Hosting UFC on South African soil will be an uphill battle
The odds don't seem to be in our favour with tricky time zones, ticket sales, and logistical challenges.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons/Kevlar
Lester Kiewit speaks to Cairo Howarth, the CEO of EFC (Extreme Fighting Championship).
Listen below.
While talk of South Africa potentially hosting Dricus du Plessis' title defence continues, Howarth says the main reason the UFC has not come to our shores in its 35-year history is financial.
“They make most of their money on paper view events in the USA, it is their main market. The event over the weekend in Australia actually started at 6 am Perth time… catering to Las Vegas primetime.”
– Cairo Howarth, CEO – EFC
Ticket sales would also be a great motivator.
The arena in Perth was also an 18,000-person seater, in comparison to South Africa’s biggest arena, the SunBet in Pretoria, that seats 9,000.
The cheapest tickets to the Perth event ran from R8,000 to as much as R40,000 per ticket.
The UFC is estimated to have made over R200 million in ticket sales alone.
“Let’s say we do a 9,000-seater arena and we’re willing to pay R5,000 a ticket, that is R50 million on ticket sales…. They’ll lose R150 million which is a significant amount of money.”
– Cairo Howarth, CEO – EFC
In discussions with the UFC, Howarth says he has proposed that corporate South Africa can step in on funding.
With regards to an indoor arena, partners have looked at the potential of putting a temporary roof over the DHL Stadium in Cape Town.
“It could be something quite different [because] now we suddenly have tens of thousands of tickets, which is spectacular.”
– Cairo Howarth, CEO – EFC
With a date for du Plessis’ title defence yet to be penned, only time will tell if South Africa has a chance.
Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the discussion