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[popsicle1228]

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer is reporting that buyrates for the latest UFC PPV in Sydney, Australia are trending very low.

Updated trending data and other PPV info we’ve been able to get for UFC 110 isn’t looking good. It looks to have finished well behind UFC 108 and UFC 109. I don’t have a number of buys, but based on trending data which has historically been pretty accurate, it could be in the 215,000 to 240,000 range, basically along the lines of the tape-delayed foreign shows. This was foreign, but wasn’t tape delayed. One cable industry source gave an estimate of 215,000.

Payout Perspective:

We’ve talked a lot about the role that momentum plays in motivating purchasing behavior, and three lacklustre PPVs in a row have clearly hurt the UFC’s base. Should anyone be worried? Yes and no.

This is really the last lingering effect from the cursed back-half of 2009 when just about every major UFC star had some sort of injury; and, with a line-up in the next three months that’s going to feature four title fights, the UFC should be able to gather some momentum heading into the summer.

However, who’s to say what sort of impact this latest trend of poor PPV showings will have on UFC 111. The UFC isn’t necessarily out of the woods yet, especially considering the potential impact a strong or poor showing at UFC 111 could have for the rest of the summer. That’s why creating a Primetime show and spending a more than usual on advertising for this event is so important.

Note: Meltzer doesn’t have hard numbers, yet. These are just trending estimates that usually increase by10-15% over time. We’ve been loathe to post them in the past just because they do change. Readers are starving for this information and this is the best we’ve got right now, but we will update if/when official numbers come along.

UFC 110 Buyrate Trending Low : MMAPayout.com: The Business of MMA

WEC 47 ratings dip to 373,000 viewers, second-smallest audience in two years

This past weekend’s WEC 47 event on Versus scored a 0.46 household rating and 373,000 viewers, MMAjunkie.com (UFC blog for UFC news, UFC rumors, fighter interviews and event previews/recaps | MMAjunkie.com) today confirmed.

The ratings were down sharply – 42 percent in all – compared to World Extreme Cagefighting’s prior show, WEC 46 (640,000 viewers), which took place in January and benefited from proven draw Urijah Faber and a main-event title-unification bout between Benson Henderson and Jamie Varner.

WEC 45, which took place this past December, drew 330,000 viewers.

WEC 47 took place March 6 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, and featured a bantamweight title fight between ex-champ Brian Bowles and new title-holder Dominick Cruz. Joseph Benavidez beat former champ Miguel Torres in the co-headliner, and Jens Pulver likely fought for the final time with his submission loss to Javier Vazquez.

It was a solid night of fights to mark the WEC’s Ohio debut, and the WEC 47 attendance (8,345) was the fifth-largest in WEC history. (MMAJunkie) … (MMA Payout Perspective)



WEC’s poor ratings show that Strikeforce should not waste their time going after them

The news coming out regarding WEC 47 drawing a 0.46 cable rating on Versus is bad news for Zuffa and informational news for CBS & Strikeforce.

First, the piss-poor rating should be cause for concern with UFC’s upcoming March 21st rally with Brandon Vera vs. Jon Jones. America is all about branding and despite years and years of Comcast trying to push Versus as a major network, American viewers simply aren’t buying into it. ESPN and its family of networks continue its dominance and Spike TV had long track records and programming that built those brands over many years. Versus has tried desperately with WEC and the NHL to try to boost ratings, but it simply hasn’t worked. UFC is a strong brand but it’s unlikely that they are going to build up Versus long-term like WWE helped build up Spike TV in the late 90s and early 00’s.

Second, WEC’s poor ratings not only indicate that the company is in a slide, but it also shows that Strikeforce has won a small battle amongst the hardcore fans. When Strikeforce on Showtime, a pay channel, is outdrawing Zuffa’s child on a semi-non-premium cable channel. So, the idea that Strikeforce should move their 4/17 Nashville event to 4/24 to try to screw with the buyrate for the WEC debut PPV would be a reactionary one and one that wouldn’t be productive for Scott Coker. Strikeforce needs to worry about expanding their base instead of fighting with Zuffa’s Jr. company over hardcore fans. Running on 4/17 instead of 4/24 also avoids competition against the Super Six boxing series on Showtime. (Fight Opinion)

MMAterial Facts (03/10/10): WEC 47 Ratings : MMAPayout.com: The Business of MMA

I was looking at the recent viewership numbers for MMA events and they have been on a significant decline. Granted the recent shows have been riddled relatively weak fight cards, and the numbers for UFC 110 are not official yet, but there is a declining trend beginning to form. I am not suggesting that public interest in mma is deteriorating, but just setting this up for discussion to see what others on the forum think. So what do you think? Is this just a momentary disinterest in MMA due to weak fight cards, or has MMA reached its peak and starting to fall?

