UFC Dublin, on the Back of Conor McGregor, Pulls Record Numbers on Irish TV Channel
UFC president Dana White on Saturday said that UFC fight Night Dublin: McGregor vs. Brandão was a huge success for the promotion’s UFC Fight Pass digital subscriber service.
“It was the biggest number we’ve ever done (on Fight Pass),” said White in his post-fight scrum with reporters.
The event was also a tremendous success on television in Ireland. It was the first time the UFC has aired on terrestrial television in Ireland, drawing a record audience on channel 3e.
UFC Fight Night Dublin was the highest rated sporting event ever on the network, drawing an average of 257,500 viewers (21-percent of the available audience) over the course of the broadcast, which culminated in Dubliner Conor McGregor’s first-round victory over Diego Brandão. (Watch highlights of McGregor's vicotry.)
According to the UFC officials, the audience peaked at 340,200 viewers.
The UFC especially drew impressive shares in the key demographics of Men 15-34 and Adults 15-24 for channel 3e. Coupled with other programming, the network posted a record 10.15-percent share for Adults 15-44, the highest of any station in Ireland on the day.
“This was a night that will go down in history within the UFC for the record sellout and viewership figures,” said Garry Cook, Executive Vice President and Managing Director of UFC in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
“The collaboration between UFC and TV3, not just on the night, but in the weeks and days leading to the event has shown how an integrated partnership can benefit both organizations. Throughout the week, TV3 and 3e aired amazing content and were able to access the athletes across a number of platforms, building anticipation and ultimately driving the record-breaking audience. We would like to congratulate our friends at TV3 and we look forward to bringing more UFC events in the future.”
“Saturday night’s fantastic UFC ratings prove that there is a real hunger for MMA in Ireland, in particular Ireland’s own star attraction and showman Conor McGregor,” said Jeff Ford, TV3 Group Director of Content.
“3e was the first broadcaster to take the plunge and broadcast UFC Live and Free to Air and the feedback from our viewers has been great.”
3e is the fourth biggest Irish TV channel, behind RTE1, TV3 and RTE2.
