Much is being made of the decline in sales of UFC PPVs. A recent event was said to have one of the worst sales since 2005, and there is no shortage of stories hyping the decline. UFC 173 had less than 100,000 buys. The UFC has responded to the recent declines by sicking their dog Dana on the evil pirates of UFC media. Nothing is ever said of the multiple rises in event prices or the confusion for the casual fan that is created by monthly UFCs interspersed with almost weekly events on a multitude of channels. The UFC has publicly declared that they are going after individual sharers of their content. As someone who knows a friend who occasionally looks at a torrent, the big sites seem to be hosting less UFC content than ever. I admit, I rarely buy a PPV, since even $50 is too much for me, but I'll often go to a local pool hall that buys a license to show it (or go to a taqueria of more questionable repute). At what point will the UFC have to concede that there are other factors besides piracy? Or, am I off base, and are pirates really responsible for a significant portion of the PPV woes of Zuffa?
