UFC Debuts in Movie Theaters with “UFC 111: St-Pierre vs. Hardy” on March 27
The UFC’s next pay-per-view event, “UFC 111: St-Pierre vs. Hardy” on March 27, will also air live in more than 300 movie theaters nationwide from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey as part of a new deal to bring the UFC to the big screen live and in high definition:
For the first time in UFC history, UFC fans can head to their local movie theater and take in all the action in the Octagon, live and broadcast in high definition on the big screen starting with UFC 111: St- Pierre vs. Hardy on Saturday, March 27 at 10:00 p.m. Eastern / 7:00 p.m. Pacific.
Dana White, UFC President, today announced the UFC has closed a deal with NCM Fathom to present a series of live UFC fights in more than 300 select movie theaters nationwide, as well as plans to have UFC fighters host screenings in various markets. Tickets are available to this special in-theater event at www.FathomEvents.com and presenting theater box offices. For a complete list of theater locations and prices, please visit the web site (theaters and participants are subject to change).
“This is an opportunity to provide our fans with another cool way to watch UFC programming on the big-screen, live, in high-def and in surround sound,” said White. “UFC 111 has a stacked undercard and St-Pierre vs. Hardy and Mir vs. Carwin are both title fights, so this is the perfect event to kick off our new deal with NCM Fathom.”
UFC 111: St- Pierre vs. Hardy features reigning UFC welterweight champion Georges “Rush” St-Pierre vs. British bomber Dan “The Outlaw” Hardy and former heavyweight champion Frank Mir vs. number one contender Shane Carwin for the interim UFC heavyweight title. In addition, theater-goers can watch the entire UFC 111 live card, including welterweights Jon Fitch vs. Thiago Alves, lightweights Jim Miller vs. Mark Bocek and welterweights Ben Saunders vs. Jake Ellenberger.
“Fathom audiences have long been waiting to see UFC events in their local theaters around the country and now, for the first time, fans can experience the action-packed excitement of the UFC on the big screen in pure high definition,” said Dan Diamond, vice president of NCM Fathom. “Teaming up with the UFC for this series is a major milestone for our alternative program schedule in movie theaters and promises to give fans an intense opportunity to cheer on their favorite fighters, front row center.”
Broadcast live from the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ, UFC 111: St- Pierre vs. Hardy will be shown in more than 300 select movie theaters including AMC Entertainment Inc., Celebration! Cinema, Cinemark USA Inc., Clearview Cinemas, Cobb Theatres, Goodrich Quality Theatres, Hollywood Theaters, Kerasotes Showplace Theatres, Marcus Theatres, National Amusements and Regal Entertainment Group movie theaters, as well as the Carolina Theatre (Asheville, NC), Palace Cinema 9 (South Burlington, VT) and Penn Cinema (Lititz, PA), through NCM’s exclusive Digital Broadcast Network – North America’s largest cinema broadcast network.
UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre (fighting out of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 19-2 professional record) has been unstoppable since regaining the title in 2008. The 28-year-old Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt holds two career wins a piece over the legendary Matt Hughes and current UFC lightweight champion and former welterweight champion BJ Penn. The 170-pound champ defended his crown most recently against feared striker Thiago Alves at UFC 100 last July, and now St-Pierre makes his fourth title defense against one of the fiercest threats to his crown in UK superstar Dan Hardy.
Dan “The Outlaw” Hardy (fighting out of Nottingham, England, 23-6 1 NC) is unbeaten in the UFC and fresh off wins over Marcus Davis and Mike Swick. A black belt in Tae Kwon Do and a purple belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, the brash 27-year-old is looking to extend his seven-fight win streak as he becomes the first British fighter to contend for a UFC title. With 11 wins by KO/TKO and three by submission, the UK fighter with the 4-0 mark in the UFC always looks for the finish.
Winner of four of his last five fights, former two-time heavyweight champion Frank Mir (fighting out of Las Vegas, Nev., 13-4) has put on the necessary muscle and weight to face the biggest challengers in the heavyweight division, and he is refocused on earning back the world title. A Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt with immensely improved striking, the 30-year-old knocked down feared striker Cheick Kongo at UFC 107 and then proceeded to submit the French contender with a guillotine choke, putting him firmly back in the title picture.
