Group F continues play on Saturday in the 2026 World Cup with a matchup of Sweden and the Netherlands. Sweden won their opener against Tunisia 5-1, while the Netherlands battled to a 2-2 draw against Japan.
Kickoff for Netherlands vs. Sweden is 1 p.m. ET in Houston. Netherlands are the -140 favorite on the 90-minute money line (risk $140 to win $100) in the latest Netherlands vs. Sweden odds from FanDuel Sportsbook. Sweden are +370 and a draw is +290. The over/under for total goals is 2.5.
Before locking in any Netherland vs. Sweden picks or World Cup 2026 predictions, you need to see what proven soccer expert Martin Green has to say.
After working in the sports betting industry for several years, Green became a professional sports writer and handicapper and has covered the game worldwide. Last year, Green was profitable in multiple areas on his soccer picks, including the Champions League (+211.25) and Bundesliga (+100). He’s also been red-hot in 2026, posting an 18-8 record over his last 26 UCL picks, returning nearly $1,000 in profit. Anyone following could have seen HUGE returns!
Now Green has turned his attention to Sweden vs. Netherlands in the 2026 World Cup, and revealed his best bets.
One of Green’s predictions: He is leaning Over on total goals (2.5). “We should be in for an entertaining game when the Netherlands take on Sweden,” he said
Green has also found a critical x-factor and locked in two best bets!
What are the best bets for Sweden vs. Netherlands? … Join SportsLine now to see Martin Green’s best bets, all from the soccer expert who is on an 18-8 run on UCL picks!

The Last Real Good Guy with the Last Real Chance
Just a hunch, but I think the Last Real Good Guy may be a tad emotional.
Listen, Sami Zayn tried to do his best as special guest referee for the Cody Rhodes versus Gunther WWE title match. But a referee needs to be stoic. They have to manage combatants in the heat of the moment when they are not listening, and they need to do so with poise. But Sami, especially in his current, fragile state, is not that person.
The title match actually opened the show, which is always a bit disappointing because it telegraphs shenanigans. And we sure did get those with the Last Real Good Guy.
Early on, we saw Sami forcefully removing the competitors from the corner after he’d hit his five count. That once led to Cody getting into Zayn’s face and sticking his finger in the referee’s chest. Sami responded by shoving Rhodes who fell right into a Ring General Sleeper. But it really escalated when Gunther would not remove that sleeper when Cody reached the rope after the five count. So Sami pulled him off by grabbing the challenger by the mouth. Gunther powerbombed the guest referee, knocking him out of the ring.
Clearly he was trying to enforce the rules, and to this point wasn’t playing favorites. But he was reacted too personally each time Cody & Gunther wouldn’t heed him.
Darryl Sharma took Sami’s place and we had a real match for a brief amount of time. But when it looked like Gunther could win with a powerbomb, Zayn pulled Sharma out of the ring. I guess you can argue he was taking his role back, but at this point it was clear he was too hot about what Gunther did to him.
Back in the ring, Cody was attempting a sunset flip powerbomb but Gunther had the ropes to prevent it. So referee Sami Zayn kicked Gunther’s hands off the rope and then fast counted the pin.
Of course, General Manager Nick Aldis was not pleased and all four had words in the back. Cody returned to the ring and insisted the match be restarted, which frustrated Zayn who argued he was the official so his decision should be final. However his protestation just put him on the bad side of a Gunther beating.
Aldis did restart the match but it wasn’t long until Zayn Helluva Kicked the challenger, knocked out the official, and also (maybe accidentally but I don’t think so) knocked Rhodes out with the title.
At that point, there can’t be much pretense that he was trying to be the good guy. He was just too angry, though still fighting himself internally.
This was some real sports entertainment and I didn’t mind it at all. I’m a ride or die for the Last Real Good Guy, who got to cut a promo on Nick Aldis later in the night insisting that he never wanted this and it was Aldis who put him in the match. So it was really Nick’s fault.
It’s a good argument. Just enough truth to believe it if you want to. But of course Sami put himself in the Gunther/Rhodes feud despite claiming otherwise. That’s what makes this version of Zayn so good. Like Drew McIntyre the last few years, Sami Zayn really thinks he’s the good guy even though we can see why he’s not. But if you’re like me and you are a fan who wants to see him get to the mountain top and aren’t into booing him, you don’t have to. You can be a Ride or Die because there’s enough there to defend. In that way, the heel turn was smart. I think some fans were going to reject a straight heel turn. But this allows all reactions no matter what they be.
