UFC PPV Numbers By Year

[magicmarker]

WME has a history of not doing that though.
Also some major billionaires are their partners.
WME does not even own 50% of UFC (as of 9/17)

They are great at making money, but who knows if they are good for MMA.

Yeah, not saying that they will do the same things. I'm only drawing a parallel to the fact that golf management companies are great at making money as well, but anyone who plays golf or works in the golf industry knows they're terrible for the golf business.

 

[FrankieNYC]

Yeah, not saying that they will do the same things. I'm only drawing a parallel to the fact that golf management companies are great at making money as well, but anyone who plays golf or works in the golf industry knows they're terrible for the golf business.

It can very well be that way.
I was just saying they are not going bankrupt & not paying bills

They are not in the MMA industry for the love of MMA & that might not be a good thing

 

[Huligani]

Woah UFC is dying.

 

[AP_RESURRECTION]

would also be interesting to see a median, just to take out the outliers - but either way, pretty interesting data, thanks

 

[FrankieNYC]

would also be interesting to see a median, just to take out the outliers - but either way, pretty interesting data, thanks

Go to the website I linked
You are welcome AP

 

[Juventud]

Stars drive PPV sales, and the UFC stars were missing in action in 2017.

Conor: Three fights in 2016; No MMA fights in 2017.

Ronda: One fight in 2016; No fights in 2017.

Brock: One fight in 2016; No fights in 2017.

Goat stars. Regardless of Brock/Ronda getting dethroned easily they gave us great fights.
Conors number speak for themselves. If he wants to return and dominate the ufc ppvs he can do it. Not many people can sustain popularity after a loss, if people claim Conors so hated his numbers should have tanked after the Diaz loss.

 

[markys00]

Yeah, not saying that they will do the same things. I'm only drawing a parallel to the fact that golf management companies are great at making money as well, but anyone who plays golf or works in the golf industry knows they're terrible for the golf business.

man im jealous. i used to work in the golf biz. i loved it. i wish i could go back...

 

[JKS]

It isn't figured in

UFC got 10% of the ppv. 4.5 mill sales in NA so they got 450,000 buys worth at a higher price than their usual 59.99. And whatever international revenues were. I don't know if we factor in the buys but certainly the revenue. So basically its revenues for one good UFC ppv around 600 to 700K I would estimate.

 

[FrankieNYC]

UFC got 10% of the ppv. 4.5 mill sales in NA so they got 450,000 buys worth at a higher price than their usual 59.99. And whatever international revenues were. I don't know if we factor in the buys but certainly the revenue. So basically its revenues for one good UFC ppv around 600 to 700K I would estimate.

This is not a thread about 2017 revenue
It is a comparison of year to year UFC PPV's to show interest per year as outline by the author/analyst
Why are you bringing up a Boxing PPV?

 

[Hester65]

Lesnar and Rousey aren’t returning from the abyss so it’s up to Conor and new players to get the ratings up. Doubtful that anyone new emerges on a superstar level.

 

[DezWalker]

For all the talk about UFC profits being up, there are a number of reasons for that not related to PPV sales and as well, not likely to be repeated.

They made a ton of money off of MayMac...about as much as they would've made off of a 1 million buy PPV

The made massive cuts of behind the scenes people and even some not so behind the scenes, which saved a lot of money.

They continued to drastically underpay the fighters for the most part.

But, like Frankie said, this is about UFC PPV numbers and the bottom line is that they were tremendously unlucky in 2017 in that their big draws (currently Conor, Ronda, Jones, Brock and GSP if you consider all of them active) had exactly 2 fights between them. If they'd all fought once and maybe some of them twice, we could've been looking at a record year.

As the article shows, more than ever before people are buying the bigger shows in bigger numbers than ever before but are skipping the run of the mill shows more than ever before. I believe this trend will continue to the point where UFC will cut back on the number of PPVs they run because at some point it will make more economic sense to put some of these shows on free TV rather than PPV. And then their PPV average will obviously go up (artificially). But as long as the floor for a PPV is 100,000 buys, this won't happen because UFC is still making money at that number.

 

[DezWalker]

Lesnar and Rousey aren’t returning from the abyss so it’s up to Conor and new players to get the ratings up. Doubtful that anyone new emerges on a superstar level.

