The viewership numbers for last weekend’s (Sat., August 3, 2019) UFC on ESPN 5 from Newark, New Jersey, are in.
MMA Junkie’s John Morgan tweeted that UFC officials informed him the event averaged 680,000 viewers, peaking at 945,000 during the Colby Covington vs. Robbie Lawler main event:
“According to UFC officials, UFC on ESPN 5 main card averaged 680k viewers and peaked during Covington vs. Lawler at 945k. Prelims averaged 523k, which despite early airtime is said to be “comparable to the previous two Fight Night prelims,” which saw a portion air in primetime.”
As Morgan noted, the numbers were comparable to the preliminary card of the two UFC Fight Nights that preceded it. Those prelims saw a portion of the cards air during primetime viewing hours. Given that UFC Newark aired at a much earlier time, reaching similar numbers would seem to be an accomplishment of sorts.
By comparison, the prelims for the previous week’s UFC 240 pay-per-view from Edmonton averaged 722,00 viewers. That was the lowest number of the UFC on ESPN era thus far. UFC Newark’s prelims did almost 200,000 less than that on average.
UFC Newark starting much earlier than most UFC events. The main card began at 3 pm EST, a rare Saturday afternoon card. Usually, those time slots are reserved for events that are taking place overseas.
However, it seems that the viewership numbers for the card were decent enough nonetheless. For what it’s worth, UFC Newark had an exciting mix of fights and performances despite a lineup that was incredibly low on true star power.
What were your thoughts on UFC Newark as a whole?
