UFC 306 At Sphere Sets Record For Highest-grossing Event In UFC History And Highest-grossing Single Event At Sphere
Sold-Out Spectacle Also Sets Numerous Other Records While Raising the Bar for Live Sports and Entertainment with Tech and Production Innovations
UFC, part of TKO Group Holdings , and Sphere Entertainment Co.announced that UFC 306 at RIYADH SEASON NOCHE UFC held on September 14 at Sphere in Las Vegas set a number 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 306 AT SPHERE LIVE EVENT RECORDS AND HIGHLIGHTS:
Highest-grossing UFC event ever ($22 million), besting the landmark UFC 205: ALVAREZ VS MCGREGOR at Madison Square Garden in New York in November 2016 ($17.7 million).
Highest-grossing single event at Sphere.
Highest-grossing sponsorship sales for a UFC event and the first UFC event with a title partner (Riyadh Season).
Highest-grossing merchandise sales and highest per cap for both a UFC and Sphere event.
Highest-grossing UFC event for On Location VIP Experience packages.
89% of UFC 306 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.
UFC 306 at RIYADH SEASON NOCHE UFC celebrated Mexican Independence Day weekend and served as a passionate tribute to the Mexican people and their culture, as well as a celebration of their fighting spirit and contributions to combat sports. UFC 306 featured the premiere of the film For Mexico, For All Time as told 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 and its influence on the makeup of Mexican identity. The film was created by Carlos López Estrada, produced by Valerie Bush for Antigravity Academy, and co-produced by Emmy-Award winning Nexus Studios. The event itself was produced by UFC in tandem with the Emmy-Award winning team at Silent House Productions who worked with Grammy nominated Blink Studios to design the “worlds” that served as backdrops for each fight.
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.
UFC 306 PRODUCTION OPERATIONS AND TECHNOLOGY HIGHLIGHTS:
Live Fighter Heart Rate Tracking. Select fighters’ heart rates were tracked, analyzed, and displayed in real time on Sphere’s interior media plane and on the broadcast using state-of-the-art PROTECHT sensor technology developed by Sports & Wellbeing Analytics (SWA) embedded in OPRO+ mouthguards– the first time such heart rate-tracking technology has been used for combat sports.
Innovative Octagon Lighting. UFC made use of Sphere’s “pass-through” lighting capability by installing 80 light fixtures behind Sphere’s interior media plane that projected light on the Octagon to replace UFC’s traditional hanging lighting truss. Silent House Productions was instrumental in the development of this technique.
Novel use of Sphere Immersive Sound powered by HOLOPLOT. UFC and Sphere’s audio team deployed audio beams 360 degrees for the first event held in the round at Sphere.
New Use of Sphere’s Haptic Seats to Enhance the Sensory Experience. UFC and Sphere’s audio team worked together to provide force feedback to the venue’s haptic seats based on the action in the Octagon using both automated and manual cues—a first for a UFC event and the first time Sphere used haptic effects that were triggered by physical action and translated into haptic feedback in real time.
48 Cameras, Most Ever for a UFC Event. To capture all the action, UFC utilized 48 cameras, including: four hi-speed cameras; seven RF (wireless) cameras; one high-frame rate Fletcher Nucleus camera inside the Octagon integrated into the fence padding; one Navcam four-point cable camera with a Sony HDC-P50 camera; two Trinity hybrid camera stabilized systems; and two MovieBird 45 Techno Crane systems.
6 Broadcast Mobile Units, Most Ever for a UFC Event. Due to the complexity of the event, UFC used six mobile units to produce UFC 306 for broadcast partners around the world, including the first 1080p native production and transmission of a UFC event by ESPN in the U.S.
37 Total Mics Deployed in Sphere. 32 directional microphones were installed in the seating area of the venue to pick up ambient sounds and five “thump” mics were placed under the Octagon to power Sphere’s haptic seating experience.
Real-Time Fighter Statistics Integrated into the UFC “Worlds.” A custom curated live feed featuring fighter statistics and information was integrated seamlessly into Sphere’s LED media plane during the “worlds” created by Blink Studios that served as the setting for each bout.
AI-Tracked Advance Metrics. UFC’s technology partner, Combat IQ, applied AI computer vision stat tracking to standard broadcast cameras to capture new striking statistics such as strike target zones, left punches vs. right punches, strikes by stance, and other advanced metrics that were displayed on Sphere’s interior media plane during the bouts.
Four In-Arena Streaming Audio Channels, Including Spanish. UFC utilized the LiveVoice app to provide event attendees with the option to listen to four live streaming audio channels featuring Spanish, English, Red Corner, and Blue Corner commentary via their personal cellular devices. This marked the first time that fans in attendance were able to listen to live audio of an entire UFC event in Spanish.
First use by UFC of TAIT’s Automated Camera System to capture wide shots and convey the grandeur and fully immersive visual environment of Sphere’s 160,000 sq. ft. and 16K x 16K resolution interior media plane for viewers watching the broadcast on television.
Four unique transmissions to Australia, New Zealand, Canada and France produced live from a single control room at the Broadcast Operations Center at UFC APEX in Las Vegas.
Film narration and fighter features transmitted into four languages. Each chapter of the original film For Mexico, For All Time and the fighter features were transmitted in four separate languages for UFC’s international broadcasts, including English, Spanish, French Canadian, and Portuguese.
First use of ‘Shure Digital Microphone Array Technology.’ In lieu of not being able to rig mics over the Octagon due to the absence of the traditional UFC lighting truss, UFC installed ‘Shure Digital Microphone Array Technology’, an innovative audio product not yet available on the market, under the four camera platforms on the Octagon.
Custom Octagon Girl Costumes. Seven-time Emmy Award-winning costume designer, Marina Toybina, curated a collection of intricate ensembles for the event’s Octagon girls that catered to each short film chapter’s message and enhanced the theme of each “world.”