Considering the big risk Dana White is taking by doing the first ever sporting event at the Sphere on September 14th, could we be heading to a future where heâs willing to take other chances at venues like AT&T Stadium or Allegiant Stadium?
White is well known at this point for being pretty anti-stadium. Since its inception the UFC has held just four shows at full sized stadiums: in Toronto, Melbourne, Sweden, and Brazil. Theyâve never done a stadium show in the United States or United Kingdom, which seems like pretty big missed opportunities.
So with White ticking the Sphere off his bucket list of venues to use, could it finally be time for a UFC event at Las Vegasâ Allegiant Stadium next? In a new interview with Grind City Media, White shot down the idea and explained that his dislike for stadium shows went beyond weather concerns.
âItâs not that I get worried, I donât wanna take the experience away from people,â he said. âWeâve done stadiums before. Itâs just itâs not my favorite thing. I like arenas. Yeah, I really like arenas.â
âI think that fans get a much â what I care about every Saturday, whether you stayed home and watched it on TV or you came to the venue and watched it, is that everybody walks away on a Saturday night going, âGod, Iâm glad I came to the fights,â or âThis was worth coming to.â Or they donât walk out going, âWell, that sucked. That wasnât a good experience.â Thatâs what I focus on literally every week.â
Jon Jones and Conor McGregor have both mused at the prospect of fighting at Allegiant Stadium, the 71,000 seat home of the Las Vegas Raiders. But White says the venue isnât on his radar.
âNo, thatâs not what I look for,â he said. âI look for incredible experiences, unique experiences, and things that have never been done before. Thatâs what Iâm into. Iâm not like, âOh, I have to do Allegiant Stadium.â I donât have to do Allegiant Stadium. I wanna give fans a great experience every time.â
Itâs strange, weâve never heard any complaints from anyone who went to these 40,000 and 50,000 person UFC stadium shows. They happen semi-regularly in Europe for both boxing and MMA and no one says stadiums donât work for combat sports. Sure, youâll have to watch a lot of the show on the big screens. But you have to do that at the arena as well, so whatâs the big deal?
If itâs about quality of experience, weâd argue that making U.K. fans in Manchester stay up until 5 in the morning local time is a much worse experience, but thereâs no sign that practice is stopping. Give them the option of Anfield Stadium over Pacific Standard Time scheduling, and we suspect theyâd pick Anfield.
Sales would be embarrassing and so would the empty seats un less it was a mega card
Not with todays cards lol
do a show at Allegiant and lower the prices you egg
Lol
I mean this sphere cardâŚ
The heaviest fight on this card is a Lightweight matchâŚ
And a world class stacked prelims for this mega one in a lifetime UFC PPV
Why doesnât Dana say the real reason? He cant charge $1500 a seat at a stadium
no way they can fill that place up.
These fans at the stadium seemed to have a good time with AJ coming out to the Rocky song âNo Easy Way Outâ (starts halfway through the vid)
Anthony Joshua has never fought at the Allegiant stadium ,
And has never fought in Vegas
Iâve had some friends watch Joshua fight at Wembley stadium nosebleeds and they said it was all about the atmosphere etc and watched the screens
Maybe if they were v v realistic about the nosebleed pricing
Who said he has? That video posted is clearly in London. The thread article is about Dana not liking stadiums.
Because it sounded like u were referring to âThe stadiumâ as the Allegiant stadium , going by the thread
Iâm going there so I can watch the ufc on the Jumbotron
Wont let the UFC do a stadium show, will shill the fuck out of one of the most obvious DOA piles of shit ever in Powerslap. How the fuck did he get so rich?