At the request of the champ, we officially got the announcement for the triple threat at Night of Champion, where I can delude myself into thinking maybe this situation can actually lead to Zayn walking out with the title.
Last time they were in Saudi, I deluded myself into thinking that Sami Zayn could defeat Drew McIntyre in a venue that just loves Sami. And he was squashed to the point I was like “Sami is never sniffing that title.”
Now just four months later we’re back in Saudi, Sami is in another title match in a situation where a win isn’t out of the realm of possibility. It won’t happen, but I’m going to let myself believe it can again.
Because I’m a Ride. Or. Die.
Onto the Finals
One thing I’ve enjoyed about the majority of the King/Queen of the Ring matches is the in-ring action actually has been overall enjoyable.
Unfortunately that thread was lost tonight, especially because both matches opted to work with a pre-match injury which dictated the match, though one was more egregious than the other.
Liv Morgan defeated Charlotte Flair
Charlotte Flair’s knee was attacked by Jade Cargill and her Baddies (are they officially calling them that here?) as she was making her way to the ring from backstage. It was bad enough that multiple times Nick Aldis and even Alexa Bliss pleaded with Charlotte not to go through with or continue the match.
The entire bout was Liv working and Charlotte selling that knee. I don’t hate the idea per se, but with the match finish pretty much telegraphed before the bell rang and the fact the tourney had consisted of some fun matches prior to tonight, it was a let down.
The Queen kicked out of an Oblivion but had to tap to a single leg Boston crab at the conclusion of the match, a match that was 75% Flair holding the knee and occasionally shouting “My knee!” Subtle.
The angle served to show Charlotte’s resilience and further her feud with Jade as they figure out how to navigate without Rhea Ripley. (Her star power is missed.) But it didn’t serve for a good main event match.
Jey Uso defeated Je’Von Evans
In this match, Evans sold the spear he took from Bron Breakker on Monday Night Raw the entire match, giving Main Event Jey Uso a target. Unlike the prior match, it wasn’t overly egregious and in this case, I appreciated them selling a spear from Monday’s Raw.
Je’Von is still a treat to watch and still had some fun sequences in this match. Also, he’s showing a bit more attitude than at his initial debut which gives him some depth. He’s going to be a star.
It took two ugly-looking spears (especially compared to Breakker’s spear that was looming over this entire match) and an Uso splash to allow Jey to advance.
I’m not entirely sure how they want me to feel about Jey Uso.
They want fans to dance to his entrance, probably because that moves merch. But his actions, including how he treats Jacob, within the Bloodline are obnoxious, and that feels intentional. Then there’s my own issues that I’m still bitter because I believe WWE’s one big title win due to a wave of popularity went to him and not LA Knight. (And I’m sorry, I don’t buy that he’s significantly better in the ring than Knight in singles matches.)
This could be leading to some interesting things regarding Jey’s place in the Bloodline, but I also worry they don’t want to push the story too far because they still want another interactive entrance that moves merch.
Bloodline Drama Lite
Talla & Tonga Loa were unsuccessful in their attempt to capture the tag team titles against R-Truth & Damian Priest. And it’s kind of the Bloodline’s fault?
The Bloodline, for some inexplicable reason, is sending Jacob Fatu to recruit Solo Sikoa back into the fold. Again, not clear why because Solo has been playing a loser for many moons now. But that distraction was something that the Loas didn’t want during their tag team match so they firmly requested Solo wait in the back instead of accompany them to the ring.
Of course, Solo eventually came out to attempt to assist his guys, but his presence distracted Talla. (To be fair, Talla was way too easily distracted there.) While Sikoa would take a Damian Priest bullet for his tall MFT brother, it also was all distracting enough that it allowed Priest & Truth retain.
I don’t mind this story but it’s not really moving me either. You’ve got questions of the Bloodline trying to get Solo back. (Again… why?) You have Solo trying to recruit Royce Keyes. It’s a lot of midcard drama, which isn’t a bad thing. It would be worse if it bleeds into a main event story, such as anything Roman Reigns is doing. And unfortunately, it’s possible it could be heading that way given Solo is threatening to mess with Reigns’s family business.
