Now Fridays are typically a bad night for ratings on television in general but the PFL saw similar returns to these averages when promoting cards on Thursday nights during the previous season in 2019. The UFC has various training camps and has over 500 fighters currently signed to UFC contracts, but none of these camps makes the kind of revenue a single NFL franchise can bring in per year. You have 1 All Access article remaining this month. Overall, the UFC has been gaining popularity in many global markets. Only four other sports properties manage to finish higher Tokyo 2020 Olympics (+73%), UEFA EURO 2020 (+35%), and F1 (+31%). On secondary ticket providers like StubHub, Ticketmaster, TickPick and Vivid Seats, the typical cost of a Super Bowl LIII ticket was well above $5,000. The UFC has deals with some big names, including 7-Eleven, Modelo beer and BodyArmor, so the money is there, just not at the same level as in the NFL and certainly not made public in the same way. (18-5-2) was a fight of the year candidate, . All rights reserved.The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Leaders Group. ET. (September 22, 2021). The UFC has produced 19 pay-per-view fight cards during its relationship with ESPN, which began 20 months ago in January 2019. ", Morning Consult, Level of interest in UFC in the United States as of September 2021 Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1122523/ufc-interest/ (last visited March 04, 2023), Level of interest in UFC in the United States as of September 2021 [Graph], Morning Consult, September 22, 2021. UFC 248 "Prelims" crossed the one million mark last Sat. The UFCs most significant year for pay-per-view was 2016, with an average of 655,000 buys. Currently, you are using a shared account. The second biggest was in 2009, with an average of 617,000 PPV buys. The 2021 report by Nielsen showed that ONEs video views have doubled in just 12 months. Latest Finish in a Three-Round Fight . As part of our continuing series of in depth comparisons between the National Football League and all the other American professional sports leagues, we offer our latest look, which is the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) versus the NFL (click here to see the NFL vs. NBA, MLB, NHL, MLS, and NASCAR). The median income for a UFC fighter was $68,500 in 2018 while the average income of all UFC fighters for that same year was $138,250. Fox News, MSNBC gain viewers from January, while CNN sees losses. Access to this and all other statistics on 80,000 topics from, Show sources information Floyd Mayweather only earned the third spot in terms of recognition with 79%, despite extremely high viewing figures in the last decade. You might find it helpful for further reading to learn more about the UFCs viewership stats in recent years. Get in touch with us. 1? The latest personnel hires and promotions, plus exclusive ratings and research from the sports industry. UFC vs boxing: How UFC is edging ahead in the popularity stakes. UFC ratings have been surging throughout the pandemic. The UFC is not bigger than the NFL in terms of revenue or fanbase, although it is growing rapidly in both metrics. Facebook: quarterly number of MAU (monthly active users) worldwide 2008-2022, Quarterly smartphone market share worldwide by vendor 2009-2022, Number of apps available in leading app stores Q3 2022. Deepak began following the sport as a casual fan when Ronda Rousey was finishing That is the concern for boxing as it competes with Dana Whites mixed-martial-arts monster for relevance and popularity: it isnt just that the numbers are tilting in the upstarts favour, it is that they appear to have more name value with which to sustain the growth, and younger stars too. As a Premium user you get access to background information and details about the release of this statistic. Get the best reports to understand your industry. When its all said and done, UFC 261 will likely go down as one of the biggest cards of the year for the promotion. IAN GARRY VS KENAN SONG LOWDOWN. Three of the five largest UFC PPVs since the promotions rights deal with ESPN began in January '19 have come during the coronavirus era." Heres a list of the top 10 UFC events in order of live attendance: Compare these events to Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor for UFC 229. ET ended up with 951,000 viewers on average with a .36 rating in the coveted 18-49 year old demographic, which was tops for all programming on Saturday. All our emails include an As a Premium user you get access to the detailed source references and background information about this statistic. of Award-winning original reporting, with in-depth profiles, timely research and expert opinions on the biggest issues and stories in sports business. Conor McGregor Reacts To Horrific Broken Ankle, Pic! Later in 2018, he would beat Conor McGregor for the biggest Pay-Per-View of all time. They helped to bring those eyes to the UFC. Click below to sign in. While the UFC's main card pay-per-view numbers are undoubtedly massive, the pay-per-view numbers for the preliminary cards are also no less. Measure of Success: Churchill Downs Race Tracks Sponsorship Strategy Sponsored by IEG, Ourand: Pac-12 has time on media rights, as long as no other schools leave, Fallout