A Disney executive has revealed that the blockbuster UFC 246 event last month drew 1 million pay-per-view buys on ESPN+.
“Looking across our portfolio of direct to consumer businesses, we’re also pleased with the growth of ESPN+,” Robert Iger said. “We ended the quarter with 6.6 million paid subscribers and as of Monday, we were at 7.6 million. We’ve been especially happy with a number of partnerships, particularly with the UFC and the recent McGregor-Cerrone fight brought in about 1 million pay-per-view purchases and 0.5 million new subscribers.”
While 1 million buys is certainly not the biggest numbers McGregor has drawn over the years (his fights with Khabib Nurmagomedov, Nate Diaz x2 and Eddie Alvarez all drew more buys), it has to be remembered that the UFC is in a different era now with ESPN+ being the exclusive distributor and the PPV being on their streaming platform.
It should also be noted that these figures only account for the U.S. market and don’t include the likes of the Canada, UK and Australia, where the event was also available on pay-per-view.
Disney certainly seem pleased with the results and with McGregor having racked up a convincing win on the night to help put some of his well-documented troubles behind im, that bodes well for the possibility of an even bigger pay-per-view the next time he steps into the Octagon.
