UFC 220 Appears to be Starting A New Increase in PPV Price

Over the years, we’ve been accustomed to our monthly UFC Pay-Per-View events. Of course, as the title suggests, you have to pay to view… That number over the last decade or so has always been $49.99 for standard definition and $59.99 for high definition, as was the case for 2017’s last UFC event, UFC 219. But heading into 2018 and kicking things off with UFC 220, that price has increased by $5.00. Don’t believe it? Check it out yourself on the UFC’s website. The UFC hasn’t confirmed that this price increase will be permanent, but it will be in effect for UFC 220.

The suggested retail price for UFC 220 is $64.99 per previous UFC press release. The suggested retail price for UFC 219 was $59.99 pic.twitter.com/V5FR7PS2sm

— Jason Floyd (@Jason_Floyd) January 17, 2018

Many have already commented on this decision and what it may mean. It does come as somewhat of a surprise after a year of such low event buyrates. Or perhaps that’s exactly why the price has increased?

UFC 220 looks to be a very solid night of action and one that is headlined by an absolutely massive heavyweight title fight…both literally and figuratively. Looking at things comparatively between UFC 220 and other big events though, it makes it seem rather unlikely that the UFC would choose this event as just a one-time price increase, especially considering the timing of this change.

Reigning heavyweight champion, Stipe Miocic headlines the card when he defends vs the explosive knockout artist, Francis Ngannou while Daniel Cormier defends his light heavyweight title in the co-main event against Volkan Oezdemir.

Considering recent trends, this increase will likely not go over well with a lot of fans who already thought that PPVs were too expensive as is. Although it was a boxing event, Conor McGregor’s match with Floyd Mayweather was the most illegally streamed PPV sporting event of all time with close to three million streams.

What do you think is the real meaning behind the price increase? Is it just a one-time thing? Is the UFC worried about their 2018 PPV buys?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 1/16/2018.