The viewership numbers are in for the UFC 215 prelims. This card had some star power but not enough to generate a ton of buzz leading into the event.
The prelims averaged 418,000 viewers, which is down from the 886,000 viewers that the UFC 214 prelims did on FXX. The first hour did 153,000 viewers from the more limited FS2 audience. The second hour, headlined by the Sara McMann vs. Ketlen Vieira fight, on FS1, did 418,000 viewers. The previous low mark of the year was 657,000 viewers.
It needs to be noted that UFC 214 preliminary aired on FXX, which is an unfamiliar station to the UFC audience. Previously, UFC pay-per-view prelims were almost always on FS1, which is a higher rated station.
The prelims started late on FS1 because of the coverage of the Walker Cup golf tournament running long. In defense of FS1, they did tell viewers who were tuning in to see the UFC broadcast to go to FS2. However, a large percentage of viewers didn’t have access to the station. For a breakdown, FS2 is currently available in about 52,170,000 U.S. homes as compared to 84,421,000 for FS1.
The UFC did have to go up against some tough competition. There were four national college football games airing at the same time of this event. Oklahoma vs. Ohio State that did 8,081,000 viewers, and a NASCAR race going head-to-head.
Here are the average viewership numbers for UFC PPV preliminary cards in 2017:
UFC 208 – 874,000
UFC 209 – 1,033,000
UFC 210 – 723,000
UFC 211 – 1,148,000
UFC 212 – 732,000
UFC 213 – 657,000
UFC 214 – 886,000
UFC 215 – 418,000
The post-fight show pulled in 28,000 viewers on FS2 in the first half hour before FS 1’s coverage of the post-fight show started at 1:30 a.m. and did 172,000 viewers. That is down from UFC 214 pre-fight show pulled in 307,000 viewers on FXX. The weigh-ins drew 76,000 viewers, which is down from 245,000 viewers that the UFC 214 weigh-ins drew. A replay of the UFC 213 weigh-ins did 26,000 and an FS 2 replay doing 34,000.
Fight fans get ready because the UFC is bringing you, even more, action this weekend. UFC Fight Night 116 takes place on Saturday at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A middleweight bout between former Strikeforce and UFC Middleweight Champion Luke Rockhold and former WSOF Middleweight and Light Heavyweight Champion David Branch will headline this event.
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