[Bloodbeard]

I don't see how the WEC numbers are that strange but if UFC 110 ends up lower then 250k buys I'll be pretty shocked. either way UFC 111, 112, 113 should do very well. I'm not too worried.

[TreK]

I'm not sure if interest is going down due to the fact that the last 3 UFC cards had no championship fights or, if the Olympics stole a lot of attention as the games got closer or, hell, maybe call of duty 2 is taking up a lot of peoples time.

I'm a pretty big fan of MMA but, find it hard to shell out full PPV price with no titles on the line. As interesting as the fights are that the UFC is putting together during all of the injuries to the champs, they should also take a hit on PPV cost... maybe $10 less or something? It's not really fair to the fans that have become accustomed to at least 1 title fight per card.

I find it odd that the 2nd news story discusses Strikeforce fighting with WEC for the "hardcore fan base"... ummm... if you're "hardcore" (I hate that word... :P), then you probably watch all MMA. I know I do... Dream, Sengoku, WEC, strikeforce... I like 'em all... it's really more about the fighters and the fights than it is about some kind of obscure brand loyalty. I just can't imagine any true MMA fan not wanting to see Fedor just because he fights for Strikeforce.

It is sad that the WEC views are down as the last few events have been outstanding and very exciting... folks are missing out. I'd actually never even heard of Versus until the UFC shows starting promoting the next WEC cards so, maybe it's simply as matter of better marketing for both Versus and the WEC itself. It certainly isn't for a lack and quality fights and fighters. Hopefully as the WEC moves forward and the star power increases as the public gets more familiar with the fighters, the ratings will reflect that. Right now, outside of Faber and Torres (and maybe Aldo now cuz he's just amazing), the fighters are not that recognizable to the casual audience.

The next bunch of UFC cards look pretty darn good so, I guess we'll see if the inclusion of titles fights has any impact on buy rates. I will for sure be ordering UFC 111...

[joeyP]

I think a lot has to do with lack of starpower in recent cards. Idiot casual fans only care about a card if somebody named GSP, Silva, or Lesnar are fighting. A kid at school who claimed he was a "UFC" fan didn't even know who BJ Penn was.

I think it just shows how much room for growth there is

[TBEAR]

This may be some of the problem

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer is reporting that buyrates for the latest UFC PPV in Sydney, Australia are trending very low

This next one I can agree with

We’ve talked a lot about the role that momentum plays in motivating purchasing behavior, and three lacklustre PPVs in a row have clearly hurt the UFC’s base. Should anyone be worried? Yes and no.

This is really the last lingering effect from the cursed back-half of 2009 when just about every major UFC star had some sort of injury; and, with a line-up in the next three months that’s going to feature four title fights, the UFC should be able to gather some momentum heading into the summer.

Now to answer the question the UFC will be fine...thier next cards 111 throught 114 are stacked.

The public has a lot of causal fans that want to see the names they know, Brock, Anderson, Chuck, Randy, BJ etc.

But with these stacked cards approaching us the public will buy them and see new fighters expanding the UFC for years to come....

Injuries hurt the UFC last year nothing else IMO.

[IceCold48]

there isn't that many die hard fans, theres a lot, but not enough to create huge ppv sales and ufc 110 had a lot of people the casual fans probably aren't into and the serious fans are so i'm not that surprised that 110 didn't do great. 111 will be more telling

[Fedorlei Gomipierre]

I always find the PPVs held outside North America tend to be on the lower scale of buys and casual interest and while the WEC card was cool, I barely knew it was happening that night and it wasn't like the card was stacked with familiar names to draw in casual viewers. I think matchmaking and injuries is the key to alot of the "problems".

[Heavyweight770]

Nobody watched WEC 47 because nobody has Versus anymore. DirecTV doesnt have it anymore, and neither do a lot of other dish companies.

[Xanatos]

I don't think the public interest of mma is declining, in fact it's still growing. But people are not going to buy PPV's that don't interest them that much. UFC 108-110 weren't that great on paper, and so the amount of sales reflected that. sometimes it just works out that way.. the next 3 or 4 cards look really good and if there aren't too many injuries then i think we'll see an increase in sales for sure.

[Tyreas]

In a stronger economy this might be a huge concern but what do you expect. The shows are becoming more frequent so people have to pick and choose what shows they watch.

If GSP sells 250k then we should be worrying.