UFC president Dana White claims he’s got a new tactic in store for people hosting and watching illegal streams of his product in 2021.
The promotion kicks off its pay-per-view campaign for the year on Jan. 23 with UFC 257, which is headlined by a lightweight rematch between Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor. It’s a fight that should do significant business for the company, and White intends on reaping every bit of the rewards.
For those unwilling or unable to subscribe to ESPN+ and purchase pay-per-view, hunting down illegal streams has become a common workaround to view the fights. It’s an industry-wide issue for anything that goes up behind a paywall, and although it’s hard to conquer, White indicated a more vigilant process is coming in 2021.
White issued a warning to an Instagram commenter on Monday, who posted he intends to illegal stream the fight in response to a new UFC 257 promo (via Instagram):
UFC 257 in particular, is a card that the company will want to maximize profits off. ESPN+ has already elevated pay-per-view costs going into the event, and if illegal streams can be nipped in he bud, a sizable pay-per-view buy rate could be on the horizon.
Dana White warns illegal streamers of Conor McGregor’s UFC 257 comeback
