UFC 72 tallies $1.2 million at gate; UFC eyes other foreign markets
by MMAmania.com on Jun 18, 2007 4:23 PM EDT
6 comments
UFC 72: "Victory" was a success, selling out the Odyssey Arena in Belfast northern Ireland with 7,850 fans packing the stands, according to Yahoo!Sports.com.
The paid gate totaled about $1.2 million (Sidenote: It cost the UFC about $1.4 million just to market the event in Ireland).
Here's a snip:
"UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta said officials overpriced the tickets, which had a top price of $500 U.S., but it didn't matter. The fans were out in force – long lines snaked around the arena more than an hour before the first fight – and had by all indications the time of their lives."
This report contradicts one we passed along just before showtime on Saturday, which mentioned that the UFC was giving away comp tickets to fill seats.
I wasn't in Belfast on June 16, making it a little hard for me to determine which scenario is indeed accurate.
Regardless, the important thing is that it did appear from the pay-per-view (PPV) telecast that the Irish fans were into the fights, chanting and cheering on the competitors.
Now the Fertittas continue to keep the show on the road, planning to penetrate untouched markets such as Germany, Italy, Spain, Australia and others.
Here's a snip from Renzo:
"The cool thing about it, and the reason I like moving things around, is every time we go to a new place, we create new fans. There are going to be a lot of people in the arena tonight who don't know the UFC. Maybe they heard about us from a friend, but they weren't sure. But I know this: They'll leave here a fan. Going forward, our plans are to continue to hit it hard. We're going to do at least two more fights this year in the U.K. ... and slowly grow the tentacles out."
It's hard to put a price tag on attracting new fans — it appears success wasn't measured in dollars on the Emerald Isle.
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The gate is small beans compared the PPV buys. Didn’t UFC 71 have a gate of a few million dollars but almost 1 million PPV buys @ $39.95 a pop. Someone said they split half that with the cable companies so that’s $20 million in PPV. Wait and see what that number looks like because a lot of the die-hard fans said they weren’t buying it.
by Mamas Boy on Jun 18, 2007 4:53 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
2nd comment on this article all right. UFC rock this fight card sucks though
by St. Amour on Jun 18, 2007 5:18 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Whats up with the UFC? Guys get your heads out of the sands. people from Europe including Ireland as I’m from Ireland are well aware of mma. Man the best kickboxers are from Europe, just look at The Netherlands, some great fighters from there. In fact I would believe there are mma fans here around alot longer than many in America. Alot of UFC fans attending events many would be new going by the boos, which is disgusting and so disrespectful nevermind ignorant. I would have defiantely gone to 72 along with my mates but geographically the location was wrong, with Belfast up in the North, they should have in my opinion placed in more centrally in Dublin, especially with the accessability of transport getting there. Anyhow if the UFC thinks that by putting on mediocre cards they will certainly will not make new fans, it will cost them more in advertising. Anyhow I’m asking them to have a re look at 72 and learn from their mistakes, and after watching 72 there was no way that the Odyessy was sold out, no way. I could actually see alot of empty seats, and after Franklin’s fight while he was been interviewed I could see many leaving. Thats not good for making new fans. Lorenzo commented on the price that it was over priced, I agree and disagree, value for money i would agree it was over priced, just wasn’t worth £250 sterling. remeber as well guys the Republic is Euro’s, so it would cost me around €350 but hey I would have paid that it the card was much better and I would guarantee that it would have been a huge success for the UFC and a sell out. Just proves that we do have much better understanding of mma than what Lorenzo & Dana thinks? Need to do your research much better next time
by Drustan on Jun 18, 2007 5:37 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
You and UFCjunkie.com seem to be posting the same articles with slight variations. is UFCjunkie.com basically seeing what you guys post and then posting on their site?
It seems rather odd.
Are you guys the same company?
by John Smith on Jun 18, 2007 6:53 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I love watching UFC fights but they are overpricing the PPV events. I mean $50 for the HD version? Adjust the price to $30 for the HD version and I’ll pay, but not until then.
by Troy on Oct 20, 2007 7:35 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
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