Dana White has invested over $20 million in the UFC Las Vegas Sphere event. UFC 306 (Noche UFC) will feature bantamweight champion Sean OโMalley and title challenger Merab Dvalishvili as the main attractions. Even though White had great intentions for the occasion, it appears that the promotion may have overreached itself.ย
White has been hyping up the UFC Sphere event even before officially announcing the fight card. However, within nearly two weeks of the PPV, the promotion struggles to sell their tickets. One of the major reasons for this was the atrociously high ticket prices. As such, UFC 306 (Noche UFC) has yet to complete selling the tickets. To tackle the situation, UFC has reduced the minimum ticket prices.
Initially, the ticket prices for the UFC Sphere event were as high as $17,000. On the other hand, the cheapest ones were around $3K. However, after struggling with ticket sales, the promotion has decided to lower it to $1K. White has made it his goal to host the greatest live combat sports event in history at the Sphere. Those plans, though, appear to be in for a surprise as over 3,000 tickets remain unsold.
The cheapest ticket for UFC 306 went from $3,000 to $1,000 and still calling. The UFCโs price gouging attempt didnโt work๐ญ๐ญ๐ญ pic.twitter.com/6vxxV03J41
โ Super Fan๐ฎ๐ช (@McGregorRousey2) August 27, 2024
Other than the high ticket prices, many experts believe that Sean OโMalley doesnโt have the superstar status to sell such a big pay-per-view. Henry Cejudo mocked OโMalleyโs credentials to sell PPVs by mentioning that โSugaโ vs. Aljamain Sterling only did 350K buys. On the other hand, Aljo believed that OโMalley wouldnโt be able to sell out the Las Vegas Sphere as their fight underperformed in PPV sales.
According to Dana White, he is presenting a โlove letter to Mexican peopleโ at the $2.3 billion building in Las Vegas Sphere event. The UFC CEO was confident about OโMalleyโs star power and was ready to go to war with Canelo Alvarez. The Mexican powerhouse is also fighting on the same night, only a few miles from the Sphere.ย However, UFC 306 (Noche UFC) has yet to sell all the tickets.
Dana Whiteโs promotion is yet to sell all the tickets for UFC 306, akaNoche UFC (via X)Besides the ticket price, Sean OโMalleyโs star power came into question. Moreover, the fight card doesnโt feature big names. UFC 299, headlined by OโMalley, had stars like Dustin Poirier, Marlon โChitoโ Vera, Benoit Saint-Denis, Jack Della Maddalena, Gilbert Burns, Michael Venom Page, Kevin Holland, Petr Yan, and Curtis Blaydes.
Meanwhile, UFC 306 only has Dvalishvili, Valentina Shevchenko, Alexa Grasso, Brian Ortega, and Diego Lopes as the notable stars. Even fans have complained about the lack of big names for the Noche UFC card. The ticket debacle has gone viral. Here are some of the reactions:
3k tickets for OโMalley vs Merab lol they must have forgot they have to stack OโMalley cards to make it look like heโs a star.
โ #OnAMission4Gold-en Corral (@KelvinFatstelum) August 27, 2024
Imagine paying $3k for a ticket only for them to drop it to $1k the next day ๐คฃ๐คฃ
โ Matt Fargolde (@Fargolde) August 27, 2024
Wait until fight day the prices are gonna be so low you could probably steal one for about 450$
โ แดxแดแดแดแดแด ๐บ๐ฟ๐ (@jxkemma) August 27, 2024
Thatโs what they get for making such a mediocre card
โ Saint Sfm๐จ๐ท๐ฟ (@based_Sfm) August 27, 2024
Because it’s not a card worth dropping 3 g’s on
โ Tuco Salamanca (@CubanTuco) August 27, 2024
Dana White: โSean OโMalley was never my friend.โ
โ tear (@killtyre13) August 27, 2024
It didnโt work because the card is grim
โ Robbie Blunt (@RobbieBlunt5) August 27, 2024
main event not really a draw, a big fight would sell it out
โ Mutiny (@leemoideer) August 27, 2024
Many users mentioned the lack of an exciting card in the undercard of Sean OโMalley vs. Merab Dvalishvili. Others predicted that the prices would go down even more as the fight gets closer. Nevertheless, seeing the overall business UFC manages to do after the Sphere event would be interesting.
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