Since the mid-90s, the demise of the UFC has been a regular media event. In the late 90s, it was even true.
In 2016 there were five UFC shows that did over 1,000,000 pay per view television buys. Until Saturday night there had been none, but president Dana White said UFC 217 crushed the figure. PPV lives or dies on stars, and the UFC stars were winking out, one by one. Ronda Rousey is apparently retired. Brock Lesnar was suspended for failing an anti-doping test, and is so out that the remaining six months are tolling. Conor McGregor has yet to defended either of the UFC belts he won. Jon Jones had his belt removed for the third time.
The sole remaining PPV draw is GSP, and he shone on Saturday night. White said though that despite a dearth of massive PPVs, the company had it’s best year ever when asked
Whose indications are that? People who don’t know what the f*** they’re talking about, said White at the post-fight press conference, as transcribed by Anton Tabuena for Bloody Elbow. You don’t know what’s going on in our business. How do you speculate that we’re having a down year?
This is a best year by a long shot in the company’s history. Boom! Ronda didn’t fight. Conor really didn’t fight in MMA. Jon Jones fought once. Anderson Silva, Chuck Liddell, the list goes on and on. The business is kicking ass. Best year ever, by a long shot.
The UFC was once dependent on PPV revenue but has now diversified with lucrative domestic and international sponsorships, television revenue, record-breaking live gates, and more.
It’s counting all the money that we made in the last 12 months, he said. You can’t take MayMac out. It did happen. If it didn’t happen, Conor would’ve fought twice this year. You can’t take it out. Who cares if it’s a boxing match? It’s revenue that the company made, that we spent 4 months of our resources promoting.
This summer sports gossip site TerezOwens.com reported that a knowledgeable UFC insider had revealed the UFC’s cut of the fight. Keep in mind that it came in via the TO Tip Box, so it’s a report of hearsay.
“A close friend and long time WEC and Zuffa employee just told me and Jake Shields what Zuffa’s cut allegedly is,” read the tip, reportedly. “20% of his purse (his purse is rumored at 75 million) and 50% of Conor’s share of the PPV (Conor is getting 20% of the PPV) so Zuffa gets just shy of 19 mil plus 10% of the PPV$. so at 4 million buys the UFC gets 40 mil. Around $59 mil if all goes well and they hit 4 mil buys. Conor to get 95 mil if they reach 4 mil… short of May/PAC numbers (4.2-4.6) and 100+ if they equal or beat it.”
Boxing Insider says that the standard breakdown is 10% off the top for the distributor, with 45% each going to the cable system and to the promoter. However, when Mayweather boxed Pacquiao, the sage New York Times reported that cable companies and satellite providers get 30-40 percent of gross pay-per-view revenue, and 7.5 percent went to HBO and Showtime which co-produced the event. Assuming that this will hold for MayMac, then Showtime gets 7.5% and the cable companies conservatively get 37.5%, leaving 55% for the fighters.
If MayMac did 4,600,000 buys at $100 each as some have estimated then the PPV gross is $460 million, with the fighters splitting $250,000,000 of that total. If these numbers are accurate, and the McGregor percentage is accurate, then McGregor’s cut of the PPV is $50,000,000, but he splits that with the UFC 50-50, leaving him $25,000,000 from the PPV, and the UFC with the same $25,000,000.
McGregor’s base is rumored to be $75,000,000, with the UFC keeping 20% of that, leaving him with $60,000,000, and the UFC with $15,000,000. So according to these rumor-based, guess-based guesses, McGregor makes upward of $85,000,000 total and the UFC around $40,000,000. And of course, there are more sources of revenue than the purses and PPV cuts.
Still, $40 million, or whatever the real number is, is a nice addition to the bottom line. And GSP has title defense coming. And Conor McGregor will return. So once again, the best days of the UFC are not behind us.
