News Dana White reveals ESPN numbers have been poor

[jeremyemilio]

Fertittas conned WME. Dana conned ESPN

I dunno... seems ESPN comes out on top in this situation. They are accumulating subscribers that otherwise wouldn't have any inclination to pay for their service.

In the meantime the UFC loses buyers who would otherwise like to pay money for their product... and their overall fan base, not to mention their potential to grow their fan base, shrinks over time.

 

[cooks1]

ESPN+ is what was going to push casual buyers over to illegal streams.
Its a convoluted and frankly retarded system for buying. Not to mention price spike.

Agreed. There are going to be a lot fewer people willing to pay to pay than there will be people willing to just pay.

 

[Tabarnakos]

There are no free cards.

People pay for Fight pass
People pay for ESPN+
People pay for cable to watch ESPN
People pay for ESPN+ so you can pay for PPV

Sure but most people use the term "free cards" when they talk about a card that is on cable and that you don't have to pay an additional 70$ to get.

Technically speaking you are correct but my point was fairly obvious

 

[Krixes]

I would love to see a chart of the PPV #'s since the ESPN+ merger. I'm guessing they're all really bad. I don't even think Conor will crack 1 million in this format.

 

[Mesos]

Speaking about UFC 246 PPV projections, White said, "This thing is going to do numbers that we did when we were on traditional pay-per-view." Thereby implying ESPN+ PPVs have done dog shite numbers.

Dumb thread but I will bite


By all accounts Espn is very very happy with the UFC and there numbers. Why do you think they extended the deal? Do you think a mega Multi Billion dollar company like Disney is making bad deals. Come on dude... Its obvious things are going well

Also they no longer have to do those 50/50 splits with cable so they get all the money directly to them.

 

[Kneeuinthenutz]

I have a feeling there is major fraud going on with the UFC and WME.....

 

[Carniusss]

He's lying
Khabib X Porier did nearly 2M
Ali told us

He’s probably just being modest so it was really 5 million.

 

[Mesos]

Most PPV buys are coming from bars in United States.

Only one man can fill the bars:

They have there revenue sources balanced and split. Like any smart company. They get a good chunk from Bars, a good chunk from PPV and an even bigger chunk from global TV deals that will show the fight live

 

[blaseblah]

Any millenial can find a perfect HD version of this and any other PPV card if they want.

I've seen this claim a lot and I've never found it to be true. Feel free to PM me evidence, no one has yet.

Streams are not worth it for any adult with money to spend on their favorite sport, imo.

 

[Ken Fresno]

The fuck is up with Whittaker tho?

 

[Alpha_T83]

I think a lot of the cards are so bad now, fewer and fewer people care about anything but the big fights. The way it's going, it will end up like boxing. I'll watch the main card for 246 but really the only compelling fight to me is the main event. I couldn't care less about the rest of these fights. That's not to say they might not be good fights. Just that I don't care about any of the fighters.

There's an easy way to tell.

Canada is still using the traditional PPV model. So if prior you would sell say 5:1 or 10:1 buys in the United States versus Canada (on the old PPV model in both countries), you can look now and see if those ratios have changed. If the ratio of PPV buys for the US to Canada is the same, then it's just weak cards and lack of interest in the UFC. But if that ratio has actually decreased, then it tells you that ESPN+ is to blame.

 

[Streeter]

The Khabib Dustin card was watered down as well but not this badly.

Still this ppv dwarfs the ppv money Beeb n Dustin did.

 

[MCS]

ESPN+ is some top notch narcissism on their part

 

[MCS]

Besides, bigger isn't always better (har har). EA and ESPN are known big companies, but both look at trends and fail miserably with delivery.

 

[dim_]

"This thing is going to do numbers that we did when we were on traditional pay-per-view." Thereby implying ESPN+ PPVs have done dog shite numbers.

Im not sure how you reach that conclusion

It could equally mean that PPV numbers are no different to what they were on traditional ppv.

 

[dim_]

Seems like it's more complicated there than in Canada.

We can order PPV through Fight Pass OR without it....

its literally no more complicated.

You get fight pass and buy the PPV through fight pass

US get espn+ and buy the PPV through espn+

The process is literally the same.

 

[dim_]

Yup! That’s how it is over here. Gotta watch it on your phone, computer, or tv—but only if it’s a smart tv smart enough lol. But you can imagine there’s a population of Americans who dont feel the need to buy a new tv every year or two..

you never heard of Fire TV stick? ($40) or Chromecast ($25)

 

[Streeter]

Fix all this at least for the serious ufc fans. 200 bucks a year u get espn + n every fight night and ppv. I would in a heartbeat.

I'm not paying 60 bucks 12 times a year to watch 3 good cards n 9 shitty ones.

 

[Darbo]

Well. You have to pay for ESPN+ before you can even buy the PPV.... Plus to watch the full even you also need the ESPN channel.

I really feel bad for you yanks, that's a fucking ridiculous set up.
Over here we've been able to watch ppv's through a subscription sports channel, but then wouldn't you know it? They're fucking charging for this one.
Luckily I know a guy who sells fake passports, being a bent cunt he also knows torrenting so I'll be going through those channels I think.
They really don't understand that a double paywall turns people to nefarious means.

 

[scorpiorising]

Of course the numbers are crap most people dont want to sign up and pay for ESPN+ just to order a PPV.

DING DING DING!

I was out when I had to do multiple things to get a PPV or go on a wild goose chase to find the fights. I just watch them later now.

I know when NHL NBA MLB are on, what time and channel each time, every time.