UFC 306, Sphere’s First Live Sports Event, Sets Records For League And Venue

TKO Group’s UFC and Sphere Entertainment said today their Sept. 14 event, UFC 306 at Riyadh Season Noche UFC, set a handful of records, including highest-grossing UFC event of all time and highest-grossing single event at Sphere, with a gate of $22 million and a sold-out crowd of 16,024.

UFC’s previous record holder was UFC 205: Alvarez Vs McGregor at Madison Square Garden in 2016 ($17.7 million).

The event market the highest-grossing sponsorship sales for a UFC event and the first UFC event with a title partner (Riyadh Season); the highest-grossing merchandise sales and highest per cap for both a UFC and a Sphere event; and the highest-grossing UFC event for On Location VIP Experience packages.

About 89% of ticket buyers originated from markets outside of Nevada, one of the highest ever for out-of-town ticket sales for both a UFC and Sphere event, “reaffirming UFC’s power as a live event attraction and tourism draw for the cities that host its events,” the announcement said.

The event celebrated Mexican Independence Day weekend and served as a tribute to the Mexican people and culture, as well as their  contributions to combat sports. It featured the premiere of the film For Mexico, For All Time in six 90-second chapters woven into the event presentation shown on the interior display plane of Sphere – the world’s highest resolution LED display – throughout the pay-per-view portion of the event, with each chapter focusing on a different period in Mexican history. The work was created by Carlos López Estrada, produced by Valerie Bush for Antigravity Academy, and co-produced by Emmy-Award winning Nexus Studios.

As the first live sports event at Sphere, the revolutionary new entertainment venue, UFC 306 “captured the imagination of the sports world and raised the bar for sports and entertainment. Its innovative use of production technology capitalized on Sphere’s state-of-the-art audio and video capabilities to deliver a live experience never before witnessed in the history of sports,” the partners said.

The massive, high-tech Sphere from James Dolan’s MSG Group, opened a year ago after years of stalled construction and budget overruns but quickly became a notable addition to the Vegas entertainment landscape. It debuted with a U2’s concert residency U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere, marking the group’s first live show since 2019, and has been hosting a series of residencies.

Production and tech also highlighted some firsts like live fighter heart rate tracking displayed and analyzed in real time on Sphere’s interior media plane and on the broadcast (the first time it’s been used for combat sports) and real-time fighter statistics augmented by AI.

The announcement cited Octagon lighting with 80 light fixtures behind Sphere’s interior media plane; novel use of Sphere immersive sound, deploying audio beams 360 degrees for the first event held in the round at venue; new use of Sphere’s haptic seats to enhance the sensory experience based on the action in the Octagon; 48 cameras, most ever for a UFC event, 37 mics, and 6 Broadcast Mobile Units.

The event featured four audio channels including Spanish as well as English and Red Corner and Blue Corner commentary, via cell phones; the first use by UFC of TAIT’s Automated Camera System to capture wide shots; four unique transmissions to Australia, New Zealand, Canada and France produced live from a single control room at the Broadcast Operations Center in Vegas; film narration and fighter features transmitted English, Spanish, French Canadian and Portuguese; and, since it couldn’t rig mics over the Octagon due to the absence of the traditional UFC lighting truss, UFC installed Shure Digital Microphone Array Technology, an audio product not yet available on the market, under the Octagon’s four camera platforms