Tag: UFC tickets

Are Cautious Fans to Blame for UFC 154?s Slow Ticket Sales?


(Yes, Georges, your knees are fine, and you can still curtsy like a little princess, we get it.)

According to a new report by the Vancouver Sun, UFC 154: St. Pierre vs. Condit (November 17th, Montreal) is suffering from slow ticket sales, with large groups of seats available less than three weeks out from the show. Though the UFC still expects a capacity crowd at the Bell Centre, it’s a noticeable shift from the promotion’s four previous stops in Montreal, three of which set UFC attendance records. According to UFC Director of Canadian Operations Tom Wright, fans may be spooked by the UFC’s recent injury apocalypse, which absolutely destroyed their July stop in Calgary:

“There’s been many examples over the last several fights — UFC 151 and 149 in Calgary is a good example of it — where fighters got injured and there were changes to the card. I think there are fans who are saying, ‘You know what? I’m really excited about GSP‘s return and I love the fact that we’ve got (Martin) Kampmann versus (Johny) Hendricks in the co-main event, and we’ve got a bunch of Canadians on the card. But you know what? I bought my tickets 12 weeks out for Calgary and a whole bunch of things happened. I’m going to wait until it’s a little closer’…I absolutely think that you’re seeing that. I think you’re going to see that going forward.”

Sounds like a logical hypothesis to me. I’m not going to go as far as to call UFC 154’s supporting card garbage-ass, but you have to ask yourself — if, God forbid, either GSP or Carlos Condit suffered a freak injury at the eleventh hour, is the rest of the lineup strong enough to soldier on without them? The co-main event of Kampmann vs. Hendricks is solid enough to headline a FUEL or FX card, but would be a tough sell for a pay-per-view headliner at the Bell Centre. And outside of the top two fights, the biggest name on the main card is Mark Hominick, who is riding an agonizing three-fight losing streak, and facing the inconsistent (and not-particuarly-relevant) Pablo Garza.


(Yes, Georges, your knees are fine, and you can still curtsy like a little princess, we get it.)

According to a new report by the Vancouver Sun, UFC 154: St. Pierre vs. Condit (November 17th, Montreal) is suffering from slow ticket sales, with large groups of seats available less than three weeks out from the show. Though the UFC still expects a capacity crowd at the Bell Centre, it’s a noticeable shift from the promotion’s four previous stops in Montreal, three of which set UFC attendance records. According to UFC Director of Canadian Operations Tom Wright, fans may be spooked by the UFC’s recent injury apocalypse, which absolutely destroyed their July stop in Calgary:

“There’s been many examples over the last several fights — UFC 151 and 149 in Calgary is a good example of it — where fighters got injured and there were changes to the card. I think there are fans who are saying, ‘You know what? I’m really excited about GSP‘s return and I love the fact that we’ve got (Martin) Kampmann versus (Johny) Hendricks in the co-main event, and we’ve got a bunch of Canadians on the card. But you know what? I bought my tickets 12 weeks out for Calgary and a whole bunch of things happened. I’m going to wait until it’s a little closer’…I absolutely think that you’re seeing that. I think you’re going to see that going forward.”

Sounds like a logical hypothesis to me. I’m not going to go as far as to call UFC 154′s supporting card garbage-ass, but you have to ask yourself — if, God forbid, either GSP or Carlos Condit suffered a freak injury at the eleventh hour, is the rest of the lineup strong enough to soldier on without them? The co-main event of Kampmann vs. Hendricks is solid enough to headline a FUEL or FX card, but would be a tough sell for a pay-per-view headliner at the Bell Centre. And outside of the top two fights, the biggest name on the main card is Mark Hominick, who is riding an agonizing three-fight losing streak, and facing the inconsistent (and not-particuarly-relevant) Pablo Garza.

As Wright points out, the nightmare scenarios of UFC 151 and UFC 149 may have changed fans’ approach to ticket-buying. But while it may be true that local fans are playing the wait-and-see game before deciding to buy tickets and drive down to the venue on  11/17, fans outside of the Montreal area might not be buying at all. Think of everybody who bought non-refundable airfare to Las Vegas for UFC 151, who wound up watching Cirque du Soleil that weekend. Now that event-cancellations are within the realm of possibility, you’ll see less fans willing to roll the dice to travel to a UFC show.

