UFC News & FeaturesThe Bottom Line: A Recipe for Success
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Nobody knew what to expect when the Ultimate Fighting Championship started running full-capacity events again with UFC 261 over a year ago. The global coronavirus pandemic hadn’t yet reached its peak in new cases, and it wasn’t clear how fans would feel about attending live events until tickets started becoming available.
As it turned out, the UFC’s return to full crowds literally
couldn’t have turned out any better. Every show that has put
tickets on sale has sold out—18 straight in total. These sellouts
haven’t been driven by discount tickets, either. The gates have
topped $4 million 11 times, including three gates of over $8
million. These crowds have infused energy into the sport and filled
the UFC’s coffers at the same time. Now, the question centers on
how strongly the trend will continue as the UFC increases the pace
of its arena shows and expands into different markets.
In all likelihood, the UFC’s sellout streak will end sometime soon. If not with UFC on ABC 3 in Long Island on Saturday, upcoming shows in Dallas, San Diego and Salt Lake City haven’t yet sold to capacity. However, in all instances, ticket sales have remained strong and the general trend is clear: The UFC is a hot ticket, as hot from a live event standpoint as MMA tickets have ever been. There isn’t one single factor causing this boom, but a number of contributing causes have together made UFC one of the hottest tickets in sports.
After being isolated and unable to do nearly as many things for over a year, the easing of pandemic restrictions left many people equipped with greater savings and a desire to splurge on their favorite pastimes that had previously been unavailable. The biggest MMA fans were excited to attend events again and willing to spend to travel and attend major cards. The UFC also got the jump on many other events by opening up to fans earlier than other entertainment companies. Few sports offer the same level of live excitement as MMA, with crowds ready to explode when a split-second mistake leads to a sudden knockout or submission. A year of limited entertainment options left many thinking about when they’d be able to partake in their favorite events again, and the UFC in particular proved a potent draw. For many, that interest still hasn’t been fully satiated.
One commodity that combat sports promoters have consistently underestimated over the years is the value of scarcity. Promoters can’t help but want to do more, but fewer championships, fewer weight classes and fewer events all tend to lead to greater fan interest. A limited supply makes everything easier to follow and invest in. Plus, it attaches enhanced prestige and importance to each fight, card or title. When the UFC was running 40 live events a year, only a few individual shows felt particularly special. Now with more cards coming from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, each opportunity to see UFC live is a more precious commodity. That’s unlikely to remain the case in the years to come, but for the time being, it’s a major factor contributing to the excitement surrounding each live event.
Another stealthy benefit to running more cards at the UFC Apex has been the ability to save more big fights for pay-per-views and select arena TV events. There was once a time when the UFC regularly ran pay-per-view events with one weak title fight and little in the way of main card support, because every show was in a major arena and the company knew it couldn’t draw in major arenas with no marquee fights. That’s not a concern at the UFC Apex, so a two-tier system has developed. The UFC’s pay-per-view events in the past year and a half have reached a level of consistent depth that the company hasn’t had for over a decade. Two title fights and a compelling third fight from the top with established stars has become the standard. This may not continue with the UFC moving away from the Apex more often, but the company would be wise to continue to mix in regular Apex cards to fulfill TV contracts without spreading the talent too thin.
The component of the UFC’s recent arena success that most portends good things in the future is the creation of a new group of stars in many of the UFC’s marquee divisions. This trend is most clear at welterweight, where for years the best 170-pound fighters struggled to escape the daunting shadow of the retired Georges St. Pierre. Carlos Condit, Robbie Lawler and Tyron Woodley weren’t able to move numbers like St. Pierre did. After enough time elapsed, the division finally reached the point where fans weren’t comparing all the fighters to GSP, and new stars were finally created. In recent years, Kamaru Usman, Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal have all been major needle movers and produced three of the biggest box-office smashes of the period at UFC 261, UFC 268 and UFC 272.
Middleweight champion Israel Adesanya has also emerged as one of the sport’s marquee stars, occupying a similar role that Anderson Silva did in the same division years back. Featherweight kingpin Alexander Volkanovski has begun drawing solid crowds as a headliner, even without Max Holloway, and heavyweight titleholder Francis Ngannou has proven himself an attraction, as well. Perhaps most encouragingly, Charles Oliveira has sold out all three of his pay-per-views against Michael Chandler, Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje. Oliveira has had a tougher task than the others because, like the welterweights who followed GSP, he reigns after a dominant champion who retired without losing his title in the Octagon.
