Francis Ngannou vs. Tyson Fury PPV Reportedly ‘Bombed’ in the United States
Francis Ngannou’s closely-contested split decision against Tyson Fury has dominated headlines since the bout went down on October 28, but it appears that fight fans weren’t willing to fork over the $80 to watch it.
Per a report from renowned professional wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer, Ngannou vs. Fury, appropriately dubbed ‘The Battle of the Baddest,’ failed to hit a home run in the U.S. market, bringing in less than 12,000 total pay-per-view buys.
“As far as U.S. interest goes, while there was interest after the fight as Google searches for the weekend had it second behind only the death of Matthew Perry, but as a PPV it bombed. Television PPV buys were about 11,500. We were told a 56,000 figure streaming on ESPN+. Obviously that figure I can’t double check but the television buying figure we have first-hand strongly accurate numbers on it.
“It was ahead of what the KSI vs. Tommy Fury and Logan Paul vs. Dillon Danis fight did on U.S. television PPV. These fights may have done substantially better in the U.K. where Tyson Fury, Tommy Fury and KSI are far bigger celebrities. As far as the Ngannou television PPV buyers, 24.3 percent also bought Canelo Alvarez’s fight with Jermell Charlo, 4.8 percent bought the Logan Paul fight, and 1.2 percent bought AEW WrestleDream. Because most WWE buyers watch on Peacock, you can’t make a comparison that is fair past of the WWE actual PPV buyers for Fastlane on television 1.1 percent purchased the Ngannou-Fury fight.
“But as far as television PPV buys, this show was slightly below (may end up about the same or slightly head) WWE Fastlane for buyers through cable television or satellite providers, even with Fastlane having most of its viewers on Peacock and not buying it” (h/t MMA News).
Ngannou vs. Fury Fails to bring in U.S. fight fans
If the estimated buyrate of 11,500 proves to be true, it would be the lowest for any Tyson Fury or Francis Ngannou fight in the history of their respective careers, and particularly embarrassing when compared to their most successful events in the U.S. thus far.
- Tyson Fury vs. Deontay Wilder II — 800,000
- Tyson Fury vs. Deontay Wilder III — 600,000
- Tyson Fury vs. Derek Chisora III — 600,000
- Francis Ngannou vs. Stipe Miocic II (UFC 260) — 500,000
- Francis Ngannou vs. Stipe Miocic (UFC 220) — 350,000
- Francis Ngannou vs. Ciryl Gane (UFC 270) — 300,000
After contesting his split decision loss to ‘The Gypsy King’ in Riyadh, Francis Ngannou hopes to run it back with Tyson Fury in the squared circle as soon as possible. Unfortunately, if these numbers from Meltzer are to be believed, there’s a good chance a rematch never happens.
At least, not inside a boxing ring.
