UFC 246 Equaled Two Million PPV Buys

In 2019 the UFC moved their pay-per-view model from the traditional cable and satellite provider based option to an exclusive deal with ESPN+ that saw anyone who wanted to watch their biggest events already be a subscriber to the Disney owned service.

The issues with the move have been numerous, including a disastrous launch for UFC 236, where many fans, fighters, and members of the media were unable to watch the fight due to a bug in their system.

On Wresting Observer Radio, @davemeltzerWON said metrics were indicating UFC 246 did the equivalent of what 2 million PPV buys would have been under the old, pre-ESPN+ system.

— Marc Raimondi (@marc_raimondi) January 20, 2020

Per a report from the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer, the ESPN+ era had its first smash success on January 18th, as Conor McGregor’s return to the Octagon at UFC 246 sold the “equivalent” to 2 million PPV buys. If the reported number is true, that would make UFC 246 the second-highest selling card in UFC history, trailing UFC 229 where Conor McGregor faced UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.

While Meltzer claims the “equivalent” to two million buys, that is a less than clear assessment, one can assume two million purchases by subscribers, which is the only way anyone in the U.S. can watch UFC major events as mentioned previously.