While other aspects of UFC’s recent red-hot arena business may gradually return to their pre-pandemic states, the company is likely to continue to thrive if the likes of Usman, Adesanya, Volkanovski, Ngannou and Oliveira are viewed as major stars by the UFC fan base. Add Jon Jones and Conor McGregor back to the mix, and the train may not slow down any time soon.
Nobody knew what to expect when the Ultimate Fighting Championship started running full-capacity events again with UFC 261 over a year ago. The global coronavirus pandemic hadn’t yet reached its peak in new cases, and it wasn’t clear how fans would feel about attending live events until tickets started becoming available.
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In all likelihood, the UFC’s sellout streak will end sometime soon. If not with UFC on ABC 3 in Long Island on Saturday, upcoming shows in Dallas, San Diego and Salt Lake City haven’t yet sold to capacity. However, in all instances, ticket sales have remained strong and the general trend is clear: The UFC is a hot ticket, as hot from a live event standpoint as MMA tickets have ever been. There isn’t one single factor causing this boom, but a number of contributing causes have together made UFC one of the hottest tickets in sports.
Pent-Up Demand
After being isolated and unable to do nearly as many things for over a year, the easing of pandemic restrictions left many people equipped with greater savings and a desire to splurge on their favorite pastimes that had previously been unavailable. The biggest MMA fans were excited to attend events again and willing to spend to travel and attend major cards. The UFC also got the jump on many other events by opening up to fans earlier than other entertainment companies. Few sports offer the same level of live excitement as MMA, with crowds ready to explode when a split-second mistake leads to a sudden knockout or submission. A year of limited entertainment options left many thinking about when they’d be able to partake in their favorite events again, and the UFC in particular proved a potent draw. For many, that interest still hasn’t been fully satiated.
Diminished Supply
One commodity that combat sports promoters have consistently underestimated over the years is the value of scarcity. Promoters can’t help but want to do more, but fewer championships, fewer weight classes and fewer events all tend to lead to greater fan interest. A limited supply makes everything easier to follow and invest in. Plus, it attaches enhanced prestige and importance to each fight, card or title. When the UFC was running 40 live events a year, only a few individual shows felt particularly special. Now with more cards coming from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, each opportunity to see UFC live is a more precious commodity. That’s unlikely to remain the case in the years to come, but for the time being, it’s a major factor contributing to the excitement surrounding each live event.
Deeper Cards
Another stealthy benefit to running more cards at the UFC Apex has been the ability to save more big fights for pay-per-views and select arena TV events. There was once a time when the UFC regularly ran pay-per-view events with one weak title fight and little in the way of main card support, because every show was in a major arena and the company knew it couldn’t draw in major arenas with no marquee fights. That’s not a concern at the UFC Apex, so a two-tier system has developed. The UFC’s pay-per-view events in the past year and a half have reached a level of consistent depth that the company hasn’t had for over a decade. Two title fights and a compelling third fight from the top with established stars has become the standard. This may not continue with the UFC moving away from the Apex more often, but the company would be wise to continue to mix in regular Apex cards to fulfill TV contracts without spreading the talent too thin.
A New Crop of Stars
The component of the UFC’s recent arena success that most portends good things in the future is the creation of a new group of stars in many of the UFC’s marquee divisions. This trend is most clear at welterweight, where for years the best 170-pound fighters struggled to escape the daunting shadow of the retired Georges St. Pierre. Carlos Condit, Robbie Lawler and Tyron Woodley weren’t able to move numbers like St. Pierre did. After enough time elapsed, the division finally reached the point where fans weren’t comparing all the fighters to GSP, and new stars were finally created. In recent years, Kamaru Usman, Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal have all been major needle movers and produced three of the biggest box-office smashes of the period at UFC 261, UFC 268 and UFC 272.
Middleweight champion Israel Adesanya has also emerged as one of the sport’s marquee stars, occupying a similar role that Anderson Silva did in the same division years back. Featherweight kingpin Alexander Volkanovski has begun drawing solid crowds as a headliner, even without Max Holloway, and heavyweight titleholder Francis Ngannou has proven himself an attraction, as well. Perhaps most encouragingly, Charles Oliveira has sold out all three of his pay-per-views against Michael Chandler, Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje. Oliveira has had a tougher task than the others because, like the welterweights who followed GSP, he reigns after a dominant champion who retired without losing his title in the Octagon.
While other aspects of UFC’s recent red-hot arena business may gradually return to their pre-pandemic states, the company is likely to continue to thrive if the likes of Usman, Adesanya, Volkanovski, Ngannou and Oliveira are viewed as major stars by the UFC fan base. Add Jon Jones and Conor McGregor back to the mix, and the train may not slow down any time soon.
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