Fair Game
Ricky Saints became the #1 contender for the United States title when he won the rubber match against Carmelo Hayes tonight. Hayes lost because he hit an exposed turnbuckle twice — once on his crotch and another on the back of his head. The turnbuckle wasn’t purposely exposed so Saints really didn’t cheat to win but it did help protect Hayes a little. It’s not the narrative that WWE is pushing given their video above says that “Saints cheats” to win the match, but it was pretty clear that turnbuckle pad was not ripped off intentionally. And after it is off, it is what it is.
I find it interesting the way they use Hayes. He is a guy the powers that be know is very talented in the ring so they’ll book him in series of matches with guys with whom he has good chemistry. Unfortunately, it often doesn’t end well long term for that opponent. He did it in Andrade (released and back in AEW). He did it with Ilya Dragunov (not being used). And now he’s done it with Saints, who hopefully for his sake doesn’t get released or end up chilling in catering.
That’s entertaining because Hayes is really good in the ring. So were all those other guys we mentioned. But it isn’t how this company typically books guys they have big plans for.
As for Ricky, I’m still not buying him yet. He’s a fine promo and is strong in the ring, but I don’t see it otherwise. It’s probably intentional that he comes off as a smaller guy who wants to pretend he’s bigger than he is. That’s a good way for a heel to act. But right now, none of it is clicking for me.
Quick Hits
I’m a bit tired of “Blake Monroe coming soon.” It’s time for her to debut.
Is Danhausen (pronounced dan-HAUSEN if you’re Stephen A. Smith) going to bring back Zack Ryder?
We got a quick backstage promo from Fatal Influence. I really like Jacy Jayne but the group really feels like three random women grouped together and not a true faction.
My girlfriend finds it unfortunate that Wade Barrett is greying in such a way that his beard is half grey and half brown. But outside dying it in one color or the other or shaving it off, I don’t think there’s much he can do about it.
I’m going to go a little behind the scenes in my recap approach here. I find the hardest shows to recap are mediocre ones. Great shows leave you feeling energized with a bunch of aspects you want to praise and little details you want to point out. Terrible shows are fun to just rip apart because they’re just so bad. But mediocre shows leave you with little really tear open but nothing that made you excited to talk about that because they’re just there. Meh doesn’t inspire either way.
And that’s what we got here. A mediocre episode of television. I enjoyed the WWE title stuff enough, especially with the great character work Sami Zayn is doing. While that didn’t light the world on fire, it was enjoyable and probably the best part of the show. The King of the Ring matches, especially the main event, left some to be desired. The rest of the show was kind of forgettable.
Grade: C

Editor’s note: Follow all of Friday’s World Cup action live!
PHILADELPHIA — Carlo Ancelotti heard the reactions and post‑match analysis after Brazil managed only a draw in its 2026 World Cup opener last Saturday.
Now, after not meeting the expectations for its roster, comes that test: Will the Seleção shake off those opening‑match jitters, meet their expectations and come with a different result on the field after a few days of training?
It’s something Brazil will look to do when it takes the field against Haiti in the second of three Group C matches at 8:30 p.m. ET inside Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Friday, June 19.
Watch World Cup games live with Fubo (free trial)
“The result wasn’t a good game against Morocco. (It) makes me a little critical of the team, but we have to make positive, constructive criticism, because as I said, ‘You don’t win the World Cup in the first game,’” Ancelotti said at his pre-match availability on Thursday. “We have to look for a solution.”
Haiti fell to Scotland 1-0 in its Group C opener last Saturday in Boston. Les Grenadiers are making their second-ever World Cup appearance, and their first since 1974. Headlining Haiti’s roster are goalkeeper Johny Placide, forward Duckens Nazon and center back Ricardo Ade.
USA TODAY Sports is providing live updates, scores and highlights of Friday’s World Cup game between Brazil and Haiti. Follow below:
Brazil vs Haiti World Cup live score
This section will be updated throughout the game
Brazil: 2
Haiti: 0
Raphinha substituted after injury
Perhaps the only negative of an excellent first half for Brazil is an injury to left wing Raphinha, who was taken off in the 40th minute. The forward who plays for Barcelona appeared to pull up with a leg injury. Coming on to replace him is Rayan, a 19 year old from Bournemouth. Rayan was a revelation in the Premier League, scoring five goals after arriving in the winter transfer window.
