Hypothetically, if Ferguson vs Diaz headlined that same card, does it do better, worse, or the same? Could it pull 500k?
Early UFC 219 PPV Numbers
- Thread starter FrankieNYC
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Ferguson vs Lee did 200k buys, so it would be on 5he shoulders of diaz to draw in numbers. I don't know that people care enough about that fight to be in the 500k range.
If the fight did decent numbers, there would need to be some drama in the build-up
Diaz proved he is good like that
But sadly he looks to be pricing himself out of anything but a Conor rematch
This is where I was looking at buy rates:
Pay Per View Buys | Tapology
Really interesting looking at the list.
Pay Per View Buys | Tapology
Really interesting looking at the list.
Here is the most accurate - MMA Draws: UFC PPV buys by year
Some sites never update from early estimates
Dave's are the closest as proven by UFC financial filings
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You think people bought that card for Cyborg vs Holm? Rhino must have knocked you retarded.
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Khabib is a virtual unknown in the North American market.
I think people bought that card for Cyborg, yes. She's done big ratings when she's headlined non-PPV events for the UFC, it's not surprising this would translate into PPV buys.
Khabib's got a sneaky big following here in the US. I didn't realize it either until Helwani spoke about how large his following is at expos and events. Based on social media, that was the fight that was getting the majority of the buzz too.
IMO the better the expected numbers were a combo of Cyborg (freak show), Khabib (hardcores) & how UFC promoted Holly this time. They promoted the fight as "Can Holly do it again?"
Holly did huge rating on FOX too
Based on the amount of times I found myself having to explain Khabib to casual fans, primarily by showing them the bear wrestling video, I'm going with the theory that most folks were tuning in to see if the girl who beat Ronda could do the same against Cyborg.
It's only crazy if you're basing it on their talent and ability to put on a show instead of people having a clue who they are outside of the world of MMA forums.
Because in that world, 7 people know who they are and 5 of them are still mad at Yoel about Gay Jesus.
Khabib is a HUGE star in the Russian community of fight fans. The rest of the world doesn't have the attention span to continue to pay attention to a part time fighter.
Very very few people that I heard speaking about this card gave it the chance to get around 300k especially after Cruz (former champ with a known name and face) fell off and then Rivera/Lineker (fun fight for the hardcores) came off as well.
The fact that it was the NYE card doesn't mean anything if it's a shit card as far as names that sell goes. Normally these are pretty loaded cards. This year, not so much.
How many of you actually bought it? I'm not asking if you watched it because I'm certain that number will be higher. How many of you paid for it? It was not worth paying $60 for. If I hadn't have been in Hong Kong that week I wouldn't have paid for it.
Here is my perspective...Most "hardcore" fans don't buy PPV's anymore unless they are stacked cards and they stack very few cards are stacked anymore. I am basing this solely off what I hear and discuss with people at work and what I see on twitter. While matchups that are great to the longtime fan i.e.: Whittaker/Romero, not many of the "casual" fans have heard of these guys let alone have the emotional interest invested in them to want to purchase their fights.
Personally, I buy about 2 events a year, generally the July 4th (ish) card and lately their NY cards that they've stacked. I won't fork over $60.00 for 1 or 2 fights of mediocre interest.
Personally, I buy about 2 events a year, generally the July 4th (ish) card and lately their NY cards that they've stacked. I won't fork over $60.00 for 1 or 2 fights of mediocre interest.
I think you guys are doing a great disservice to Conor by calling him a 500k+ PPV guy.
Any card with Conor on it does a million buys gauranteed. He hasn't headlined a PPV that hasn't been over a million since UFC 189, and that was 825k.
So please, give the man his respect.
350k is about bang on average, there have been cards with less buys and cards with more buys in equal numbers.
Cyborg is clearly the bigger draw than Holm and I reckon she's a bigger draw than Khabib - who to be honest I'm not sure is a draw at all.
Cyborg is clearly the bigger draw than Holm and I reckon she's a bigger draw than Khabib - who to be honest I'm not sure is a draw at all.
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She's must see MMA IMO. Love her or hate her, shes the only female MMA fighter that has a skill set on par with a well rounded male fighter.
If you were to use forum activity as a marker for popularity then how many empty Cyborg threads have you ever seen over the years?
It is crazy to me since I wasn't aware the average buys were so low, and wasn't aware that the ufc was doing so poorly.
The buys are terrible this year. Of course, any boxing PPV that isn't Mayweather or Canelo is in the Mighty Mouse level of bad so I guess it's all perspective. I'm not sure if the 2 Ward/Kovalev PPVs combined for 300k and that was a ridiculous match up between the absolute best in that class.
I think some of it is due to a lack of stars that you feel compelled to open your wallet to watch fight and some of it is due to the fact that there are fights practically every weekend, most of which are free. You put the two together and that's a recipe for lower sales.
If, as a casual fan, you show me 3 events over the course of a month and 1 is on FS1, 1 is on Fox, and 1 is on PPV and I can't really tell a difference in the cards then I'm going to opt for the free ones. Even then because I have no skin in the game as I didn't have to pay for it I may not even be inclined to watch it if something else comes up.
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@FrankieNYC mentioned in another thread, the UFC PPV sales may be lagging but as a business they're doing fantastic because of the way their deals are structured and their expansion into other markets giving even more revenue with a lower operating costs since they cut a ton of positions and controlling costs. So 350k is a crap number compared to the previous year and most of recent PPV history but there is a general drop in that format for all combat sports and 350k is better than they have been getting out of most of their cards this year. If I'm expecting 275k buys and get 350k buys then that's a big deal even if it is still a crap number.
The casual fans have always (since the sike deal, then with the fox deal) had free cards at their fingertips, so something is off with that logic considering the drastic drop in viewership. It could be that marketing has fell off, it could be the increase in watered down cards - who knows? One thing is for certain, they most certainly should never go all in on pushing a single fighter if they want people to be interested in the product as a whole.The buys are terrible this year. Of course, any boxing PPV that isn't Mayweather or Canelo is in the Mighty Mouse level of bad so I guess it's all perspective. I'm not sure if the 2 Ward/Kovalev PPVs combined for 300k and that was a ridiculous match up between the absolute best in that class.
I think some of it is due to a lack of stars that you feel compelled to open your wallet to watch fight and some of it is due to the fact that there are fights practically every weekend, most of which are free. You put the two together and that's a recipe for lower sales.
If, as a casual fan, you show me 3 events over the course of a month and 1 is on FS1, 1 is on Fox, and 1 is on PPV and I can't really tell a difference in the cards then I'm going to opt for the free ones. Even then because I have no skin in the game as I didn't have to pay for it I may not even be inclined to watch it if something else comes up.
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So 350k is a crap number compared to the previous year and most of recent PPV history but there is a general drop in that format for all combat sports and 350k is better than they have been getting out of most of their cards this year. If I'm expecting 275k buys and get 350k buys then that's a big deal even if it is still a crap number.