UFC Says UFC 229 Fight Show of Khabib vs McGregor Generated $86.4 Million in ‘Economic Output’ Oct. 6
By ALAN SNEL
LVSportsBiz.com
The end of the UFC 229 fight show was a disgrace when a brawl was ignited after lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov defeated rival Conor McGregor, but at least UFC says the MMA event Oct. 6 made lots of money.
The Las Vegas-based MMA fight show organizer sent out a press release Monday morning saying UFC 229 was the biggest money-maker for an event in its history, generating what UFC said was $86.4 million in economic impact.
UFC said its numbers come from a local Las Vegas company, Applied Analysis, which does economic impact reports and is a consultant for the Raiders stadium public board. UFC hired Applied Analysis for the UFC 229 economic impact numbers.
“This marks the largest economic impact for a single UFC event measured globally to date,” the UFC press release said. Here are the numbers, according to UFC’s release:
- $86.4 million total economic output
- $17.2 million total salaries and wages paid
- 414 jobs supported in Southern Nevada
- $3.7 million total taxes paid by visitors
- 40% of UFC 229 visitors traveled from international locations
- 50% of attendees were between the ages of 21 to 34
- 50% of attendees reported an annual household income of $100,000 or more
- One in five attendees stayed in Las Vegas for at least five days
- Nearly two in five attendees reported spending more than $2,000 on non-gaming activities
“During the build up to UFC 229, I said it was going to be the biggest event in UFC’s history, and now we have all the numbers to prove it,” UFC President Dana White said in the release.
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“Khabib vs. McGregor smashed our records for Pay-Per-Views, social media impressions, and global viewership, and now we know it set records for economic impact here Las Vegas. None of this would have been possible without the support from the Las Vegas community and UFC’s loyal fans, the best in sports,” White said.
The melee after the Khabib-McGregor fight was an ugly stain for UFC. The former governor, Brian Sandoval, was “running out of the building,” White said at the time after the fight, which drew an attendance of 20,034 at T-Mobile Arena with a gate of $17.2 million.
UFC has been headquartered in Las Vegas since 2001 and hosts a minimum of four events annually in T-Mobile Arena, where UFC is an anchor tenant along with the Vegas Golden Knights. UFC plans to stage at least one event a year at the new Raiders stadium, which is scheduled to open in July 2020.
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