Plus, Canadians might be ravenous MMA fans, but you can’t assume that all of them revere Georges St. Pierre as their personal hero. GSP headlined the UFC’s last Montreal show in December 2011, as well as their first Montreal show in April 2008. If you already spent $500 for a pair of semi-decent seats to watch GSP dominate somebody once before, you might not be as likely to do it again.

So what do you think? Can slow ticket sales be blamed indirectly on the UFC’s injury curse, or are there other factors at work here?

Damage Control: Four Explanations for Why UFC 140 Hasn’t Sold Out Yet


(*crickets*)

From the Toronto Sun via BloodyElbow:

Just eight months after 55,000 fight fans filled the Rogers Centre for the mixed martial arts company’s first ever Ontario show, Toronto will host UFC 140 on Saturday night. The fanfare for the event has paled in comparison to last April’s spectacle when the city had been buzzing for months about UFC 129, which was headlined by Canada’s own Georges St. Pierre. But this time around, it is being held at the much smaller Air Canada Centre…Despite the great line-up, there’s been little hoopla over the city’s second ever UFC event, which still has tickets available.

What the hell happened, Toronto? How did you go from a record-destroying immediate sellout in April to a “Good seats still available!” situation in December? On the surface, it doesn’t make much sense. So let’s throw some excuses around…


(*crickets*)

From the Toronto Sun via BloodyElbow:

Just eight months after 55,000 fight fans filled the Rogers Centre for the mixed martial arts company’s first ever Ontario show, Toronto will host UFC 140 on Saturday night. The fanfare for the event has paled in comparison to last April’s spectacle when the city had been buzzing for months about UFC 129, which was headlined by Canada’s own Georges St. Pierre. But this time around, it is being held at the much smaller Air Canada Centre…Despite the great line-up, there’s been little hoopla over the city’s second ever UFC event, which still has tickets available.

What the hell happened, Toronto? How did you go from a record-destroying immediate sellout in April to a “Good seats still available!” situation in December? On the surface, it doesn’t make much sense. So let’s throw some excuses around…

— Canada’s interest in MMA is about 90% dependent on Georges St. Pierre. Make no mistake, Canadians are rabid MMA fans when GSP is on the card. When he’s not, only the hardcore fans show up. In that sense, Canada is no different than any other country in the world. When an athlete from your part of the globe is dominating a high-profile international sporting competition, you pay attention. Think about how apeshit Filipinos go for Manny Pacquiao. Would they be known as a nation of boxing fans without him? And do you really think I would have watched one minute of women’s soccer this year if not for Hope Solo?

— UFC 129 had novelty factor. UFC 140 does not. The April show marked the UFC’s first visit to Toronto after the sport was Ontario legalized the sport in 2010, and the crowd was packed with locals who just wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Well, they saw it, and now they don’t have to see it again.

— The card’s just weaker this time. If you’re Canadian, you could certainly make this argument. UFC 129 didn’t just feature GSP vs. Jake Shields, but also another Canadian (Mark Hominick) challenging for the UFC featherweight title, plus Canadian fighters battling American fighters in the first eight fights on the card, and Randy Couture’s farewell appearance. By comparison, UFC 140 doesn’t have a single Canadian on the poster. The biggest native stars on Saturday night will be Hominick and Claude Patrick, who will be leading off the main card in bouts against Chan Sung Jung and Brian Ebersole, respectively. Good matchups? Sure. Good enough to convince 16,000+ people to pay for seats? Apparently not.

— The UFC can’t promote every card like it’s a blockbuster. In a way, UFC 129 was a once-in-a-lifetime moment, and it’s unfair to compare “Jones vs. Machida” to “St-Pierre vs. Shields.” But this conspicuous lack of local excitement might be part of a larger trend. As the promotion loads its schedule to ever-busier levels, breaks into new markets (or back into old markets), and juggles live broadcasts on pay-per-view, FOX, FX, and FUEL, they will no longer be able to spend a lot of time promoting each individual show. UFC 140 might be a victim of the UFC’s success, or at least its current state of frantic forward motion. Plus, Dana and the gang are still hung over from their holiday party with Snoop Dogg. Did you really expect anything to get done this week?

(BG)