Another Brazil goal from Matheus Cunha
The move by Brazil manager Carlo Ancelotti to put Matheus Cunha into the starting lineup has paid immediate dividends. Cunha scored for the second time in the first half with an exquisite left-footed finish after receiving a through ball from Vinicius Junior. The move was first initiated by Lucas Paqueta winning the ball at midfield and quickly moving it forward to Vinicius with the Haiti defense unable to track back.
Brazil scores first with a Matheus Cunha deflection
Brazil has hit the front for the first time this World Cup with Matheus Cunha scoring off a rebound from a shot in the box by Vinicius Junior in the 23rd minute. Cunha initially received the ball at the middle before playing out wide to Vinicius, who cut inside for a shot. It was saved by Haiti keeper Johny Placide but the rebound was spilled in front of goal. Cunha and Haiti defender Hannes Delcroix both went for the ball. Delcroix got there first but his clearance went off Cunha into the net. The Manchester United player hit his signature surfing celebration.
Brazil goal by Raphinha wiped out due to offside
A beautiful ball over the top from Bruno Guimaraes to Raphinha was calmly put in by the Brazil forward who plays for Barcelona. But as the Brazilian fans cheered, offsides was called as Raphinha was a step too early making his run. Score remains 0-0 after 15 minutes.
Brazil still finding its footing after 10 minutes
Vinicius Junior has had a couple of spells on ball but has yet to generate anything against a Haiti defense that has been aggressive early. The midfield issues for Brazil that were apparent against Morocco remain as Lucas Paqueta was taken off the ball under pressure to generate a scoring chance for Haiti.
Vinicius down briefly after a hard tackle then a yellow
In one of his first touches, the Brazilian forward was tackled by a Haiti defender and the ball going out for a throw in. Vinicius Junior stayed down a moment before Brazil put the ball in play.
In the immediate aftermath of play, the first yellow card of the game was issued to Haiti’s Carlens Arcus, who got tangled up with the foot of a Brazilian player as the two went for the ball. Haiti fans showed their displeasure with the referee’s call.
It comes in the fourth minute of the game.
Brazil-Haiti match underway
We’re underway in the City of Brotherly Love. Brazil opens the first half by controlling the opening touch at kickoff and holding possession!
Brazil, Haiti take field for pregame ceremonies
PHILADELPHIA — Both teams have taken the field for pregame ceremonies, which will include the playing of both teams’ national anthems. Both teams received a nice ovation from their fans as they stepped onto the pitch. We’re just minutes away from the start of Brazil vs. Haiti!
Brazil lineup today
Brazil will go with the same midfield as it had vs. Morocco on Saturday. There is one change up front with Matheus Cunha replacing Igor Thiago at striker, and one change on the backline with fullback Danilo stepping in for Roger Ibañez.
Here is Brazil’s starting lineup vs. Haiti on Friday at the World Cup:
Full rosters for 2026 World Cup teams
Haiti lineup today
Here’s Haiti’s starting lineup vs Brazil at the World Cup on Friday:
GK Johny Placide
DF Carlens Arcus
DF Ricardo Ade
DF Hannes Delcroix
DF Martin Experience
DF Jean-Kevin Duverne
MF Jean-Ricner Bellegarde
MF Danley Jean Jacques
FW Ruben Providence
FW Frantzdy Pierrot
FW Josue Casimir
Is Neymar playing for Brazil tonight in World Cup?
No. Neymar will once again be sidelined for Brazil’s second World Cup Group C match vs. Haiti on Friday due to injury. He continues to work back from a calf injury that he sustained while playing for his club soccer team, Santos FC.
Brazil vs Haiti prediction
Here’s how USA TODAY Sports’ experts predict Friday’s World Cup game between Brazil and Haiti to play out:
Seth Vertelney: Brazil 2-0 Haiti — There are plenty of questions surrounding this Brazil team right now, but it still has far too much quality for an overmatched Haiti team.
