UFC 306, scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 14, will mark not only the first sports event at the Las Vegas Sphere but also, quite likely, its last one if lessons are taken from UFC CEO Dana White’s admitted mistake. With escalating production costs and plummeting ticket prices, UFC 306, also billed as Riyadh Season Noche, is setting a precedent it may not wish to follow again.
The tickets for UFC 306 were staggeringly priced, marking the highest face values for any event staged in Las Vegas. Prices began at $2,500 for seats in the highest rows and soared to a staggering $23,437.50 for floor seats near the Octagon. As of Wednesday evening, only a few hundred of the 18,500 originally available face-value seats remained on Ticketmaster.
However, this sparse availability doesn’t indicate a near sell-out. Thousands of tickets are still circulating on reseller sites, where prices have significantly dropped. On StubHub, tickets start at $720, Vivid at $502, and Seat Geek at $531. On Ticketmaster, verified resellers are struggling to recoup their costs, with five seats near the coveted front-row spots, originally priced at $23K, now being offered at $5,500 each.
If any of these seats remain unsold in the hours leading up to the event, their prices will need to drop further. This issue also affects hundreds of seats still listed at face value on Ticketmaster, unless UFC opts to distribute them to VIPs, which remains a possibility.
Branded for Mexican Independence Day two days later, the ten-bout spectacle of UFC 306 promises an exceptional lineup headlined by bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley defending his title against No. 1 contender Merab Dvalishvili. However, the ticket prices ranging from $2,500 to $23K have proven too steep even for such a promising card.
Dana White attributed these high prices to the $8 million production costs, primarily spent on producing video content for the Sphere’s massive hi-def screen. “Think about U2,” White explained, referencing the Irish rock band’s extensive residency at the Sphere last year. “Whatever that cost them, they had 40 nights to amortize those costs. We just have one.”
Reports now suggest that White’s production costs have ballooned to $20 million, despite UFC partnering with external producers, including Valerie Bush and Antigravity Academy, who will showcase their own 90-second videos between bouts. Though pay-per-view sales will offset some of these financial burdens, White has unequivocally stated, “We’re not ever doing an event at the Sphere again.”
Interestingly, White’s fascination with the Sphere appeared genuine when he previously described himself as “obsessed” with the venue during an interview with ESPN’s Pat McAfee, noting how his team had studied U2’s residency meticulously to inspire the show’s visuals. “I’m telling you right now, this place is incredible,” White had remarked.
Contrary to those enthusiastic statements, industry insiders suggest White might not have been entirely truthful. According to Billboard, White didn’t initially intend to stage UFC 306 at the Sphere. The venue only became an option after MGM Resorts executives signed a contract with boxing promoter Al Hyman to host Canelo Álvarez vs. Edgar Berlanga at the T-Mobile Arena on Sept. 14—a date White claims was promised to UFC under a 2017 anchor tenant agreement with T-Mobile. Last year’s “Noche UFC” at T-Mobile Arena had tickets priced starting at a reasonable $120 each.
In the end, UFC 306 at the Las Vegas Sphere has become a cautionary tale in event planning, highlighting the potential pitfalls of ambitious productions and exorbitant ticket pricing.
