Seattle hosted its first ever UFC event on Saturday, March 26, to great success. UFC Fight Night 24 pulled in a gate of $1,182,850 to a sold-out crowd of 14,212. The event at KeyArena initially was set to hold a crowd of 8,000 but an overwhelming demand led to more tickets being released; over 800 tickets were released just on the night before the event. The numbers, topping any other UFC Fight Night event and rivaling most pay-per-view championship events, marks a major success and milestone for MMA in Washington State.
Washington hasn't been without MMA action in the absence of the UFC, however; local organizations to Strikeforce appearances have graced the state in recent years. In June of 2007, the IFL visited Comcast Arena in Everett. The team-based organization pulled a crowd of 6,977. In July of 2010 at the same venue, Strikeforce brought their Challengers series to Everett. Although official numbers were never released, attendance appeared visually low; various MMA websites were doling out tickets to anyone in the area available to attend, and I ended up with four free tickets that were five rows back from the cage.
Strikeforce took hold of a larger venue in 2008, holding a 10-fight event at the Tacoma Dome. Although the event set a now-broken live gate record of about $300,000, it only attracted about 7,089 fans; the total capacity at Tacoma is about three times greater than that at Everett. Smaller shows such as Rumble on the Ridge have been gracing MMA fans with a taste of action, but the spotlight from the UFC was really needed to satisfy the appetite of fans.
Zuffa presented fans in Washington an opportunity to show their passion, and they certainly delivered with strong numbers. The UFC Fight Night in Seattle brought in more fans than recent title fights in the organization's home in Las Vegas, Nevada. Zuffa will be enticed by such a successful event, and I believe they will use Seattle as the base for expansion in the Northwest. With the ever-increasing frequency of events, I suspect that Seattle will also earn a few fight cards each year. It's a great day to be a MMA fan in Washington.
Washington hasn't been without MMA action in the absence of the UFC, however; local organizations to Strikeforce appearances have graced the state in recent years. In June of 2007, the IFL visited Comcast Arena in Everett. The team-based organization pulled a crowd of 6,977. In July of 2010 at the same venue, Strikeforce brought their Challengers series to Everett. Although official numbers were never released, attendance appeared visually low; various MMA websites were doling out tickets to anyone in the area available to attend, and I ended up with four free tickets that were five rows back from the cage.
Strikeforce took hold of a larger venue in 2008, holding a 10-fight event at the Tacoma Dome. Although the event set a now-broken live gate record of about $300,000, it only attracted about 7,089 fans; the total capacity at Tacoma is about three times greater than that at Everett. Smaller shows such as Rumble on the Ridge have been gracing MMA fans with a taste of action, but the spotlight from the UFC was really needed to satisfy the appetite of fans.
Zuffa presented fans in Washington an opportunity to show their passion, and they certainly delivered with strong numbers. The UFC Fight Night in Seattle brought in more fans than recent title fights in the organization's home in Las Vegas, Nevada. Zuffa will be enticed by such a successful event, and I believe they will use Seattle as the base for expansion in the Northwest. With the ever-increasing frequency of events, I suspect that Seattle will also earn a few fight cards each year. It's a great day to be a MMA fan in Washington.
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