from RSN mess means big changes for fans, teams and leagues, The Marchand and Ourand Sports Media Podcast: Episode 76 -- RSN Armageddon. The UFC was in Boston on Friday for the UFC on ESPN 6 fight card. Theres approximately another 10% viewership for under-25s and 10% for over-54s. If you no longer want to Bloody Elbow's analytics expert takes a look at the viewership stats to see what they show. The second biggest was in 2009, with an average of 617,000 PPV buys. Check out below: No votes so far! The early prelims, which aired at 6 p.m. ET on ESPN 2, also ended up at No. 1-rated program across all of cable this past Saturday night. During today's conversation IEG's Vice President of Strategy and Churchill Downs Vice President of Marketing, Brand and Partnerships Casey Ramage give us some insight on their analytical approach to sponsorship strategy. possesses a Vendor Minor sports betting license from the Colorado Limited Gaming Control Commission (account UFC 225 'Prelims' Return Second-Lowest Ratings Of 2018 UFC 225 "Prelims" ratings on FOX Sports 1 returns just 667,000 viewers, marking the second-lowest viewership of the year behind. Be the first to rate this post. 22: UFC fights for Lewis. "Level of Interest in Ufc in The United States as of September 2021. How much more revenue does the NFL take in than UFC? The event, which took place at TD Garden, was headlined by a light heavyweight bout between the undefeated Dominick Reyes and former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman. The 2021 US Open in New York averaged 881,000 viewers in prime time, up 33% (from 662,000) over last year, and it was up 13% (from an average of 702,000 to 796,000) for the entire two weeks of telecasts. ONE Championship reached yet another significant milestone in 2021. (For more details on the players respectful protest, please read our extensive article explaining the NFL kneeling controversy.). Commission, a sports betting vendor registration, under registration number #100400, issued by the Director ET ended up with 951,000 viewers on average with a .36 rating in the coveted 18-49 year. Address: 1401 21st ST STE # 5333, Sacramento, CA 95811, USA Email: joe@mmahive.com Phone: +1-323-457-8730, UFCs 10 Biggest Events By Live Attendance, Quick Answers About UFC Viewership Statistics. By far, professional football is America's favorite sport. WWE notched the top spot in the list with viewership numbers totalling 14.6 billion in 2019 while NBA and NFL are on the second and third spot with a total viewership of 10.3 billion and 6 billion respectively. For example, last year the New York Giants signed running back Saquon Barkley to a deal worth $31.2 million (with a signing bonus of $20.77 million). Here are the top three highest-paid NFL athletes, and no surprise here, they are all quarterbacks: In 2017, 37% of MMA fighters made less than the $45,000 median U.S. average household income. As soon as this statistic is updated, you will immediately be notified via e-mail. UFC on ESPN 1 was going up against the NBA All-Star Game and a boxing event headlined by Leo Santa Cruz vs. Rafael Rivera. When people click on our New Notebook file_download Download (4 MB) more_vert. The NFL teams play 16 games in a regular-season while in the UFC there is no season because they operate all twelve months of the year. The appeal is spreading to many different cultures and parts of the world. UFC Fight Night 131 ratings second-lowest in history for the "Rivera vs. Moraes" FOX Sports 1 event inside Adirondack Bank Center in Utica, New York. Formula 1 racing is averaging 946,000 viewers through 11 races this season, up 47% from the first 11 races of last year's delayed, shortened season (645K) and up 39% from the same number of races in 2019 (681K). UFC 237 Prelims ratings hit new low on ESPN, continuing the promotion's downward trend after the high-water mark for UFC 235 back in March 2019. Please do not hesitate to contact me. affiliate links and make purchases, WSN earns a commission from our partners, including ESPN and various Learn more. Weitere Informationen ber die Verwendung Ihrer personenbezogenen Daten finden Sie in unserer Datenschutzerklrung und unserer Cookie-Richtlinie. night (Dec. 15, 2018) in Milwaukee in what marked the networks final UFC broadcast. MMA Hive was created in 2020 by Joe Bloom, the lead author. Lets look at some of the average pay-per-view buys per year to see which comes out on top. Then you can access your favorite statistics via the star in the header. TN), 1-855-2CALLGA (IL), 1-800-270-7117 (MI). newsletter, Pavlovich Boots Beast From Heavyweight Top 5, UFC 248 Prelims Tops One Million Viewers, ESPN Returns Disappointing Ratings For UFC 241. The UFCs biggest event, Khabib vs. McGregor, generated 2,400,000 pay-per-view buys. But again, unlike NFL games, UFC events take place in arenas instead of stadiums and when you consider that there are far more football games than UFC events in a year, the NFL numbers will always be higher. Wenn Sie Ihre Auswahl anpassen mchten, klicken Sie auf Datenschutzeinstellungen verwalten. Nearly half of all NFL fans are women (47 percent) and almost one in three NFL fans fall between the ages of 18 and 34 years of age. Statista. In other words, over thirty-eight times as many people went