In 2016, the UFC had EBITDA of $226 million
That is the first time we got concrete numbers for 2016.
If the 2017 projections of $320m hold up, that is a huge upswing for a down trending year (see below).
Part of it was MayMac, $55m was cost cutting & the rest were contractual deals that WME made & escalating deals from Lorenzo era
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The Fight Night on FS 1 ratings, which, while not necessarily the most important numbers, are the numbers that measure the weekly regular fan base the best, saw a decline from 965,111 viewers on average for the main cards to 795,412, or a drop of 17.6 percent.
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The prelims for Fight Nights on FS 1 fell from 730,125 to 634,929, a drop of 13.0 percent. A key is that this percentage drop being less than the main card drop shows that the audience that is watching is more apt to watch longer. But theoretically that would be the case because the most hardcore fans who are willing to watch all five hours instead of two or three on Saturday are going to be less likely to give up their viewing habits.
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The live FOX main cards (and this factors out the big Christmas Eve number last year) averaged 2,084,500 viewers this year, as opposed to 2,661,600 last year, a decline of 21.7 percent. The reality is that the four UFC on FOX shows in 2017 were among the five lowest in the six year history of UFC on network television.
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PPV prelims on FS 1 dropped 28.6 percent from 1,168,500 to 834,000. But that’s to be expected, because those numbers are directly related to interest in the main event, and this year had fewer big PPV matches and shows headlined by marquee names.
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Not including the final show of the year, and if anything, that show will hurt the average rather than help it, the PPVs have gone from an estimated 558,000 buys in North America to 305,000 or a 45.3 percent drop. These numbers would not include the 12/30 show, which probably wouldn’t have changed the average by much in either direction.
The prelims drop tells a story. If the drops were identical, there isn’t much to learn from it. But the drops being less tells you that while all audiences declined, the audience willing to watch for free didn’t decline at nearly the rate of the audience willing to pay PPV prices.
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Interest is down & needs to be addressed, but even without MayMac, UFC would have had their best moneymaking year in history.
That is the first time we got concrete numbers for 2016.
If the 2017 projections of $320m hold up, that is a huge upswing for a down trending year (see below).
Part of it was MayMac, $55m was cost cutting & the rest were contractual deals that WME made & escalating deals from Lorenzo era
-
The Fight Night on FS 1 ratings, which, while not necessarily the most important numbers, are the numbers that measure the weekly regular fan base the best, saw a decline from 965,111 viewers on average for the main cards to 795,412, or a drop of 17.6 percent.
-
The prelims for Fight Nights on FS 1 fell from 730,125 to 634,929, a drop of 13.0 percent. A key is that this percentage drop being less than the main card drop shows that the audience that is watching is more apt to watch longer. But theoretically that would be the case because the most hardcore fans who are willing to watch all five hours instead of two or three on Saturday are going to be less likely to give up their viewing habits.
-
The live FOX main cards (and this factors out the big Christmas Eve number last year) averaged 2,084,500 viewers this year, as opposed to 2,661,600 last year, a decline of 21.7 percent. The reality is that the four UFC on FOX shows in 2017 were among the five lowest in the six year history of UFC on network television.
-
PPV prelims on FS 1 dropped 28.6 percent from 1,168,500 to 834,000. But that’s to be expected, because those numbers are directly related to interest in the main event, and this year had fewer big PPV matches and shows headlined by marquee names.
-
Not including the final show of the year, and if anything, that show will hurt the average rather than help it, the PPVs have gone from an estimated 558,000 buys in North America to 305,000 or a 45.3 percent drop. These numbers would not include the 12/30 show, which probably wouldn’t have changed the average by much in either direction.
The prelims drop tells a story. If the drops were identical, there isn’t much to learn from it. But the drops being less tells you that while all audiences declined, the audience willing to watch for free didn’t decline at nearly the rate of the audience willing to pay PPV prices.
----------
Interest is down & needs to be addressed, but even without MayMac, UFC would have had their best moneymaking year in history.
