Being a UFC fan lately is expensive.
Not only did you have to pay $80 a month for a pay-per-view on top of your ESPN+ subscription, the costs associated with participating in the ultimate combat championship event have grown to astronomical proportions.
This Saturday, the promotion will return to Iowa for the first time in 25 years, heading to the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines to the fight night card headlined by a featherweight clash between Corey Sandagen and Deebson. You will also see prominent names of MMA games, including Bo Nickal, Reinier de Ridder, former Bantamweight Champion Miesha Tate, and former Miletich Fighting Systems standout Jeremy Stephens.
Before this weekend, the UFC was in Hawkeye State back to UFC 26 on June 9, 2000.
To give fans how much the costs have risen over the past decades, former UFC and WEC fighter Mike Brown shared images of the original front row tickets for UFC 26 and front row tickets for UFC Des Moines.
Needless to say, the difference in price to drop his chin.
The front row ticket for UFC 26 cost $100.50. That same front row seating now costs a whopping $4,402, representing a massive 4,300% increase.
Has UFC started pricing from the market?
It’s not surprising that the popularity of promotions has made product consumption rather expensive, but given that only 15% of revenue comes from actual fighters (slightly compared to other professional sports organizations, and often share revenue).
As a result, pay-per-view purchases have dropped incredibly, and even last weekend’s fight night in Kansas City was thought to have been somewhat disappointed in terms of overall ticket sales.
Clearly, Dana White and Co. will remain the top dog in the MMA world, but with rising costs and an inactive event overflow, have fight fans started spending their hard-earned dollars on other forms of entertainment?