobbyists integral to legalization (those trips to Canada don’t pay for themselves), and globalization.
Undercard boxers make shit as well, so let’s not act like Zuffa is treating their fighters like a bunch of Chinese factory shoe workers. Besides…nobody who pays for UFC 113 is doing so because of Joey Beltran or John Salter…
I’m really curious to hear a nuanced view of the problem with fighter pay, just once. Everyone lambasted Affliction for paying Lindland 300 thousand. Sylvia was paid close to a cool million. At the time he was a legit top 10 HW. Clearly, this type of pay is not sufficient for a promotion that wants to stay in business. Or do we just want a better baseline for undercard fighters, who by the admission of MMA fans themselves often don’t care about to begin with?
by David Castillo on Apr 4, 2010 8:25 PM EDT up reply actions
Still having trouble with that multiplyer.
So if we take the buy rate here of 850,000 and the UFC says the average number of viewers goes up from 10 with the big shows so lets use 12 as the multiplier and then say the same number of people watch it in the bar. Where I live I can tell you that way, way, way more people watch it in the bar than watch it at home. But lets assume the viewership is the same. That would give us
850,000 × 12 × 2 = 20,400,000
The top 2 shows for the end of March are American Idol (21.84M) and Dancing with the Stars with (22.97M).
http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2010/04/dancing-with-the-stars-is-no-1-for-now.html
To put that number in perspective it would be more than double and in some cases 7 times the viewership of the Thursday night scripted prime time shows on network. It would also have to beat out all other sports for the week. If you took the bars out of the equation the UFC PPV would still have been bigger than all of the Thursday night scripted programming.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=10367387#post10367387
The post above is constantly updated so grab it quickly.
I know the people posting here will go well all my friends watched with me. But your friends aren’t representative of the population at large. I don’t have any reason to doubt the buy number. But does any one still buy the UFCs multiplyer number?
For ufc 100 I might buy it just cuz it was such a big event. Do I think 20 million watched 111? Absolutely not.
by ufc4 on Apr 3, 2010 1:39 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
The freeish UFN 21 peaked at 2 million viewers but some how 10 times as many people watched the PPV? With the UFN it meant that guys with families who normally wouldn’t be able to watch a UFC event could. You can’t sneak off to the bar or or a UFC party when you have a family and dropping $60 for the PPV isn’t going to fly with to many wives either. Mean while people who might have to go to a bar to watch could just stay home. But still 10 times as many people watched the PPV?
I wonder if the UFC tried using that 10X multiplier number in negotiations with ESPN?
I know the people posting here will go well all my friends watched with me. But your friends aren’t representative of the population at large.
All of my friends are casual fans at best. They only know the big names, so I would argue they do represent the population at large. I would guess by this point there are very few people out there that don’t have at least one buddy thats really into MMA. In my group of friends thats me, and I can usually manage to get 4-5 people together to order a PPV or go to the bar. But you’re right that average of 10 (without counting bars) seems really high. With bars included would seem a lot more believable.
The implications don't add up either
Charlie Sheen makes just under a million dollars an episode by himself. What is that a half hour? PPV is usually what 3 hours? So take Charlies salary plus the rest of the cast plus the script writes, directors, scenery, cosume etc and then also do that for the other 2.5 hours you have to fill to get to 3 hours. How much was the payroll for 111? Was it covered by the gate? Production costs wouldn’t come any where near what a scripted program are.
So for a fraction of the money they spend on scripted programming they could have easily the biggest show on TV if it ran on network. If that was real are you telling me that the networks wouldn’t be out there out bidding the UFC for talent? That the networks wouldn’t all own MMA organizations and be pouring money into them with a fire hose? If the UFC is really doing those kinds of numbers why aren’t GM and Ford etc advertising on the PPV rather than Harley Davidson? Why aren’t there more commercials during the PPV?
That bottom line is that multiplier number is complete bulls__t and every one reporting or blogging MMA is happy to just ape what ever the UFC says.
It’s still a violent sport. Mainstream sponsors won’t jump on something like that if they don’t have to.
The assumed multiplier they use for PPV’s is nearly as legit as the Nielsen system they use for TV ratings. It is what it is. Don’t knock something you don’t know.
