In a funny declaration, PFL President Donn Davis has asserted that their recent event surpassed the viewership of every UFC event this year. Davis made these claims during a recent interview.
According to Davis, PFL’s event not only outperformed UFC’s offerings but also came close to matching the viewership numbers of Ring of Fire, which he described as the largest combat sports event in the past five years. The PFL president stated that their viewership metrics were within striking distance of Ring of Fire’s figures, ranging from 40% higher to 20% lower depending on the specific metric.
“This event, based on our research, beat the viewership numbers of every UFC event this year and was very close to Ring of Fire, which, you know, is Ring of Fire. I mean, it’s the biggest boxing event in five years, so it’s really our benchmark, right? Because Ring of Fire is a Saudi event, it was at the same time as ours, and it was the biggest combat sports event this year. We were 40% bigger than some and 20% smaller than others, but overall, we hit the same global viewership metrics as Ring of Fire. That was really our stretch goal, and we achieved it.”
“We put out those metrics about an hour ago for everyone who’s interested in the details. As you know, economics flow in a very different way now. In the sports world, it used to be just PPV buys, but now revenue comes from many different sources: sponsorships, social media, host fees. The economic bundle is very, very different now, and there are many metrics that matter.”
“But most importantly for us, to answer where we started, you asked what’s the most important thing? The most important thing is that people are aware of PFL. You’ll see in the metrics we put out that we accomplished that goal. The global viewership number, global reach, engagement, post metrics, and media numbers all reflect that. We accomplished our goal of increasing awareness, sparking discussion, and improving favorability, and that was everything here.”
Google trends make the statement all the more comical. Even a nonstarter UFC card such as the one that went head to head with PFL made a bigger impact in terms of interest. While PFL has something going it’s comical to see them take a page from the ONE FC playbook and quote nonexisting metrics. The only place where PFL came close – was Cameroon.
Davis emphasized the changing landscape of sports economics, noting that success is no longer measured solely by pay-per-view buys. He pointed out that revenue now flows through various channels, including sponsorships, social media engagement, host fees, and other diverse income streams.
The primary goal for PFL, according to Davis, was to increase awareness of the organization. He expressed satisfaction that this objective was achieved, citing strong performance across multiple metrics such as global viewership, reach, engagement, social media posts, and media coverage.
While these claims are certainly attention-grabbing, it’s worth noting that specific numbers were not provided in the interview. The combat sports industry is known for its competitive nature, and such bold statements are likely to spark discussions and debates among fans and analysts alike.