Originally scheduled to face UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar, No. 1 contender Shane Carwin (fighting out of Denver, Colo., 11-0) has been on a tear ever since he stepped foot into the Octagon. A former national wrestling champion with dynamite in his fists, Carwin has made quick work of all three of his UFC opponents, finishing Christian Wellisch, Neil Wain and Gabriel Gonzaga within 91 seconds each. Now he takes the next step in his career against Frank Mir.
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Ummm. Well install some beer taps, get some deep fryers in the concession stand and this might work in the theaters. The only thing is with a $20 pricetag, all you need is two friends to get together to split the cost and you’re saving money staying at home. And something about staying in a seat the whole show just doesn’t work with me. It worked for the WWF, but I don’t see this being a longterm thing for the UFC unless they start charging the bars more to show the PPVs.
The bars already pay a lot for PPVs. Charging them more is the last thing the UFC wants or needs to do.
The bars IMO pay too much already. What I meant with that last sentence is if the UFC decides their interest are currently with the theaters, as in theater execs are paying Dana top dollar to show PPVs in their theaters, then the UFC might start charging the bars more, thus limiting the amoung of bars that can actually afford to legally show UFC. Then with fewer bars showing the fights, fans now have a choice to go home or go to the local movie theater. Kind of cynical, but you never know with business.
It would only be $10 at the theater local to me showing it.
Which theater had it for $10? Only one I found was Crossroads and it was $20. I was thinking along the same lines as ElDiablo: Splitting a PPV is generally a much better deal and going to the theater only makes sense if you’re the only one going to watch it or you just have to see it on the big screen.
Oops, it’s $20, I misread the website, where it had 10:00 for the showtime I was thinking that was the price. I only saw it being shown at Brier Creek, didn’t find Crossroads. It wouldn’t surprise me if they have it at Beaver Creek as well. I think they are pricing this too high, and will likely see this venture fail. I can see people paying $10, but $20 is too high.
i agree… gonna need some damn beer, and of course whats ufc without hot wings and other bar foods…
Exactly.
If they get a deal with the theatre in downtown Charlotte (Mez) it would be perfect because they serve booze and food (real food, not just popcorn and twizzlers).
IMAX at Pittsburgh Mills mall for $20.
Great lets keep making lateral moves instead of moving forward. What the heck do we need to do to get this on network tv??? NFL and UEFA (European Soccer) generates WAY MORE money and you dont have to pay a cent to watch their events.
Dont get me wrong, as a fan this PPV is worth the $50 without even having friends over to chip in but what the UFC needs to do is start making money of Network TV.
Maybe its too early, but I couldnt imagine this PPV not getting CRAZY ratings and generating more money on Network tv than in PPV.
Its like my prayers have been answered.
Now I have an option to see UFC events on a screen much larger than my own and not have a houseful of moochers who don’t kick in for expenses.
Plus someone else makes the popcorn and has soda and candy on hand.
Its like winning the lottery or something for me!
:)
I was really happy to see this news untill I checked the price. It really disappointed me now. It’s f*cking 25$ here. WTF dana white?
Do you think Dana directly sets the pricing that this company is charging? That it is $5 more at yours than anyone else’s tells me that it is someone else making that grab at your money. Don’t blame Dana for someone else’s greed.
It reminds me Devil’s Advocate….. *sarcasm* :)
And it is Portland Or (97006)
They’ve had it in Oklahoma on the big screen since ufc 100. Glad to see this is spreading all over.
I been seeing lot of people are complaining about this rate. In addition they are also saying they can’t drink a beer while watching it at theaters. So Zuffa or whoever please lower the rate.
i think this is for the underage kids that cant get into bars or get their parents to buy a PPV. For $20 admission plus the jacked-up rates theaters charge for popcorn/candy/drinks (unless you sneak or eat up before hand) your total cost is going to most likely be around $35. We’ll see if there are enough kids out there to make this work.
Yah could be true. Or they might found an equation which resulted 20$ to make it balance between bar, PPV, theater etc. so that they don’t lose business.
It may work? From a business perspective its probably an (in addition too, not instead of)type of deal. I cant imagine that Dana expects this to be a better model than the bar setup, however, I do think that this is probably just going after a more diverse audience, i.e. non-drinkers and people under 21 who may not have the PPV option at the parents home or in the college dorms. Also, I think this could sell well with the younger military types that live on-base (no PPV options in barracks) and have limited funds, and are too young to drink or dont drink! IMO of course…