UFC Wins the TV Ratings War, but Bellator Also Draws Well
A dual night of fights ended up being a ratings boon… for both the UFC and Bellator.
The two fight promotions went head-to-head on Friday night, and in the same state, no less. UFC Fight Night 50: Jacare vs. Mousasi took place at Foxwoods Casino in Ledyard, Conn., while Bellator 123: Curran vs. Pitbull 2 occurred at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville.
SEE ALSO: Bellator 123 Fight Highlights Video
The MMA juggernaut won the night with UFC Fight Night 50 main card drawing an average viewership of 911,000 total viewers on FOX Sports 1. Bellator 123, meanwhile, drew a respectable audience of its own on Spike TV with 667,000 viewers, which is spot on with the promotion’s Season 10 average.
The viewership figures were tracked by Nielsen.
While the numbers were good for both promotions, they were particularly so for the UFC and its network.
SEE ALSO: Jacare vs. Mousasi Fight Videos
The 911,000 viewers was 12-percent above the 814,000 average of the previous 18 UFC Fight Nights on FOX Sports 1.
The UFC Fight Night 50 prelims also aired on FOX Sports 1 and averaged 485,000 viewers as the lead-in to the main card.
All the UFC action also had a fruitful halo effect on FOX Sports 1’s news programming. After the fights were over, FOX Sports Live averaged 299,000 viewers from 11:58 p.m. ET to 1:00 a.m. ET, which represented a 156-percent increase over the September 2013 average for that time.
