The PFL put a lot of hype into the recent “Battle of the Giants” pay-per-view events. But it turns out the mixed martial arts public was not very interested in it.
According to a report by Dave Meltzer, the pay-per-view event drew just over 10,000 buys on ESPN+ in the United States. With a near $50 price tag, that means it generated some $500,000, a far cry from the $10 million fight between former UFC champion Francis Ngannou and Renan Ferreira.
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The event marked the return of Ngannou to MMA following a two-fight stint in boxing. Cris Cyborg was also in action, defeating Larissa Pacheco in a women’s super-fight contest.
DAZN, which offered up the event internationally for $19.99 per purchase, has not released any official numbers. Despite that report, PFL executives have stated the card was a giant success.
PFL “Battle Of The Giants” Did “Huge” Numbers According To Executive
Donn Davis, co-founder, promoted on social media that the card was “rare in sports for excellence on a global scale” in terms of audience metrics around the world. He claims the card generated some 34 million social media engagements and over 1,000 media stories with 326 million video views.
With the card taking place in Saudi Arabia, it aired live in the afternoon on a Saturday. That day is definitely a tough selling point in the U.S. with college football dominating airwaves. It will be interesting to see if PFL is able to secure more late-night timeslots for PPV events moving forward. That would put them more in line with what the UFC currently has.