to football games over UFC fights in America in 2017. The roster of Russian fighters was also building with the likes of Alexey Oleinik, Alexander Volkov (who joined the UFC in late 2016), and Islam Makhachev. Viewership is up 56% over last year's full-season average (608K) and up 41% . Below youll find answers to many of them discovered in my research. This fight was likely so high in attendance because of the dedicated fanbases of Australians (for Whittaker) and New Zealanders (for Adesanya). Below youll find the list of sources used to write this article. In the dominant age group between 25 and 44, the 60% is split into about half each for 25 to 34-year-olds and 35 to 44-year-olds. Blanchfield vs. Andrade Main Card Breakdown, UFC 284 Champ vs. Overview and forecasts on trending topics, Industry and market insights and forecasts, Key figures and rankings about companies and products, Consumer and brand insights and preferences in various industries, Detailed information about political and social topics, All key figures about countries and regions, Market forecast and expert KPIs for 600+ segments in 150+ countries, Insights on consumer attitudes and behavior worldwide, Business information on 60m+ public and private companies, Detailed information for 35,000+ online stores and marketplaces. Overview and forecasts on trending topics, Industry and market insights and forecasts, Key figures and rankings about companies and products, Consumer and brand insights and preferences in various industries, Detailed information about political and social topics, All key figures about countries and regions, Market forecast and expert KPIs for 600+ segments in 150+ countries, Insights on consumer attitudes and behavior worldwide, Business information on 60m+ public and private companies, Detailed information for 35,000+ online stores and marketplaces. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, Report: UFC 232 pulls in an impressive 700,000 buys (MMA Mania), UFC 229 draws 20,034 fans, falls just shy of live gate record (MMA Junkie), NFL vs UFC: Revenue, Salaries, Viewership, Attendance and Ratings (WSN), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Statistics & Facts (Statista). WATCH: 17-Year-Old Smilla Sundell Puts On an Emphatic Performance to Become the I think this is mainly due to the growing local competitions in these areas (like One Championship), which breeds a large viewer base among the size of the population. Each year, there are 256 total regular-season NFL games while in 2018 there were only 39 UFC events. Such as in 2018, which included Khabib vs. McGregor (UFC 229), and in 2016 which included McGregor vs. Diaz (UFC 196). The next PFL card will take place on Thursday night with the broadcast on ESPN2 while the next UFC pay-per-view will go down on May 15 on ESPN. the Moreover, ONE exhibited growth on TikTok, increasing its followers by 146% in 2021 second only to F1. The UFC's most significant year for pay-per-view was 2016, with an average of 655,000 buys. Which puts the majority of earnings for UFC fans under $100K. Overall, the UFC has enjoyed a very good year so far when it comes to pay-per-view prelims with UFC 257 and UFC 259 both delivering more than 1 million viewers on average for a broadcast and now UFC 261 ending up as the No. His love for MMA comes from The Brazilians have had a keen interest in mixed martial arts since the birth of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, as many grapplers often dabble in other striking sports to add to their experiences like Boxing or Muay Thai. Prior to that, the UFCs parent company was Zuffa, a group formed by Station Casinos executive Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta and their business partner Dana White, who in 2001 had purchased the UFC for $2 million. With no association to look after their interests, UFC fighters get no guaranteed increase in pay when the company takes in more revenue. "Level of interest in UFC in the United States as of September 2021." The drastic growth of the company catapulted the UFC among the most valuable sports business brands worldwide. If you click a link on this page and make a purchase, we may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. (May 19, 2018) in Santiago, Chile. her opponents in seconds. 49 print issues delivered to your home or office. 1 rated program on cable on Saturday night. UFC attorney Hunter Campbell denies reports that UFC 225 tanked at the pay-per-view (PPV) box office, but is unable to provide any proof to the contrary. The UFC isnt yet bigger than boxing in viewership or pay-per-view buys. Hey Laser Lips! Only 187 fighters in the UFC are currently earning six-figure salaries. UFC 225 "Prelims" ratings on FOX Sports 1 returns just 667,000 viewers, marking the second-lowest viewership of the year behind UFC 224 in May. (CO, The fewest people in eleven years watched the New England Patriots defeat the Los Angeles Rams, 13-3, in Super Bowl LIII last season, just 98.2 million people worldwide tuned in. Accessed March 04, 2023. