Unprecedented 42K in UFC ticket sales-UFC 129

[keithlewis]

http://sports.espn.go.com/extra/mma/new ... id=6113150

In an unprecedented day of sales, the UFC sold 42,000 tickets for its UFC 129 event, which will be held April 30 at Rogers Centre in Toronto.

The total was considered 'presale' tickets, or tickets made available only to those in the UFC fan club. Tickets to the general public do not go on sale until Saturday.

UFC officials had predicted the event likely would set records in attendance and revenue for a North American MMA event and are prepared to open up additional seating at Rogers Centre.

The venue has held more than 60,000 in the past; however, it's expected the total number of seats made available for UFC 129 will not exceed much more than 50,000.

The current all-time attendance record for a North American MMA event is 42,757, set by a K-1 Dynamite!! card in June 2007, despite evidence that much of that attendance came from unpaid tickets. The top-attended card in UFC history is UFC 124, which drew 23,152 in December in Montreal.

UFC 129 will be headlined by two title fights, both featuring Canadians. George St. Pierre looks to defend his welterweight belt against Jake Shields, and fellow Canadian Mark Hominick faces current featherweight champion Jose Aldo.

[keithlewis]

55,000 Tickets Sold for Historic UFC Stadium Event


The Ultimate Fighting Championship announced that tickets for UFC 129: GSP vs. Shields at Rogers Centre in Toronto on April 30 sold out minutes after being made available to the public. Rogers Centre was originally configured for 42,000 seats, but due to overwhelming demand, UFC and Rogers Centre officials reconfigured the venue to accommodate 55,000.

UFC 129: GSP vs. Shields, which is presented by TapouT, is the first major mixed martial arts event to ever be held in Ontario. The event doubles the largest gate and attendance records in UFC history. The previous gate record for a UFC event was $5.4 million, which was set on Saturday, Dec. 30, 2006 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas for UFC 66: Liddell vs. Ortiz 2. UFC 124: GSP vs. Koscheck 2, held at the Bell Centre in Montreal on Dec. 11, 2010, previously held the attendance record with over 23,000 fans.

With two UFC records already shattered, UFC 129 is also the largest single-day event gate in the history of Rogers Centre, which has played home to some of the world’s top entertainment and sporting events.

“UFC continues to set new milestones,” UFC President Dana White said. “We’ve sold 55,000 tickets in our first stadium event in Toronto and we continue to take the UFC to the next level.”

“Based on the lightning quick sell-out, there is no doubt that UFC’s fan base is extremely passionate”, said Silvio D’Addario, VP Events, Rogers Centre. “We’ve worked closely with UFC to configure our venue to provide the best fan experience possible and we look forward to hosting this historic event.”

While UFC 129 is sold out, tickets for the UFC Fan Expo at the Direct Energy Centre in Toronto on April 29-30 are still available at http://www.ufcfanexpo.com. Featuring the largest collection of UFC fighters ever to appear in one location, exciting special events, interactive Q&A sessions, meet and greets, training and development sessions, the Octagon, and much more, the UFC Fan Expo is a can’t-miss event for UFC fans.