The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s (UFC) first night under the ESPN deal was a success.
UFC on ESPN+ 1 took place this past Saturday night (Jan. 19). In the main event, flyweight champion Henry Cejudo finished bantamweight title holder T.J. Dillashaw in just 32 seconds. Cejudo was awarded a new UFC championship with the legacy design to represent a new era.
UFC’s Debut On ESPN Strikes Gold
In a press release, ESPN touted big numbers for UFC Brooklyn. The event brought in 525,000 new subscribers to ESPN+ on Saturday alone. The ESPN prelims scored a 1.4 television rating
Kevin Mayer, Chairman, Direct-To-Consumer and International for The Walt Disney Company touted the event’s success:
“Our first UFC Fight Night on ESPN+ was a thrilling evening of action and a great success, with a record-setting night that continued the momentum for ESPN+, delivered strong ratings on ESPN and marks a great start to our new agreement with the UFC. It was a milestone evening, with the success driven by outstanding joint efforts from the teams at DTCI and ESPN.”
The UFC’s previous television deal was with FOX. UFC events were held under the major FOX network, FOX Sports 1, FOX Sports 2, and FX. This time, the UFC has a sizable presence on the world leader in sports.
ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro said he’s pleased with the addition of the UFC:
“All day, and across all ESPN platforms, we collectively demonstrated the promise of what we can do to fulfill our mission of serving a wider array of sports fans.”
Do you think the numbers will continue to be solid for UFC on ESPN?
