When it comes to finances, MMA is not like other sports. A football fan could have spent all day Sunday watching football without spending a dime. Network television provided plenty of games to satiate the need for football for even the most avid fans. Sure, a fan could spend extra for the NFL Network's Red Zone coverage, or to watch Monday or Thursday night's games on cable. But spending money isn't necessary to watch most football games.
Outside of five cards on Fox and the upstart World Series of Fighting on NBC, MMA fans need to spend money to see fights. It's not a cheap sport to love. Between pay-per-views, cable subscriptions, tickets and DVDs, fans drop a lot of cash on MMA.
Four Cagereaders tracked their expenses on MMA and were nice enough to share them.
Will, 34 from North Carolina:
I wound up going out of town for the ppv so no money there.? I do subscribe to showtime so if you count that for the Rousey fight night, I dropped 15 bucks for showtime.? I think you had wanted food etc.? figure for food and beer that night, we spent another 25 bucks or so.
Total for Will: $40
RJ is 34, and lives in Richland, Wash. He went to Las Vegas early in August:
Out of pocket expense is a lost wager of $50 on Bader (I really thought he'd do better plus the odds would have paid off nicely) and about $25 for food and beverage in the sportsbook.
I did not purchase a PPV this month.
Total for RJ: $75
Ryan, from Iowa, said he has spent up to $2,500 for a trip to Las Vegas for a UFC event. But August was cheaper for this avid MMA fan:
UFC 150 on pay per view - $55
UFC 145 on DVD - $11.88
UFC 146 on DVD - $11.88
I purchase every DVD released from the UFC.
Strikeforce: Rousey vs Kaufman - Ordered Showtime at $15 per month.? I usually wait and order in time for Dexter to start, but decided to do it earlier so I had it in time for this fight.
Total for Ryan: $90.76
Troy is from Sunnyvale, Calif., and spent the most among our Cagereaders:
August 4 -- UFC on Fox- Fortunately this was a free card put on by the UFC but my group of friends and I would have easily paid for this card. The only expense for this was bringing food and soda to the viewing party at my friend's house. Total was $20 for chips, salsa, and 2 liters.
August 7 -- I was charged my monthly fee ($75) for training at the Academy of Self Defense in Santa Clara, CA. This is where I train in Muay Thai and Boxing. Being a fan of MMA, I like to train in order to learn more about the sport and understand the sacrifices these athletes make to compete at such a high level.
August 11 -- UFC 150: Henderson/Edgar- A bunch of my friends and I were in Las Vegas to watch the fights and we were charged $10 to watch the fights at a local bar/restaurant. In addition to that I also made a trip out to Wanderlei's gym because he is my favorite fighter. He wasn't at the gym that day but I did pick up another Wand Fight Team pair of shorts for $40.
August 18 -- Strikeforce on Showtime- Thankfully one of my friends has Showtime so we had a group of friends come over to watch the fights, BBQ, and drink. I spent $20 on alcohol and various foods for the event.
Random stuff -- I bought into a couple of group case breaks of UFC trading cards. Total amount of money spent on two breaks was $68.97 and I bought spots for three fighters (Dustin Poirier, Dominick Cruz, Gilbert Melendez). I ended up getting some nice cards in return.
Total for Troy: $233.97
It averages out to $119.93 per Cagereader. Personally, I spent $54.95 for the pay-per-view (which was reimbursed by Yahoo! Sports), $10 for Showtime, and around $15 for Thai food delivery on each fight night.
How does it add up for you? What kind of expenses do you have to be an MMA fan? Tell us in the comments, on Facebook or on Twitter.
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