I suspect we will see Brock in 2018 against either Bones Jones or N'Gannou...maybe both.

 

[FrankieNYC]

For all the talk about UFC profits being up, there are a number of reasons for that not related to PPV sales and as well, not likely to be repeated.

They made a ton of money off of MayMac...about as much as they would've made off of a 1 million buy PPV

The made massive cuts of behind the scenes people and even some not so behind the scenes, which saved a lot of money.

They continued to drastically underpay the fighters for the most part.

But, like Frankie said, this is about UFC PPV numbers and the bottom line is that they were tremendously unlucky in 2017 in that their big draws (currently Conor, Ronda, Jones, Brock and GSP if you consider all of them active) had exactly 2 fights between them. If they'd all fought once and maybe some of them twice, we could've been looking at a record year.

As the article shows, more than ever before people are buying the bigger shows in bigger numbers than ever before but are skipping the run of the mill shows more than ever before. I believe this trend will continue to the point where UFC will cut back on the number of PPVs they run because at some point it will make more economic sense to put some of these shows on free TV rather than PPV. And then their PPV average will obviously go up (artificially). But as long as the floor for a PPV is 100,000 buys, this won't happen because UFC is still making money at that number.

The $55m in cuts don't need to be repeated though
UFC without a single PPV sold went from a $100m+ profit per year company to the $150m+ per they are at now
No need to repeat that, it is already part of their 2018 model & metrics

The rest we are obviously in full agreement on
Welcome back

 

[IBeLurkin]

Not true
UFC is worth 30% more now then when they sold it

But if these trends continue, and they keep struggling to get a TV deal, that won't be the case.

 

[FrankieNYC]

But if these trends continue, and they keep struggling to get a TV deal, that won't be the case.

The lowest offer the received is over 2x the last deal
They also have NBC & possibly TW-ATT (if merger goes through)
There is no struggle

But of course a downturn in interest is never good, but you don't panic because of one down year.
3-5 years? Absolutely

But if UFC stays at this level forever (minor up/down) they are a very healthy company

 

[IBeLurkin]

The lowest offer the received is over 2x the last deal
They also have NBC & possibly TW-ATT (if merger goes through)
There is no struggle

But of course a downturn in interest is never good, but you don't panic because of one down year.
3-5 years? Absolutely

But if UFC stays at this level forever (minor up/down) they are a very healthy company

Healthy, sure.

But other "real" sports have gotten the kind of increase in TV deals (that's why the UFC asked for those kind of numbers) that the UFC was asking for, and the UFC got denied by everyone.

The UFC can be "healthy", but if they stay at this level, they'll keep being plagued by not paying their athletes anywhere near what the big sports leagues pay their athletes.

And that means they won't get the best athletes in their sport at all. Which is fucking awful for the sports longevity, unfortunately.

 

[FrankieNYC]

But other "real" sports have gotten the kind of increase in TV deals (that's why the UFC asked for those kind of numbers) that the UFC was asking for, and the UFC got denied by everyone.

Who recently got a 4.5x increase as a TV deal?
The NFL deal went up 60% 4 years ago as an example
The UFC deal lowest bid is 225% higher

In negotiations you ask for more & settle for less

Again, UFC's lowest offer is a huge increase from the last deal

 

[Hester65]

I suspect we will see Brock in 2018 against either Bones Jones or N'Gannou...maybe both.

Never say never but I’d be surprised to see Lesnar in the cage again.

 

[FrankieNYC]

Never say never but I’d be surprised to see Lesnar in the cage again.

If that did not occur with Jones, I think we'd see it
I don't think he should/would get a title shot next

Maybe a Reem rematch if no Jones

 

[JKS]

This is not a thread about 2017 revenue
It is a comparison of year to year UFC PPV's to show interest per year as outline by the author/analyst
Why are you bringing up a Boxing PPV?

What am I not allowed to go off topic?? The UFC was part of that event and helped promote and got revenues in return. Were talking about UFC ppv and the point I was adding that even though they had the worse year in PPV sales, the boxing fight adds to ppv revenues. When Dana was asked about this in the media about the slow ppv year he always brings up the May/Mac fight as part of their ppv. Its boxing fight with a mma fighter and mma fans watching it, it can be part of the discussion.