Buy or Sell: The UFC Gets 1 Million PPV Buys On A Card In 2013

Nope, those days are gone and they probably aren't coming back.
 
LESNAR SELLS and most sherdoggers hate him

A fighter that is greatly hated and reviled can make more money than one that is loved, everything else being equal.

If Heavyweight would have had a GSP type "face" when Lesnar was Brocking people, that would have created the perfect storm of casuals interest and excitement and would have led to millions throwing money at their televisions. It would work the other way around also. A Brockness monster wrecking Welterweight would have created ridiculous numbers since people would have been DEMANDING a matchup.

If Diaz would have destroyed Condit, the GSP vs Diaz coming up now could have sold a million.(it will still do well, especially if Diaz does or says something crazy and the media latches on and builds him up as a "bad guy")

Howard Stern built his fame, fortune and empire by being in the now enviable position of having more listeners tuning in because they "hated" him and had to witness his next crime against radio, than people that loved him and couldn't miss an show. It may not be true for everything, but for alot of situations, bad press equals good press.

Jesus, I get wordy when Im drunk and tired. :redface:
 
What's a Silva super fight? Obviously GSP & Bones would be the top two but do people of your opinion feel that's it? I would say other AS super fights, which I guess you would say would get a guaranteed mil buys are: say a Vitor fight, maybe Hendo, Say Forrest when eh was really popular a few years back(unlike AS he has headlined a mil buy ppv) imagine if a fight like that was on a stacked card with BJ penn as main event... What if some a loud trash talker who gets lots of ESPN & Jim Rome time fought AS? Since AS hasn't got a mil buys clearly none of these fights ever happened but just imagine if they ever did. Clearly AS would be all over the list in the OP....

Apparently he isn't all you need.

Yea sure, anderson silva vs GSP and anderson silva vs Jon Jones is THE SAME as silva vs vitor. That makes perfect sense. You are talking about three of the best, if not the three best fighters in the company right now. GSP already does huge PPV buys, he's done 1 mil before. Jones is growing with popularity and after this TUF and sonnen fight he'l be even more popular. Silva's never been as hyped as he is now. Both fights would be champ vs champ.

As for your other examples:

Silva vs Forrest (first of all how dare you call this a superfight) 0.8 mil
Silva vs Vitor (again) 0.73 mil
Silva vs Sonnen 0.93 mil

Yea he really struggles with those numbers. Put him together with either GSP or Jones, with the explosion of buzz thats gona create you have easily 1-1.5 mil PPV buys.
 
A superfight with Anderson, whether against GSP or Jones, could do it. And it would do gangbusters, possible in the 1,250,000-1,500,000 range.

This couldnt happen this year, but I have believed for some time, that if Overeem put together 5 or 6 devastating wins in a row, that he could be a solid PPV earner for the UFC. I believe that casuals would get excited about a beast like Overeem, if he was murking everyone.

GSP needs more competition like Diaz, that fans WANT to see fight him, if only to see GSP school him. GSP is a great ppv seller, but being the perfect "face", he needs a good "heel" to sell the really big numbers. I wish Hendricks reputation in wrestling would have carried over to MMA, he has behaved to well. If Hendricks had the terrible reputation added to his performances, he would have had a title shot already.

UFC fighters need to really work on their ability do make fans. I do not have any suggestions, but I feel that the fighters need to see themselves as a franchise or business unto themselves. They shouldnt rely on the UFC to be the sole source of hype, build up and advertiser for their names. Fighters with dedicated fan bases make more money and can fight making top dollar for much much longer than other fighters that are much better than them but couldnt or wouldnt take the time to generate a loyal following. To put another way, if Sonnen had all the ability and skill of Anderson Silva, he would be the most famous MMA fighter in history. If Fedor(and maybe Anderson) would have had Sonnen's mic skills(in english especially and minus M-1 cause fuck those guys) he would of been the most recognized FIGHTER of his time.(including Boxing)

Right about Overeem. People are just fascinated with big guys who destroy things.

GSP is like the reliable Honda. It will never winl style awards, no one will rush out and brag about it and it's not exciting, but it will sell.

Athletes rarely create their own brands - Tiger being one exception. Most athletes depend on their sport to do the heavy lifting. Jordan would have been far less marketable without the NBA and Chicago Bulls. If the UFC wants to sell more it needs to build the sport and choose two or three stars to promote. The deal with Fox offers a great opportunity because the UFC can market to the fans of other sports during big broadcasts.

Tonight's fight is a half-assed effort in that regard. Half-assed because the NFL playoffs are tomorrow and no connection has been made between the two. I would have run advertisements saying, "The top four teams square off on Sunday for a chance at the superbowl. Before they square off, the toughest guys in MMA will square off for their own chance at glory."
 
Not a chance. People dont give a fuck about the UFC as much as they used to. The fad has run its course, the luster is leaving, the new penny shine gone.

The only chance for 1 million buys is if Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather is on the card.
 
Wrestlemania will receive 1.2-1.3 million buys while an MMA fight in 2013 will not break 1 million.
 
nobody has less confidence in the ufc than ufc fans
 
Don't the UFC not release the buyrate, it's just Meltzer making up numbers and writing 'according to sources the number was this: ....'

These buys seem higher than I remember hearing after the events.
 
Not a chance. People dont give a fuck about the UFC as much as they used to. The fad has run its course, the luster is leaving, the new penny shine gone.

The only chance for 1 million buys is if Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather is on the card.

2nd rate org bellator just did close to a million views on free tv, mma aint dying.


If mexicans are good on PPV for boxing, then maybe Cain will be a draw. Anything below WW aint gonna break 1 million unless they had FW, BW and FlyW titles fights all on one card.
 
^While I dont necessarily speak on behalf of all mexicans, I am pretty sure that for the most part they dont give a shit about cagefighting. Cain has been a relevant fighter for years at this point, and the mexican viewership has not really increased as far as anyone can tell.
 
2nd rate org bellator just did close to a million views on free tv, mma aint dying.


If mexicans are good on PPV for boxing, then maybe Cain will be a draw. Anything below WW aint gonna break 1 million unless they had FW, BW and FlyW titles fights all on one card.

LW, FW, BW, and FlyW title fights on one card still wouldn't break a million buys.
 
I'll buy it actually. I think they'll pull off one really big event this year.
 
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