In the first major live sporting event since mid-March (with apologies to the PBR Tour), UFC 249 prelims were a mixed bag in the ratings.
Saturday’s UFC 249 prelims averaged a 0.7 rating and 1.15 million viewers on ESPN, up 30% in ratings and 42% in viewership from UFC 237 prelims on the comparable night last year (0.53, 813K). That comes with a major caveat. Last year’s prelims aired on a packed night of sporting events that included the NBA and NHL playoffs; this year’s event was the first major sporting event in the U.S. since mid-March.
Compared to the previous PPV prelims in early March, ratings were flat and viewership actually slipped 3% from 1.20 million. The March telecast also took place on a packed night of sporting events that included a competing Premier Boxing Champions telecast on FOX.
Versus the only other UFC telecast to air during sports’ pandemic hiatus, a March 14 main event from Brazil, ratings jumped 53% (from 0.45) and viewership 72% (from 672K).
It is worth noting that while the advantages of airing unopposed are obvious, the lack of a quality lead-in is a mitigating factor.
Keep in mind that the prelims also aired on ESPN+, which carried the Justin Gaethje-Tony Ferguson main event. Per Sports Business Daily, the main event generated more than 700,000 pay-per-view buys.
As one would expect, UFC 249 trailed only “The Last Dance” as the weekend’s most-watched sports-related program. It would not rank among the 25 most-watched sports-related programs since the majority of events were called off in mid-March, trailing the first eight editions of “The Last Dance,” all three days of the NFL Draft, six editions of SportsCenter, three NASCAR iRacing simulations, and a handful of encores.
[Nielsen estimates from ShowBuzz Daily 5.12, Sports Business Daily 5.6, 5.11]
