"$80 is absolutely ridiculous" - Fans react to report of underwhelming PPV sales of UFC 278 and UFC 276
UFC 278, which went down at the Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City last weekend, reportedly sold an underwhelming 360k PPV buys. The event recorded even lesser pay-per-view sales than UFC 276 which reportedly sold 400k.
UFC 278 was headlined by a welterweight title clash between Kamaru Usman and Leon Edwards, and featured a returning Luke Rockhold against Paulo Costa in the co-main event. Meanwhile, Jared Cannonier challenged Israel Adesanya in the main event at UFC 276, which was co-headlined by a trilogy bout between Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway.
Fans have come up with a variety of reactions to the poor pay-per-view sales of recent UFC cards. Many blamed extremely high PPV rates for the underwhelming sales.
One fan stated that watching UFC events at a bar saves money, citing the recent hike in the price of pay-per-views. @JustinMize16 wrote:
"$80 is absolutely ridiculous. I go to a bar and spend $25 on food and watch them there."
@The_MMA_Media $80 is absolutely ridiculous. I go to a bar and spend $25 on food and watch them there.
@The_MMA_Media didnt they even drop the price by like $20?
@lafamonkeyy @The_MMA_Media If you had the Disney + subscription bundle. People are tired of paying nearly $80 for a ppv. If they have it $40/$50 permanently then they would sell more
@The_MMA_Media The numbers are getting worse. They need to have less fight nights or lower the price
Others predict that the upcoming UFC 279 PPV might fare even worse due a lack of high-caliber bouts on the card, other than the Khamzat Chimaev vs. Nate Diaz headliner.
@AJenkinsBrother @The_MMA_Media 79 is insane, especially if they’re not stacking the card. Drop it to 40 and numbers would skyrocket, far easier to justify the buy rather than streaming
@The_MMA_Media About what I expected. 279 will do even worse but 280 and 281 will do the most for the year
Some fans believe Conor McGregor is the answer to dipping UFC PPV sales. 'The Notorious' has featured in seven of the ten highest selling pay-per-views in UFC history.
@The_MMA_Media If someone hasn’t already said it I’ll definitely say it, we need this guy back ASAP https://t.co/fUdVV91L8t
@The_MMA_Media N...N...NOTORIOUS https://t.co/TXstC4K0Ot
UFC not to be blamed for PPV price rise, claims Dana White
At the beginning of 2022, UFC pay-per-view prices saw a rise of $5 starting with UFC 270 in January. Much to the agony of fans, prices soared from $69.99 to $74.99.
However, UFC president Dana White insists that the company if not to be blamed for the hike in prices. While White came under scathing criticism for the rise in prices, the UFC boss claimed that the decision was made by their broadcast partner ESPN.
White also claims that he himself is not happy about the rise in pay-per-view rates. The 53-year-old said at the UFC Vegas 46 post-fight presser in January:
“We don’t have any say in that. We gave the pay-per-views to ESPN, so yeah, that’s their decision. You know how I feel about that stuff. I don’t love when prices get raised, but it’s not my decision. It’s theirs.”
Watch Dana White discuss the matter below: