UFC PPV numbers in 2014 off to a rough start

Discussion in 'MMA - Mixed Martial Arts' started by speeds, Mar 19, 2014.

  1. speeds

    speeds $2.50 highball, $1.50 beer Staff Member Administrator GFX Team

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    Two of the UFC's most popular fighters (supposedly) and three title fights haven't meant much in terms of PPV buys this year. The first PPV event of the year (169 in February), featuring Urijah Faber, scored 230,000 buys. The second, 170, featuring Ronda Rousey, got 340,000. Early estimates for UFC 171, which coincided with working man's St. Patrick's Day (Saturday rather than Monday), put the event buys somewhere between the first two. The next PPV event isn't until the end of April and features Jon Jones vs. Glover Teixeira. The card lacks a strong co-main. Teixeira is less famous than Alex Gustafsson and Jones' fight with Gustafsson drew 310,000 buys. Could be a lean year for the UFC in terms of PPV.

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  2. speeds

    speeds $2.50 highball, $1.50 beer Staff Member Administrator GFX Team

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    The WWE Network has about 700,000 subscribers. Each month they are generating a gross revenue of $7-million from the subscription service. If the UFC is going to average 325,000 PPV buys a month, they are generating about $8-million from PPV (50% of the gross goes to the distributor). So, the UFC would need about 800,000 subscribers if they were to follow the WWE's model and provide PPV's for free via their streaming, subscription network (at $10/month). At $20/month they would only need 400,000 subscribers. Is the PPV model still ideal?
     

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