It’s no secret that UFC pay-per-view buy rates are down. A cursory look at any of their numbers from 2014 will show that. We even saw events that barely cracked the 100,000 buy mark, and some say those numbers were generous towards the promotion. It’s certainly a good thing that Dana White promised MMA fans that the UFC would never raise the price of their PPV events, back in 2009. Oh wait…
Now, the Zuffa brain trust, in a highly ambitious move, has decided to go ahead and raise the cost of their announced 2015 PPV events. In a report by MMA Payout, multiple providers (UFC.TV, DirecTV and Time Warner) have acknowledged a price hike to the tune of the an estimated $59.99 HD/$49.99 SD for all PPVs scheduled in 2015 so far, which include UFC 182: Jones vs Cormier, UFC 183: Silva vs Diaz and UFC 184: Weidman vs Belfort.
If you once again tap into your mind palace, you will recall that Zuffa did have a single instance of a price hike after White ensured fans it would never happen, for UFC 168 in December, 2013. The amount of big name stars on the card was the justification criteria for the increase, and White once again promised that prices would go back to normal, as this was a one-off thing.
Here’s the beginning of the Payout Perspective:
UFC President Dana White went on record (MMAFighting) years ago, stating that PPV prices would never be raised and would stay at their regular price of $54.95/$44.95 SD. That tune changed for UFC 168 in December of 2013, where the PPV price was raised to $59.95 HD/$49.95 SD. Dana White went on the record once again and stated that the PPV price hike was “just for UFC 168″ since it was justified placing some of UFC’s biggest stars in highly anticipated match-ups (Weidman, Silva, Rousey, Tate). White stated PPV prices would go back to their regular price after UFC 168’s one-off price adjustment.
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