An apparently significant portion of UFC 257 buyers had problems on Saturday night, while trying to watch the pay-per-view, with some interruptions continuing to the main card.
UFC 257 was a lot like other Conor McGregor pay-per-view events. The trend numbers, according to UFC President Dana White, were off the charts.
On Saturday, however, some American users struggled to watch the fights – even after paying $ 69.99 for pay-per-view on ESPN +. The technical difficulties were widespread enough that the term “PPV” appeared on Twitter.
For some users, the blackout duration persisted for a significant part of the five fight main card, with several fights lost.
Hopeful viewers, including fighters from UFc and members of the MMA media, accessed Twitter to expose their complaints and seek help. The ESPN + help Twitter account was flooded with comments and tags.
I had difficulty making UFC’s PPVs work through ESPN + from the beginning. Multiple refills, double charges, long conversations with technical support … literally always.# UFC257 it is officially the worst yet. I bought it hours in advance, now it’s 9:23 pm and I still can’t get it to work.
– Ben Duffy (@benjaminduffy) January 24, 2021
Is anyone else struggling to make money on ESPN + now? I tried to buy this PPV six different times now. I can not understand. # UFC257
– Shaheen Al-Shatti (@shaunalshatti) January 24, 2021
Someone else cannot log in to ESPN despite having already purchased the # ufc257 card that cost $ 70
– Megan Anderson (@MeganA_mma) January 24, 2021
It doesn’t even load on TV and my phone keeps showing an error. But I pay for it 🤦🏼♀️
– Jessy Jess (@missjessyjess) January 24, 2021
ESPN + Help issued a statement with just over 80 minutes of access to pay-perv-view, informing buyers that it was working to resolve the issues.
We are currently investigating streaming issues that affect some customers – our teams are actively working to get affected viewers back to streaming as soon as possible.
– ESPN + Help (@ESPNPlusHelp) January 24, 2021
UFC 257 took place on Saturday at the Etihad Arena on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi. The main card was broadcast on ESPN + pay-per-view after the preliminaries on ESPN and ESPN +.