White: Despite stadium-show hesitation, UFC 129's going to "whole other level"
by Steven Marrocco on Feb 08, 2011 at 3:15 pm ET
UFC president Dana White is acutely aware that he's straying into uncharted territory.
When UFC 129 hits Rogers Centre in Toronto, it will be the biggest venue the promotion ever has occupied for a live event.
Approximately 42,000 seats will be up for grabs – almost double the number available for three of the UFC's biggest gatebusters, which were all held in Canada.
The country is, as White often gushes, a second home for the promotion, and the demand appears to be there for a stadium event. But the sheer size of Rogers Centre will force him to confront an issue he thus has far tried to avoid: the fan who pays 50 bucks for a nosebleed to watch a pair of dancing ants.
White said today that he has a plan to combat the problem, though he is keeping details a secret for now.
"Nobody was more worried about that than me – believe me," he said at a press conference held today in Toronto in support of UFC 129, which is headlined by a welterweight title fight between champ and box-office goldmine Georges St-Pierre and challenger Jake Shields. "I've said for years that I don't know about doing stadiums. What I think has helped the UFC get as big as it has is the live-event experience. And the last guy on earth that wants to ruin that for anybody is me."
The UFC drew in excess of 20,000 fans in three out of four events it held in Montreal's Bell Centre. Two of those events – UFC 84 and UFC 124 – were headlined by champ St-Pierre and generated live gates in excess of $4 million. The venue is not unlike the arenas where UFC events are held; large video screens are placed throughout the upper decks to bring the action closer to fans seated there.
Still, it's a strain to see the fighters from upper decks, especially when they hit the mat. But when combined with the video screens, it's a fair deal.
White guarantees the live experience won't change for rafter-dwellers.
"I never want the fans to not only turn off their television and say, 'That sucked,' I don't want the fans to walk away who bought tickets to have a bad experience either," he said. "I'm actually pumped for the experience we're planning for you guys here in Toronto.
"We're going to do things in this arena that we've never done in any arena, ever before. People worrying the experience isn't going to be the same – it's not. It's going to be better. We're taking it to a whole other level, and I'm really excited about it."
The promotion plans to close the distance from fans to the action, in part, by making available more video screens at the stadium, said Tom Wright, the UFC's Director of Canadian Operations.
"We're going to have a total of eight different screens for the fans of the 500(-level) section to not only be able to watch the event live and looking down at the octagon, but they're going to have these huge screens that they can watch it from, as well," he said.
That's probably as good as it's going to get for the nosebleeds. Will that be enough?
"It's going to be a fabulous experience," Wright said.
by Steven Marrocco on Feb 08, 2011 at 3:15 pm ET
UFC president Dana White is acutely aware that he's straying into uncharted territory.
When UFC 129 hits Rogers Centre in Toronto, it will be the biggest venue the promotion ever has occupied for a live event.
Approximately 42,000 seats will be up for grabs – almost double the number available for three of the UFC's biggest gatebusters, which were all held in Canada.
The country is, as White often gushes, a second home for the promotion, and the demand appears to be there for a stadium event. But the sheer size of Rogers Centre will force him to confront an issue he thus has far tried to avoid: the fan who pays 50 bucks for a nosebleed to watch a pair of dancing ants.
White said today that he has a plan to combat the problem, though he is keeping details a secret for now.
"Nobody was more worried about that than me – believe me," he said at a press conference held today in Toronto in support of UFC 129, which is headlined by a welterweight title fight between champ and box-office goldmine Georges St-Pierre and challenger Jake Shields. "I've said for years that I don't know about doing stadiums. What I think has helped the UFC get as big as it has is the live-event experience. And the last guy on earth that wants to ruin that for anybody is me."
The UFC drew in excess of 20,000 fans in three out of four events it held in Montreal's Bell Centre. Two of those events – UFC 84 and UFC 124 – were headlined by champ St-Pierre and generated live gates in excess of $4 million. The venue is not unlike the arenas where UFC events are held; large video screens are placed throughout the upper decks to bring the action closer to fans seated there.
Still, it's a strain to see the fighters from upper decks, especially when they hit the mat. But when combined with the video screens, it's a fair deal.
White guarantees the live experience won't change for rafter-dwellers.
"I never want the fans to not only turn off their television and say, 'That sucked,' I don't want the fans to walk away who bought tickets to have a bad experience either," he said. "I'm actually pumped for the experience we're planning for you guys here in Toronto.
"We're going to do things in this arena that we've never done in any arena, ever before. People worrying the experience isn't going to be the same – it's not. It's going to be better. We're taking it to a whole other level, and I'm really excited about it."
The promotion plans to close the distance from fans to the action, in part, by making available more video screens at the stadium, said Tom Wright, the UFC's Director of Canadian Operations.
"We're going to have a total of eight different screens for the fans of the 500(-level) section to not only be able to watch the event live and looking down at the octagon, but they're going to have these huge screens that they can watch it from, as well," he said.
That's probably as good as it's going to get for the nosebleeds. Will that be enough?
"It's going to be a fabulous experience," Wright said.