Jon Arnold: Brazil 3-1 Haiti — Haiti can hang tougher than might be expected, but Brazil will outlast Les Grenadiers and pour it on late.
Jesse Yomtov: Brazil 4-1 Haiti — Brazil silences the critics with a dominant performance against Haiti to get to four points through two matches.
Victoria Hernandez: Brazil 2-1 Haiti — Brazil looked lackluster in their opener, but will prove to still be the better team.
What time does Brazil vs Haiti start?
The matchup kicks off at 8:30 PM ET.
Where is Brazil vs Haiti game?
The Group C match is being held at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
World Cup standings: How is Group C looking?
Below is a look at how Group C standings looked heading into Friday:
1. Morocco: 4 Points (1-1-0)
2. Scotland: 3 Points (1-0-1)
3. Brazil: 1 Point (0-1-0)
4. Haiti: 0 Points (0-0-1)
Ronaldinho in attendance for Brazil-Haiti
PHILADELPHIA — Ronaldinho, a member of Brazil’s 2002 World Cup championship team, was just shown on the Jumbotron here at Lincoln Financial Field.
Pregame ceremonies getting set up
PHILADELPHIA — FIFA volunteers and workers have begun to walk out onto the field here in Philadelphia to get the pregame ceremonies set up on the field. We’re just under 15 minutes away from the start of Brazil vs. Haiti in Group C play! – John Leuzzi
Haiti, Brazil take field for warmups
PHILADELPHIA — Both teams have taken the pitch here at Lincoln Financial Field for pregame warmups. Seats are starting to fill in more, with the kickoff just under an hour away. – John Leuzzi
Stadium erupts as Brazil gets off bus
PHILADELPHIA — Brazil has arrived at Lincoln Financial Field, and fans in the stands immediately erupt. If that fan reaction was loud and heard in the press box, can only imagine what the reception will be like when Brazil takes the field. – John Leuzzi
FIFA world rankings: Where Brazil, Haiti stand
In the most recent FIFA world rankings, Brazil is ranked No. 6, while Haiti is No. 85. Haiti is making its first World Cup appearance in over 50 years, with its last one coming in 1974.
Brazil fans take over Stateside Live! during USMNT-Australia match
PHILADELPHIA — Two hours out from kickoff between Brazil and Haiti, and the energy and scenes are already off the charts.
Brazil fans got the party started five hours before kickoff at Stateside Live outside of Lincoln Financial Field for a watch party of the USMNT vs. Australia game in Seattle. Some Brazil fans even embraced Philadelphia’s sports scene and the city’s boxer, Rocky Balboa, by wearing their handcrafted, Brazil-designed boxing jacket. – John Leuzzi
Brazil fans attempt reverse curse on Rocky Statue
PHILADELPHIA — Ahead of the first World Cup game in Philadelphia, Ecuador fans decorated the famous Rocky Statue at the Philadelphia Art Museum with an Ecuador jersey.
Little did La Tri fans know, but doing that brings bad luck to their team. Just ask the 2017 Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Championship Game against the Philadelphia Eagles. The day before the playoff game, Vikings fans put scarves on the statue. Their team went on to lose 38-7 and miss out on playing in the Super Bowl.
Brazil is now attempting to reverse the curse and send it to Argentina, as a few Brazil fans put an Argentina jersey on the statue last night after a fan gathering on the museum steps. Pretty good stuff! – John Leuzzi
Brazil World Cup schedule
Below is Brazil’s schedule for Group C play in the World Cup:
June 13: Brazil 1, Morocco 1
June 19: vs. Haiti | 8:30 p.m. ET at Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia)
June 24: vs. Scotland | 6 p.m. ET at Hard Rock Stadium (Miami Gardens, Florida)
Haiti World Cup schedule
Below is Haiti’s schedule for Group C play in the World Cup:
June 13: Scotland 1, Haiti 0
June 19: vs. Brazil | 8:30 p.m. ET at Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia)
June 24: Haiti vs. Morocco | 6 p.m. ET Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta)
Brazil vs Haiti odds today
World Cup standings
Explore live group standings, stats and the updated bracket with USA TODAY Sports here.
Where is Brazil playing today?
Friday’s Brazil vs. Haiti game is at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, home of the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles.
