CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article stated that UFC 252 was estimated to have drawn 900,000 buys. This is an error – 500,000 is the correct estimate.
UFC 252 was a pretty solid pay-per-view card with it being headlined by the heavyweight trilogy between Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier. According to a recent report, the pay-per-view numbers reflected that.
Sports Business Journal reporter John Ourand, reports that UFC 252 did more than 500,000 PPV buys worldwide, with an estimated 400,000 buys (80%) coming from ESPN+ in the United States.
If the numbers hold at this level, it would make UFC 252 the fourth-highest PPV this year, behind UFC 246, UFC 249 and UFC 251.
The buyrate has to be more than the UFC anticipated. The first fight at UFC 226 did a reported 350,000 buys when PPVs were still available across cable on the United States.
There is no question the UFC did a solid job marketing the event. They brought people in to see the trilogy fight and they also marketed it as the greatest heavyweight of all-time. Sean O’Malley was also on the card which no doubted help with PPV buys.
Although UFC 252 is only the fourth-best PPV of 2020, the events it is behind are massive ones. UFC 246 was the return of Conor McGregor who always draws well. UFC 249 was the first event back from the COVID-19 pandemic and was a stacked show top to bottom. UFC 251, meanwhile, was the debut of Fight Island and had three title fights atop the card.
If these numbers are true, the UFC has to be pleased with them.