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1122523/ufc-interest/, Morning Consult. The only way US viewers can watch is on ESPN+. In contrast, the UFC only brings in several hundred million of revenue. The UFC is done using the pay-per-view structure, so there are no paid advertisements during the fight. McGregor has spearheaded that boom, culminating in his boxing showdown with Mayweather for which he is the 5/1 underdog, but he is no lone wolf, with Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate also recent graduates to the million club. The NFL made $14 billion off mostly national media deals, and they had to give half of that to the league, distributed to each of the 32 franchises. Last season for Super Bowl LIII, the winning New England Patriots each received$118,000and a big fat expensive ring, while the losing Los Angeles Rams players got$59,000 apiece. We support responsible gambling. Conor McGregor and an extra muscled Jake Gyllenhaal filmed a scene from the upcoming remake of "Roadhouse" after UFC 285s ceremonial weigh-ins. Cumulative reach measures the number of unique viewers who tune in to watch at least one minute of a TV broadcast. Midnight Mania! For Super Bowl LIII, Anheuser-Busch InBev and Fiat Chrysler Automotive were the top-spending parent companies and altogether the revenue from that event was estimated to be $450 million. They often spend their disposable income on entertainment like sports. 36 0 1 1 0 UFC 264: Poirier vs. McGregor 3 Jul. the UFC inked a five-year $1.5 billion rights deal with . Those outliers usually involve Conor McGregor. You'll need a subscription, and there are a few options for how to get one. In terms of digital fan engagement on Facebook, ONE sealed its spot at #4, getting approximately 16.6 thousand average engagements per post. While they might not be among the highest earners in society, sports fans are huge in numbers. According to one report, the stacked UFC 226 pay-per-view (PPV) event on Saturday July 7, 2018 lead by a heavyweight title fight between Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier, did just under 400,000 buys. While UFC on ESPN 6 began during prime time, it was the first UFC on ESPN event to be broadcast on ESPN2. Thats due, in part to the sudden attention to concussions and the resulting CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) made public in books like League of Denial and Brainwashed, as well as from the outrage created when NFL players began to protest racial inequality by taking a knee during the national anthem. To use individual functions (e.g., mark statistics as favourites, set Rebel Penguin ApS 2023 (a subsidiary of Gaming Innovation Group Inc.) ET, the UFC aired prelims on ESPN as an inducement for fans to buy the pay-per-view. Also, didn't factor in when prelims . Registration issued by the Sports Wagering Committee of the Tennessee Education Lottery Corporation. Execs also are "thrilled with the ratings the UFC delivers on ESPNs cable channels, while it also has added good streaming numbers on ESPN+." Three guys have kept crowds coming since Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield faded from view: Oscar De La Hoya, Mayweather and Pacquiao, but the latter is the youngest of the three at 38. In most of our comparisons, we found the best way to measure the revenue potential of the two championships is by breaking down how much each of them charges for ads. There has been roughly an 8% decline in attendance since the 2016 NFL season. UFC 240 "Prelims" ratings on ESPN were the promotions worst of 2019 and came in second to "BattleBots" on Discovery Channel. World Cup 2022 predictions & knockout stage schedule. Who never won the World Cup they deserved? Directly accessible data for 170 industries from 50 countries and over 1 million facts: Get quick analyses with our professional research service. There are so many differences between the NFL and the UFC that it doesnt seem fair to compare the two on any level, but we will do our best to point out whenever a particular comparison does not apply or if certain data is not available. Also on the main card, controversy continued to follow Greg Hardy as his win over Ben Sosoli was ruled a no contest after the event. That makes sense, given that there are more NFL regular-season games (256) than there are UFC events per year (39). UFC 285 will be shown live on BT Sport 1 in the UK and will also be shown live on the broadcaster's app. Klicken Sie auf Alle ablehnen, wenn Sie nicht mchten, dass wir und unsere Partner Cookies und personenbezogene Daten fr diese zustzlichen Zwecke verwenden. They then only increased their reach, bringing in over 4 million buys for 2006, and continued to rise to almost 9 million in 2010. Currently, a group led by William Morris Endeavor owns and operates the UFC ever since they bought the company in 2016 for $4.025 billion. UFC ratings for the ESPN "Prelims" card called "disappointing" for UFC 241: "Cormier vs. Miocic 2" last weekend in Anaheim. American-based MMA promotion UFC ranked #5 on the list with 6.6 billion views, while fellow mixed martial arts promotion Bellator MMA ended its year with 227 million views. The . How Many MMA Fans Are There In The World? Statista assumes no Boxing simply has a long history that has passed between several generations. Hardy was originally ruled the winner by decision. UFC 231 preliminary card ratings beat the 2018 average, thanks to the absence of college football, as well as some quality fights on FOX Sports 1.