The problem is that the 10X multiplier number doesn’t carry over to free TV shows. That part was glossed over when the data was excerpted for use here, along with the statistcs about fans being interested in sports vs. entertainment in MMA. So basically, to go to ESPN with that is to say, “Hey, we have 16 million people watching our PPVs at other people’s residences. Only 1/10 of that will actually watch our free TV programming, but can you pay us NBA money anyways?”
by VirtualBalboa on Apr 4, 2010 10:12 AM EDT up reply actions
i dont think the bar number is right.
maybe but where i live there is only one place that shows the fights. it fills up ok , but i think there are far many people who watch it at home! but if they add the theatre numbers it could talley alot.
The fact that you are typing a message in this comment thread shows that you are not the person that they are talking about when they come up with these numbers and they talk about what casual fans watch.
If you listen to people that post here and sherdog and the UG, Affliction was the greatest thing since sliced bread, and would have sold 1 million ppv buys. The UFC is successful because they get people that don’t know what sherdog is to buy PPVs, and buy lots of PPVs.
Just by posting here you prove you are not a casual fan, so our anecdotes do nothing to prove or disprove anything coming out of zuffa’s mouth because we make up a tiny part of their fanbase.
Mir/carwin had alot to do with it because it was announced winner of that gets Brock.
also y’all are discounting the efforts of the buildup “prime time” shows and the effect they had on convincing the casual fanthat hardy was a threat to gsp. I’m sure having serra (as the last guy to beat gsp) on there helped out as well, casuals thought omfg, serras gonna teach hardy how to beat gsp.
by nogroundgame on Apr 3, 2010 1:16 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
Titles matter
One of the other factors at work here was that two titles were on the line (or one title and one make-believe title, if you ask BROCKLESNAR). I think for more moderate fans (somewhere between “casual” and “hardcore”) the fact that there are two title fights in a single PPV can really influence the buying decision. I say this as a fan who only buys a couple PPVs per year, and tends to focus on ones that either feature my favorite fighters, or have multiple titles at stake (even better if its both).
I suspect if UFC were to absorb the WEC divisions, or add a cruiser weight division they could contest more legitimate titles per year and draw more consistently high buy rates.
Tatum: I think he's a good man. I like him. I got nothing against him, but I'm definitely gonna make orphans of his children.
I’ve watched 90% of the UFC pay per views over the past couple years in the same bar. Now I won’t claim I’ve ever done a head count or anything like that. But generally speaking you can tell how full the bar is. I live in Edmonton which is in Canada. So if nothing else I think this is reflective on viewership in Edmonton and likely Canada as a whole. The last pay perview at the bar was pack, people came in and were standing as there were insufficient places to see them. The bar likely broke the firecode.
The only two events which I’ve been too which have had comparable attendance were UFC 100 and GSP vs. BJ Penn 2. The turnout for Lesnar vs. Couture was pretty good as well as I recall but not as heavy. At the very least where I watch GSP is far and away the largest draw for any event. You also can’t discount that something around 50% more women show up for his fights. My secretary said something like “I hate the fights but I like looking at him…” . I think this likely translates across the country.
I said in another post that GSP has a very inalienable fanbase, Canada and women with their being some cross over between the two. The haters need to give the man his due.
Mir won't be as big of a draw now.
No wonder Dana looked pissed after the KO.
by snakecharmer1340 on Apr 3, 2010 3:22 PM EDT reply actions
I’d be mad if I was promoter too, carwin has zero charisma, he had a golden opportunity when Brock got on the mic to sell the fight and blew it.
I guess you can’t expect that from an engineer.
by nogroundgame on Apr 3, 2010 4:01 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Everyone is marketable
Some takes more than others to promote, like Carwin, but in the end everyone has their own “it” factor. Even Cyborg is marketable. They don’t have to sell her as a beauty queen. They can sell her as the last amazon from some tribe in South America that likes to beat dudes up. The UFC can sell Carwin as a single father that still works as in an engineer.
I dont think Carwin is single
Didnt he just say in that whole “best bloggers” thing that he ranked Iole higher because he came and had breakfast with him and his wife.
Not only that, but keep playing his highlight reel. KO after KO after KO.
I don't want to lick any butt. - GSP
by pud333 on Apr 3, 2010 5:46 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Every time Carwin hit Mir, the buyrate for the next Lesnar PPV dropped a few percentage points.
I don't want to lick any butt. - GSP
3 things:
1 I totally predicted this number
2 GSP is the shit
3 116 will be even bigger
Blackout is always right
You totally did not
Georges is the shit. 900K
Keep firing Assholes!
Blackout is always right
by Ubernoober on Mar 25, 2010 4:50 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
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