Timely, daily updates provide the latest developments and news relied upon by industry leaders. Rodriguez won the contest by unanimous decision. That fight had 4.3 million pay-per-view buys in the United States, which, at @ $100 a pop, brought in about $430 million. And unless the NFL destroys itself or its reputation, it looks like the league is in a position to rule the American sports roost for quite some time. Floyd Mayweather only earned the third spot in terms of recognition with 79%, despite extremely high viewing figures in the last decade. Two other UFC events were very close to matching this record, like Rousey vs. Holm for UFC 193, which reached 56,214 people in live attendance. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. The best of the best: the portal for top lists & rankings: Strategy and business building for the data-driven economy: Industry-specific and extensively researched technical data (partially from exclusive partnerships). For instance, during the recent UFC 236 in Atlanta, the attendance was 14,297 for a live gate of $1,908,721. You need a Statista Account for unlimited access. 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. In, Morning Consult. Published by Statista Research Department , Aug 29, 2019 Key insights UFC total. By far, professional football is America's favorite sport. We support responsible gambling. The aforementioned NASCAR Cup Series race from Road America averaged a 1.15 rating and 1.93 million viewers on USA Network, down 9% in ratings and 11% in viewership versus last season's average for races on NBCSN (1.3, 2.2M). 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. 1? You might find it helpful for further reading to learn more about the UFCs viewership stats in recent years. Churchill Downs has been home to some of the most incredible moments in sports history. On the other hand, UFC reportedly made well over $700 million in profit in 2017, but that number might not represent a normal year for them because it included the Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather boxing match, which on its own brought the company a profit of about $180 million. The contest was a rebooking of their September fight, which ended in 15 seconds after Stephens could not continue after Rodriguez poked him in the eye. Meanwhile, the challenge brought on in the last two decades by the UFC, one of the other violent sports Americans love to watch and pay for, shows that they are serious about competing with the NFL, but UFC President Dana White understands that his company and sport still have a long, long way to go. All three networks post year-over-year losses, as February 2022 ratings were aided by Russia-Ukraine coverage. Wenn Sie Ihre Auswahl anpassen mchten, klicken Sie auf Datenschutzeinstellungen verwalten. 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. ", 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 on FOX 28 ratings were better than expected for the "Emmett vs. Stephens" event in Orlando, despite stiff competition from the Olympics and NBA. UFC divides its fighters into nine weight classes, $30 million per season + $5 million in endorsements = $35 million, $3 million per fight, though McGregor made between $85 million and $100 million for boxing Mayweather, NBCs Sunday Night Football 18.175 million, No total available, but UFC on FOX: 1.828 million, ESPNs Monday Night Football 10.757 million, Thursday Night Football (NBC/CBS/NFL Network) 10.937 million, Highest viewed game drew 26.88 million viewers, Highest viewed UFC fight drew 4.3 million pay-per-views. Monday's Game 2 of the ALCS drew 1.88 million . Between 2014 and 2016, Nielson reported that the UFC had three primary growth markets around the world, which were: A large part of this growth in Russia was likely driven by the success of Khabib Nurmagomedov, who was a rising and undefeated fighter at that time. Registration issued by the Sports Wagering Committee of the Tennessee Education Lottery Corporation. UFC Fight Night 135 ratings for the "Gaethje vs. Vick" mixed martial arts (MMA) event on FOX Sports 1 last Saturday night (Aug. 26, 2018) in Lincoln, Nebraska. After graduating from the University of New Hampshire with a BA in Journalism, Richard Janvrin has been covering iGaming and sports betting since December 2018. The UFC also represents female fighters well, with womens UFC weight classes putting on many great fights. UFC 240 "Prelims" ratings on ESPN were the promotions worst of 2019 and came in second to "BattleBots" on Discovery Channel. 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. Overall, the UFC has been gaining popularity in many global markets. A 4-year epidemiological analysis (2015-2019) of doping in the UFC found that 8.7% of athletes committed ARVS (anti-doping rule violations). Access to easy-to-read digital editions of weekly issues. "Level of Interest in Ufc in The United States as of September 2021. Seems like we didn't get it right this time Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. The organization amassed 13.8 billion video views across Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok to sit at #2 on the list, just behind NBA, which garnered 14.5 billion views on the same platforms. Three of the five largest UFC PPVs since the promotions rights deal with ESPN began in January '19 have come during the coronavirus era." Super Bowl ad spending alone for in-game spots exceeded $382 million, which was the same as the previous season. UFC St. Petersburg "Prelims" ratings for the April 20 MMA event in Russia hit the lowest mark in more than a year with just 232,000 viewers. The win moved Reyes record to 12-0 and put him in a prime position to face current UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones in his next title defense. Learn more about how Statista can support your business. arrow_drop_up 841. So how do those NFL viewership numbers compare to UFC? Latest UFC rankings update following the UFC 277 pay-per-view (PPV) event on July 30 in Dallas, Texas, with Derrick Lewis falling out of the Top 5 at heavyweight. Then you can access your favorite statistics via the star in the header. Please do not hesitate to contact me. There has been roughly an 8% decline in attendance since the 2016 NFL season. Then, based on the best information that Google