2026 World Cup format
The 48 competing nations are divided into 12 groups of four. Each group will play a round robin style where teams are awarded three points for a win and one point for a draw. The top two teams in each group advance to the Round of 32 along with the eight best third-place squads. Tiebreakers in the group standings will be resolved using the following criteria:

Brazil can take a big step toward the knockout stage on Friday when they take on Haiti in a battle of teams coming off contrasting results in their openers. Brazil salvaged a 1-1 draw against Morocco, while Haiti fell 1-0 to Scotland. That loss leaves Haiti in danger of finishing bottom of Group C with zero points, since they still have Morocco on their World Cup schedule after this game.
Kickoff for Brazil vs. Haiti is at 8:30 p.m. ET in Philadelphia. The latest Brazil vs. Haiti odds list Brazil at -1000 on the 90-minute money line, with Haiti at +2000 and a draw at +950. The over/under for total goals is 3.5. Before locking in any Brazil vs. Haiti picks or World Cup 2026 predictions, check out the Brazil vs. Haiti predictions from SportsLine’s Martin Green.
After working in the sports betting industry for several years, Green became a professional sports writer and handicapper and has covered the game worldwide. Last year, Green was profitable in multiple areas on his soccer betting picks, including the Champions League (+211.25) and Bundesliga (+100). He’s also been red-hot in 2026, posting an 18-8 record over his last 26 UCL picks, returning nearly $1,000 in profit. Anyone wanting to follow his World Cup betting advice at sportsbooks and on betting apps could see big returns.
Now, Green has studied Brazil vs. Haiti and just revealed his 2026 World Cup picks and betting predictions. You can head to SportsLine now to see his picks. Here are several World Cup odds and soccer betting lines for Brazil vs. Haiti:
Top Brazil vs. Haiti predictions
After examining Haiti vs. Brazil from every angle, Green is leaning Over 3.5 total goals (-132). It might be tempting to fade the total after Brazil could only muster one goal against Morocco’s defense. Still, that performance came against a side that absorbed pressure for long stretches and forced Alisson into a couple of key saves of his own.
Haiti’s defense already cracked once against Scotland and nearly conceded again before Frantzdy Pierrot’s chance went the other way, and the 85th-ranked side now faces an attack with far more firepower up and down the bench, including Raphinha, Gabriel Martinelli, Endrick and Rayan. See Green’s best bets for Brazil vs. Haiti at SportsLine, and you can bet the Over 3.5 goals at FanDuel here:
How to make Brazil vs. Haiti picks
After studying Brazil vs. Haiti from every angle, Green has found a critical x-factor and locked in two best bets. You can head to SportsLine to see what they are.

The ratings numbers are in for this past Sunday’s UFC Freedom 250 event on the White House lawn, and by almost any realistic metric they represent a success. Those key words — “almost” and “realistic” — are doing some important work. We’ll get into that momentarily. But let’s take it one step at a time.
The numbers
An average of about 8.2 million people watched this UFC event live on Paramount+ across the United States and Latin America. Around 17 million viewers watched at least one minute of the live broadcast on Sunday night, making this the biggest live event audience Paramount+ has ever had in its roughly five-year history. (Though this is not a record audience for Paramount+ generally, which has drawn more viewers for scripted dramas like “Dutton Ranch.”)
Advertisement
Ratings numbers from other areas of the world are expected next week, and these figures don’t include people who circle back to watch it later.
The context
When we ask whether or not these numbers are good for the UFC, we have to consider all the variables. This was a Sunday night event that was delayed by weather and didn’t really get going until 9 p.m. ET. That right there probably hurts the audience figures, since some people have to get up early and work on a Monday morning.
The broadcast was also restricted to the Paramount+ streaming service. Heading into this event, Paramount+ had about 79 million subscribers, according to recent reports, which would put it just outside the top five streaming services in terms of audience size.
Advertisement
This was also a busy weekend for sports on TV in general, which included the opening weekend of the World Cup and the conclusive games of the NBA Finals and Stanley Cup Finals. All three of those options aired on network TV, with the UFC coming in late on Sunday as essentially the last live sports event of the weekend.
The comparisons
The big question is: How do these ratings stack up against comparable event broadcasts? One previous high-water mark for the UFC was its debut offering on FOX back in 2011. There, a one-fight card featuring a UFC heavyweight title bout averaged 5.7 million viewers, with a peak of 8.8 million viewers for a fight that lasted just 64 seconds.
