My original intent for the ‘Bang for Your Buck’ series was to analyze upcoming UFC PPV events to determine whether the fight card is worth the asking price.  However, even before I was done writing the first installment in this series (UFC 182), it became readily apparent that most events will not meet this threshold.  A part of the reason for this is the ever-increasing PPV prices.   The other part is the also ever-increasing number of UFC events: in addition to the numbered PPV events, UFC holds a plethora of fight cards broadcast on Fox, Fox Sports 1, and Fight Pass network.  Inevitably this leaves some of the cards stretched very thin, especially after the “injury bug” gets through with them.

So is the UFC making it up to the fans for buying the frankly overpriced PPVs by broadcasting free cards on other networks?  Of course, anything that isn’t aired on Fox is not completely free: cards such as the upcoming Fight Night 59 on Fox Sports 1 – a cable network that may require a premium package, depending on your cable/satellite provider.  On the other hand, it’s highly unlikely that you are paying your cable bill exclusively to watch UFC on FS1.  This makes the price point of an event rather difficult to estimate, but I’ll give it a shot anyway:

Dish Network charges me $69.99 per month for a package which includes Fox Sports 1.  After the various fees, taxes, etc., my monthly bill comes out to be near $100.  (My actual bill is quite a bit higher than that but the number of TVs with extra HD receivers, or other premium packages I subscribe to, are really not relevant to this discussion).  So let’s say $100 it is, which averages out to $3.29 per day.  Researchers claim that the average American watches around 5 hours of television a day.  This number seems a bit high to me, and for the sake of making the math easier, let’s say that I spend exactly 3.29 hours per day staring at the TV screen.  This gives us the price point of $1 per hour, or $5 for a 5-hour UFC event on Fox Sports 1.  If you don’t agree with this valuation, feel free to provide a better one in the comments section!  Otherwise, keep reading to find out how FN 59 stacks up compared to this generous (imaginary) price point of $5.

Keep Reading

Happy New Year, readers!

It’s 2015, and after a somewhat lackluster year in MMA, UFC closed out 2014 with a bang, following up one of the better cards of the year in UFC 181 with an equally solid Fox event.  2015 also looks to be starting off on the right note, with four events slated just for the month of January: an Fox Sports 1 Fight Night and a ‘Big Fox’ event sandwiched between two major Pay-Per-Views.

Speaking of those pesky PPV’s… UFC has not had a good year in terms of buy rates.  With an abundance of MMA events on network TV, basic cable, and internet streaming services, shelling out $60 or so for the numbered UFC fight cards seems like less of a necessity.  Especially when you consider that with the sheer number of shows the UFC puts on, even their large fight roster is not enough from keeping the cards stretched thin, and the PPV events are often not that much better than the free cards.

All in all, being an MMA fan can be a rather expensive hobby.  Just how expensive?  I aim to find out, with the new series of articles that we’ll publish before each UFC event in 2015 – evaluating the value of the event (in my humble opinion) versus it’s monetary cost.

So here we go with the first event of the year: UFC 182.  It’s headlined by a huge, highly anticipated and long awaited match-up between the Light Heavyweight champion Jon Jones , and the challenger Daniel Cormier.   Beyond the main even, the quality of the fights drops off significantly.  But is the card worth the sticker price, at least on paper?  Keep on reading to find out.

Keep Reading