searches can find, we will look at the revenue, salaries, viewership, attendance and ratings of both sports in order to figure out how the two measure up against each other. The appeal is spreading to many different cultures and parts of the world. Most Super Bowl wins by NFL team 1967-2023, Average ticket price in the NFL by team 2021, FIFA World Ranking: top male soccer teams 2022, Athletic footwear global market share by company 2015, Health & Fitness Clubs - Statistics & Facts, Sporting goods industry in the U.S. - statistics & facts, Profit from additional features with an Employee Account. The martial arts organization trailed footballs UEFA Champions League (#1), EPL (#2), and LaLiga (#3). One UFC on FOX show from Milwaukee averaged 1.828 million viewers while another UFC fight night drew an average of 1.867 million viewers. The numbers dont lie, and they tell us that the NFL has a whole lot more fans that the UFC in America and the difference in the amount of money each makes seems to back that theory up. ESPN+ on its own currently costs $10 per month or $100 for a year-long plan. The ESPN-UFC partnership is "continuing to grow despite the struggling U.S. economy and massive job loss, as the MMA promotion is the only sports entity that has remained consistent or grown with its pre-pandemic television ratings, according to Kevin Iole of YAHOO SPORTS. 1 rated program on cable on Saturday night. PED Use In UFC Sanctions In 2022. Men's Semifinals Combine for 46% Increase. That makes sense, given that there are more NFL regular-season games (256) than there are UFC events per year (39). According to the Nielsen Ratings System, the UFC Fight Island 7 card on ABC, headlined by Max Holloway's five round masterpiece against Calvin Kattar, pulled in 1.22 million viewers on average . 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. The event generated 2,400,000 (2.4 million) in Pay-Per-View buys, with this single fight likely attracting all that viewership. 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. You have 1 All Access article remaining this month. They often spend their disposable income on entertainment like sports. The cheapest ticket for the McGregor versus Merryweather fight was $1,335, with the front-row seats at the 100 level going for between $9,000 and $16,000. When its all said and done, UFC 261 will likely go down as one of the biggest cards of the year for the promotion. 1-rated program across all of cable this past Saturday night. Coverage totaled 153 hours across ESPN and ESPN2, an increase of 15% over the 133 that had been . The UFC's most significant year for pay-per-view was 2016, with an average of 655,000 buys. Now lets check out some of the total PPV buys per year for the UFC: Its clear that from 2005, the UFC really optimized its entire branding and media output to reach over a million in pay-per-view buys. 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. The biggest growth markets for the UFC up to 2016 were Russia, Spain, and Poland. The biggest difference between the two groups is that the NFL is a league made up of 32 teams with 53 players on each with 46 players declared active for each game, while the UFC is actually a company owned and operated by a parent company* that promotes mixed martial arts (MMA) fights. The most important key figures provide you with a compact summary of the topic of "Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)" and take you straight to the corresponding statistics. 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. It's been proclaimed the most exciting two minutes in sports. ET. Also, didn't factor in when prelims . According to a recent report published by Nielsen titled, Year in Review: Sports Consumption Evolution. Here are the statistics : 2021 UFC PPV prelims averaged 999.7K viewers. Upgrade your subscription to get all the news you need: Adding SBJ weekly content will give you the comprehensive view of sports business with: Adding SBJ daily content will give you the comprehensive view of sports business with: UFC events have delivered strong viewership on ESPN linear channels and good streaming numbers on ESPN+. Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date IAN GARRY VS KENAN SONG LOWDOWN. The first thing we like to do is go over a few side-by-side comparisons between the UFC and the NFL so that those readers who dont know the details of both of these sports can get a better idea of how each one is operated. There really is no Super Bowl level fight in the UFC, but if you look at the McGregor vs. Mayweather fight that took place in 2017, it did come close at just under $600 million total revenue. If he wins the title, he would be tied with Dustin Poirier for the third-most fights to win a UFC championship. A paid subscription is required for full access. In terms of digital fan engagement on Facebook, ONE sealed its spot at #4, getting approximately 16.6 thousand average engagements per post. Here are the top 10 biggest UFC events in Pay-Per-View buys: As you probably guessed, McGregors name appears plenty, with eight times being one of the lead name fighters for a UFC event and holding the top six spots quite easily. Buys for pay-per-view shows by the UFC have grown considerably since its origins in the 90s. But it actually only reached 20,034 (its max capacity) in live attendance at the T-Mobile Arena in Nevada. 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). For all the latest tips, predictions and special offers directly into your inbox once a week. Later in 2018, he would beat Conor McGregor for the biggest Pay-Per-View of all time. 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. Updated 2 years ago. Which puts the majority of earnings for UFC fans under $100K. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Leaders Group. Conor McGregor and an extra muscled Jake Gyllenhaal filmed a scene from the upcoming remake of "Roadhouse" after UFC 285s ceremonial weigh-ins. UFC ratings: The "Khabib vs. McGregor" preliminary card for FOX Sports 1 returned impressive ratings for the network-televised action on Oct. 6 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Following the release of UFC on FOX 11's low overnight ratings, much has been made about the UFC's . 5 overall in Saturday cable ratings with 616,000 viewers on average.