The MVP MMA card headlined by Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano on Netflix last month beat that figure with a peak of 17 million viewers worldwide and a reported 9.3 million U.S. average. The UFC White House event fell short of these MVP MMA numbers, but it also did so on a much smaller streaming service. (At last report, Netflix had around 325 million subscribers globally, about four times as many as Paramount+ had headed into the weekend.)
Advertisement
Beyond MMA, this event doesn’t come close to the numbers for something like this year’s Super Bowl (126 million viewers worldwide) or the last FIFA World Cup Final (1.5 billion). It also falls well short of this year’s NBA Finals, which averaged 24.5 million viewers for Game 5 and peaked with 33 million. It does, however, beat Game 6 of this year’s Stanley Cup Finals, which averaged 5.9 million viewers and peaked with 7.2 million.
The claims
Remember that part up top about “almost any realistic metric” for this event? Here’s where things get tricky. Prior to the UFC White House event, we heard all manner of hype surrounding expected viewership stats. UFC CEO Dana White said he was expecting “Super Bowl numbers.” U.S. Secretary of State Marcio Rubio floated the idea that more than 1 billion (not a typo, that’s billion with a “b”) people worldwide would be watching. U.S. President Donald Trump himself at one point suggested that it would be one of the most-watched sports events of all time.
Advertisement
Even after the event, UFC commentator and podcast host Joe Rogan claimed on his show that he’d heard as many as 150 million people had watched this event between Sunday and Monday. That estimate turned out to be off by about a factor of 10, which seems … significant.
If not for this hyperbolic build-up, the UFC White House event ratings might have been instantly accepted as a clear success. But by setting the bar so high in advance, these various stakeholders essentially guaranteed that the audience numbers would look like a disappointment by comparison.
By MMA standards, and given the audience size on Paramount+, these are good numbers. It’s only when compared to the entirely unrealistic expectations set by those responsible for promoting this event that it looks paltry.
Why did they do that? Maybe because they believed that projecting an image of outsized success would help manifest it on fight night. If you tell everyone that this is the biggest party in town, the thinking seems to have gone, maybe it will make them more likely to show up. It didn’t work out that way. Seems like an obvious and totally unforced error on their part.
The case for why we even care
If you’re not a television executive, a Trump administration official, or a shareholder of TKO Group Holdings LLC and/or Paramount, you might be asking yourself why it matters how many people watched this thing. It’s a fair question.
Advertisement
MMA fans were watching and enjoying this sport in relative obscurity for years. It didn’t ever diminish our enjoyment of it just because there weren’t tens of millions of others watching with us elsewhere in the world.
But clearly it matters to the UFC. If it didn’t, we wouldn’t have heard so many grandiose promises ahead of the event. It also matters to Paramount, which hoped to use this event to drive up subscriber numbers.
That’s the other key variable in all this. Paramount could have chosen to air part or all of this event on CBS, or simulcast it on both the CBS network and the Paramount+ streaming service. It kept this exclusively for Paramount+ because it wanted to entice people to sign up for a subscription. Drawing the largest possible audience was obviously not the goal for Paramount. If it had been, CBS would have aired this event on Sunday night instead of reruns of “Marshals” and “Tracker.”
This is, in some ways, the resurrection of an old conversation for longtime MMA fans. In a bygone era, we used to worry a lot about the growth of the sport. We wanted to see it survive and thrive, and for that we felt like we needed audience growth. Viewership numbers are good metric of that, though in the fragmented era of endless streaming services, they’re certainly not the only one.
The conclusion
Beyond just the numbers, what this event managed to do — for better or worse — was to become a cultural event. Even people who never were and maybe never will be fight fans still heard about it. Some drew positive conclusions and others instantly negative ones. Such is the case when the event itself is so closely tied to a polarizing political figure like Trump, who inspires passionate loyalty in some and revulsion in others. A lot of people who never think about the UFC were essentially forced to form an opinion about it.
Advertisement
If one of the primary goals was a major gain for the UFC brand in terms of visibility and awareness, then mission accomplished. If the point of all this was to knock the Super Bowl off its ratings podium, well, there’s still a long way to go.