http://www.doghouseboxing.com/Benz/Benz_121308.htm 1. Boxing: Oscar De La Hoya vs. Manny Pacquiao, Dec. 6, PPV #: 1,250,000 2. UFC: Brock Lesnar vs. Randy Couture, Nov. 15, PPV #: 1,010,000 3. Wrestling: WrestleMania, Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Paul Big Show Wight, March 30, PPV #: 670,000 4. UFC: Georges St. Pierre vs. Jon Fitch/Lesnar vs. Heath Herring, Aug. 9, PPV #: 625,000 5. UFC: Lesnar vs. Frank Mir, Feb. 2, PPV #: 600,000 6. UFC: Quinton Jackson vs. Forrest Griffin, July 5, PPV #: 540,000 7. UFC: St. Pierre vs. Matt Serra, April 19, PPV #: 530,000 8. Boxing: Felix Trinidad vs. Roy Jones Jr., Jan. 19, PPV #: 500,000 9. UFC: Chuck Liddell vs. Rashad Evans, Sept. 6, PPV #: 480,000 10. UFC: B.J. Penn vs. Sean Sherk/Tito Ortiz vs. Lyoto Machida, May 24, PPV #: 475,000.
One of many reasons why MMA has been much more consistent than boxing is because they put on better overall cards. Boxing PPV under cards for the most part have been a joke. The sport has been banking on the main events to pull though and justify the $50 costs. UFC has instead consistently put together compelling fights thoughout it's PPV cards instead of putting all of it's eggs in one basket like boxing does. Case in point the Pac-De La Hoya under card which has been so heavily scrutinized. These boxing promoters have got to do a better job of evaluating which fighters are PPV worthy and match them against guys that will entertain.
I cant belive HBO thought Calzaghe v Jones would do great numbers. To me that fight was never going to do over 350,000 buys.
maybe they'll start doing less ppvs and charging less for the ones that warrant a ppv. that can only be a good thing.
there are to many anyway, there should be no more than 5 a year PPV, if a fight is not a mega it should be on regular cable tv like HBO and showtime and verus.
I think this highlights several distinct differences between the Boxing and MMA business models: 1) The lion's share of the PPV money in Boxing goes to the two main event fighters. Compare that to MMA, where the main event has the highest payout, but the difference between the 2nd fight/3rd fight and the main event aren't so night and day different. 2) It's perfectly ok for MMA fighters to lose a fight and still be considered a box office draw. Unless your name is Fedor, odds are that you have a record with multiple losses on it, yet you are still considered a viable, championship candidate and box office draw. In boxing, a loss has impact that can take years to recover from; see Paul Williams, see Antonio Margorito, see Miguel Cotto...basically any fighter not named Oscar De La Hoya. (Obviously, the fighters I listed above were able to or will have the chance for redemption, but the losses all three suffered constitue a major step back in their career development). This means that in MMA, if your name is Brock Lesnar, you don't even have to have all that interesting of a resume (1-1) to get a title shot. A 1-1 fighter isn't going to be allowed into the ring with a BHop or DLH. 3) Contact sports by definition have the possibility of extremely quick outcomes. But in MMA, a fighter that gets blown out in the 1st round doesn't suffer the same loss of stature that a fighter who gets blown out inside 4 does in boxing. It seems that the MMA fanbase and media have come to grips with the fact their favorite fighter or most controversial character may have a record not much better than 75%. This type of fighter has only been tolerated once in the last 20 years of boxing and that was because Arturo Gatti's fights were so destructively epic that HBO was able to find a home for him. But he seems to be the sole exception. This leads to the fact that Boxing is not going to waste a PPV main event on a fighter or fighters who can't carry the water and promoters are not going to risk a talented, up and coming fighter either be unimpressive or even lose on a major PPV undercard because it would translate into an immediate loss of dollars. Finally, while I really have no stomach for Dana White, because his organization has such a definitive dictator and manager of the sport, and because it's ok for fighters to lose, MMA can put together better cards that will sell than boxing. Boxing has to get on top of this, and only HBO can really make that happen.
correction....this means that in dana white's system ( he controls the ufc )...He can do whatever the **** he wants. Dana white doesn't represent mma. the UFC alone , isn't a representation of an entire sport. If that would be the case , the real contenders & champions would all be fighting over there. (and it still isn't the case today)
