White: Pay-per-view isn’t dead

The UFC suffered a dramatic downturn in pay-per-view buys in 2014. The WWE suffered a PPV collapse, with the number of subscribers to their subscription online TV network not nearly compensating for the lost revenue. Many have said that PPV is dead for MMA, but ahead of UFC 182, UFC president Dana White expressed confidence, and offered a rare prediction.

“I think this fight will do 750[k buys], that’s where I place the line,” said White as transcribed by Dave Doyle for MMA Fighting. “Everyone thinks the pay-per-view thing is dead. Pay-per-view isn’t dead. We just had a bad year.”

Over the past five years or so UFC has seen PPV and ticket sales go from 75% of gross revenues to less than 30%. However, gross revenue is up 50% during that period, due to television deals with companies like FOX, Globo and Televisa. Still, 2014 was a bad year for UFC PPVs, separate from industry, technology, and consumer trends.

“This year has been the most challenging year we’ve ever had,” said ZUFFA CEO Lorenzo Fertitta late in 2014. “About 80 percent of the fights we wanted to put on got canceled for whatever reason. Injury, drug test, somebody had a baby, who knows. If it could happen, it happened in 2014. I can’t wait to get to next year.”

Now are in 2015, and on the first day of the year, two fighters were out with injuries. Costas Philippou suffered a rib injury and is out vs. Uriah Hall on the main card of UFC Fight Night 59: McGregor vs. Siver. And Tarrec Saffiedine suffered a groin pull and is out of his main event fight with Matt Brown at UFC Fight Night 60.

UFC 182 Saturday night will provide a great test for the health of the PPV market. Jones vs. Cormier is the most anticipated fight in years. If it gets 750k buys, the market it sound. If it doesn’t break 500k, the market is in notable decline, and a turn around is highly unlikely.