UFC 106 draws 10,529 attendees (6,631 paid) for $3 million gate (Updated)
This past weekend's UFC 106 event drew 10,529 attendees for a $3,003,250 paid gate at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.
However, 3,898 tickets (worth an additional $2,331,250) were issued complimentary. A total of 6,631 tickets were sold that accounted for the $3,003,250 gate.
Nevada State Athletic Commission Executive Director Keith Kizer today emailed the official numbers to MMAjunkie.com.
UFC 106 featured a headliner of Forrest Griffin vs. Tito Ortiz, which was a late replacement for a previously scheduled main event of UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin. (Lesnar ultimately was forced off the card due to illness.)
Despite the lack of sold tickets, the organization built plenty of buzz for the show, which aired first on Spike TV (two-fight preliminary card) and then pay-per-view (main card). However, as with other shows, UFC president Dana White issued free tickets to a number of fans. In fact, on the eve of the event, the UFC executive dished out between 50 and 90 free tickets to fans while an in-studio guest on MMAjunkie.com Radio at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino's Race & Sports Book. He did similar giveaways throughout fight week.
Complimentary tickets accounted for 37 percent of the total attendance with an average comp ticket price of $598.06. The average paid ticket price was $452.91.
(UPDATED on 11/24/09 to clarify gate numbers. Although the $2.3 million worth of complimentary tickets was initially believed to be part of the $3 million gate, the NSAC clarified with us that the $3 million gate was paid and did not include complimentary tickets sales. In other words, the UFC sold $3,003,250 worth of tickets and gave away an additional $2,331,250 worth of tickets.)
Source: http://mmajunkie.com/news/16985/ufc-106 ... ickets.mma