If UFC president Dana White’s claims about pay-per-view buys are accurate, Mayweather-McGregor was every bit the record-smashing international extravaganza (and occasional boxing match) it was billed to be and a whole lot more. One major hiccup? The UFC’s own stream of the megabout ran into enough problems that the MMA promotion is now offering refunds to those suffering Saturday night access headaches. That’s a scenario traditionally considered to be “not good.”
Streaming issues plagued the tilt and the UFC’s Fight Pass service was the subject of a number of complaints from fans that couldn’t watch the megabout. The complaints have generated a statement from Dana White indicating that fans who experienced problems watching the fight could receive a refund. (No, you don’t have to go to Conor McGregor’s house to get it.)
Statement from @DanaWhite: pic.twitter.com/ErvWRnjnVe
— UFC (@ufc) August 29, 2017
“We always try to put on the biggest and most exciting fights,” offered White via official UFC account tweet. “We want our fans to have the best experience when watching our events. Unfortunately, we didn’t deliver the way we wanted on Saturday because of NeuLion’s technical issues on UFC.tv. As usual, we always take care of our fans and we will fix this. We have started processing refunds immediately for anyone who could not access the fight after purchase.”
Ideally for cord-cutters and folks that prefer streaming services, this sort of high-profile lesson tethered to the biggest fight in ages can hopefully serve as a teachable moment for services (the UFC’s Fight Pass included) going forward. Heck, who knows how many of those 3 million that tuned into illegal streams were just folks that couldn’t get the fight that they paid for?
Speaking of streaming problems, an Oregon man filed a class-action lawsuit against Showtime over issues with the pay cable giant’s stream of the fight. Showtime has told customers they will provide refunds to those impacted by streaming problems associated to the event.
