Conor McGregor helps UFC 246 sell over 1 million pay-per-view streams, breaking record

Superstar Conor McGregor helped UFC 246 sold over 1 million pay-per-view streams on ESPN+, the first streaming event in history to break that number.

Disney chairman and CEO Rober Iger announced the official numbers for UFC 246: McGregor vs. Cowboy and ESPN+ on Tuesday. The Motley Fool has the full Walt Disney Company Q1 2020 Earnings Call Transcript for your reading pleasure. Dave Meltzer further helped to break down the numbers via MMAFighting.com.

According to Iger, ESPN+ had 6.6 million subscribers on December 31, 2019. Since then, that number is up to 7.6 million subscribers, and he credited McGregor and UFC 246 for helping those numbers to grow so much in such a short period of time. There were 500,000 new subscribers alone who signed up for ESPN+ just to watch McGregor fight Donald Cerrone at UFC 246.

The report indicates the UFC and ESPN+ partnership has been a huge success for both sides. ESPN+ had 1.4 million subscribers at the beginning of last year, and that number stood at nearly 2 million a month later after over 500,000 new people signed up for ESPN+ to watch the UFC on ESPN+ 1 card between TJ Dillashaw and Henry Cejudo. But McGregor helped blow those numbers away even further.

According to the report, McGregor vs. Cerrone and UFC 246 did over 1 million pay-per-view buys, which is more than the previous record for a streaming PPV, which was Logan Paul vs. KSI at 814,000 buys. Meltzer was quick to point out the price difference, as the Paul vs. KSI fight cost only $10, while UFC 246 cost nearly $70. That means UFC 246 brought in $70 million in streaming revenue.

Regardless of the details, this news shows once again what a massive star McGregor is in the world of sports. His return to the Octagon is absolutely massive for the UFC as it marches forward in 2020, and McGregor’s next fight should be even bigger, especially if it’s a big-money matchup against a rival like Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Do you think the UFC can break the record for pay-per-view stream buys even further the next time Conor McGregor fights?