According to reports, Dana White has to expect a possible loss at Noche UFC Sphere with expenses of over $20 million

The upcoming UFC 306: Riyadh Season Noche UFC is a unique event and Dana White claims he will never try anything like that again. Well, it seems the CEO might be making the right decision, as there is a troubling update on the Sphere event. Despite having the potential to be a major spectacle, it turns out that the upcoming PPV at the Sphere is having trouble selling tickets less than two weeks before it begins.

Dana White has reportedly invested more than $20 million to make the Sphere event possible. One of the promotion’s biggest stars is even there, Sean O’Malleyin the biggest fight of his career against Merab Dvalishvilibut the whole thing might have been for nothing since the Sphere isn’t even sold out yet.

Dana White has problems with ticket sales for Noche UFC

The UFC CEO is in full swing trying to “Love letter to the Mexican people” at the $2.3 billion Las Vegas building. After mentioning how excited he was when he saw a U2 concert at the Sphere, Dana White has made it his mission to put on the biggest live martial arts event in history. But those plans seem to have hit a roadblock as nearly 3,000 tickets are still unsold.

Yes, the current total capacity for UFC 306: Riyadh Season Noche UFC is 15,410 spectators according to various reports. The good thing is that most of the tickets are already sold out and sold to fans, but about a fifth of the total seats are still unsold, 2,929 seats to be exact. On the other hand, the UFC’s biggest problem is that it only has a few weeks left to solve this problem.

Meanwhile, we can’t be sure about the current status of ticket sales, as unfortunately these reports are almost a week old. Things might have changed since then. But why are so many tickets unsold? Let’s look at some possible reasons, including ticket prices.

A look at the ticket prices of Noche UFC

If we visit Ticketmaster’s website, we will see that the ticket prices for Noche UFC are a whopping $12,000. The reserve price, or cheap seats as most would say, is around $3,000. Well, the Sphere event is a one-off event and the ticket prices were bound to be higher than the average UFC event. Moreover, Dana White has already reduced the capacity to around 15,000, in a venue that can easily accommodate 20,000 people, and the unsold tickets could prove to be a significant loss for the promotion.

The layout of the Octagon will also be very different from what UFC fans have seen before. The Sphere is primarily designed for music and theater performances, so on one side of the venue the fans will sit and on the other side, in front of the giant screen, the UFC fighters will compete against each other in the most visually spectacular arena in the world.

Now that we’ve looked at the seating and prices, let’s take a look at the card program. Do you think the Sphere card program is as strong as you’d expect for such a hyped event? Sure, there are two title fights headlining the event. We have fan favorites Diego Lopes and Brian Ortega setting the stage for the main and co-main fights. But what about the other fights?

All but two of the fights feature a Mexican fighter, but was that the right move? As expected, the Mexican Independence Day show was supposed to feature Mexican fighters, but perhaps a big name like Conor McGregor could have headlined the event and made it extra special. The Irishman’s UFC 303 fight grossed $20 million in gate receipts before the fight was canceled.

Forget McGregor, the UFC 308 card in Abu Dhabi or the UFC 307 card in Utah feature stronger lineups than Noche UFC. Did the UFC screw up the matchmaking for this unique event?

What do you think about the lack of ticket sales as Noche UFC quickly approaches? Post your comments below.