UFC 229 had major financial impact upon Las Vegas with $86.4 million economic output

LAS VEGAS — The reason that Conor McGregor is the highest-paid UFC fighter is borne out by the economic impact his fights produce. McGregor’s unsuccessful challenge of lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229 on Oct. 6 at T-Mobile Arena had the largest economic impact for a single event in UFC history.

The card, which was capped by Nurmagomedov’s fourth-round submission victory over McGregor in front of a crowd of 20,034, generated $86.4 million in economic impact in the Las Vegas metropolitan area according to research conducted by Applied Analysis that was commissioned by the UFC.

It does not include shows that occurred during the UFC’s annual International Fight Week, which occur each July, because those encompass multiple events.

But UFC 229 not only set an MMA pay-per-view record with more than 2.4 million sales, it created $17.2 million in salaries and wages paid and $3.7 million in total taxes paid by visitors.

UFC president Dana White said the fight became so big not only because of the quality of the match in the main event, but also because of the rivalry between the fighters. In April while Nurmagomedov was getting ready to compete at UFC 223 in Brooklyn, McGregor attacked a bus on which Nurmagomedov was riding in an attempt to avenge a minor incident that occurred in the fighter hotel between Nurmagomedov and McGregor teammate Artem Lobov.

That incident and the trash talk that ensued was in large part responsible for the brawl that occurred following Nurmagomedov’s victory over McGregor, when he leaped over the cage to attack McGregor teammate Dillon Danis. The Nevada Athletic Commission will conduct a disciplinary hearing on Tuesday for both McGregor and Nurmagomedov, who are each expected to be suspended and fined.

The UFC liberally used footage from the bus attack, in which fighters Michael Chiesa and Ray Borg were injured, in promoting the fight. That led to severe criticism, but White defended the move and said the economic impact numbers back his position.

“The storyline of that fight is what people love,” White told Yahoo Sports. “I was criticized by the media for the way I promoted that fight, but that’s how you promote a fight like that. You tell the story, not only of who these two guys are as athletes and why No. 1 is facing the champion, but there was a personal story between these two, too, that started with the slap of Artem and ended with Khabib jumping over the fence.

“There was true bad blood. There was true dislike and true bad feelings between these two guys that had to be told. Selling fights is telling stories: What is the story of this fight? Why should you care? What’s on the line? What’s at stake? Those are the things you need to sell. Some stories are better than others. … But when there is an explosive storyline that you couldn’t write a script for like there was with these two, those types of stories sell.”

The event created 16 percent more economic activity than the second of the shows that the UFC analyzed, UFC 193 in Melbourne, Australia. That was the show in which Ronda Rousey was knocked out by Holly Holm. That fight generated $72.7 million. The three other biggest were UFC 134 in Rio de Janeiro at $41.6 million; UFC 190 in Rio at $39.8 million and UFC 205 in New York at $37.4 million.

The crowd that came to Las Vegas was a mostly young and international audience. Applied Analysis research found that 40 percent of the visitors in Las Vegas for UFC 229 were from outside the U.S., and that 50 percent of them were between the ages of 21 and 34.

In other findings:

• 414 jobs supported in Southern Nevada.

• Fifty percent of attendees had an annual household income of $100,000 or more.

• Twenty percent of attendees stayed in Las Vegas for at least five days.

• Nearly 40 percent of attendees spent more than $2,000 on non-gaming activities.

The UFC is headquartered in Las Vegas and White said the company will continue to put on many of its biggest shows in its hometown because the resort infrastructure helps support these large events.

“Vegas is the ‘Fight Capital of the World’ and you always want to do as many of these big fights as you can here,” White said. “We do huge fights all over the world, but Las Vegas is always going to be a spot for those really huge shows.”

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