UFC 257 pay-per-view buyers express frustration as widespread ESPN+ issues surface

An apparently significant portion of UFC 257 buyers experienced issues Saturday night as they tried to watch the pay-per-view, with some outages continuing well into the main card.

UFC 257 was much like other Conor McGregor pay-per-view events. The trending 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 the pay-per-view on ESPN+. The technical difficulties were wide-spread enough for the term “PPV” to trend on Twitter.

For some users, the duration of the blackout persisted through a significant portion of the five-fight main card, with multiple fights missed.

Hopeful viewers, including UFc fighters and members of the MMA media, took to Twitter to air their grievances and look for help. The ESPN+ help Twitter account was flooded with comments and tags.

I’ve had trouble getting UFC PPVs to work through ESPN+ since the beginning. Multiple reloads, double charges, long chats with tech support…literally every time.#UFC257 is officially the worst yet. I bought it hours in advance, it’s now 9:23 and I still can’t get it to work.

— Ben Duffy (@benjaminduffy) January 24, 2021

Anyone else struggling mightily to give ESPN+ their money right now? Tried to buy this PPV six different times now. Can’t get it. #UFC257

— Shaheen Al-Shatti (@shaunalshatti) January 24, 2021

Stop the fights!!!!! Until we’re able to see em! @ufc #ESPNPlus

— #OnAmission4Gold (@KelvinGastelum) January 24, 2021

So we pay for the #ESPNPlus subscription monthly then another $70 for the PPV and it goes down. Cool.. pic.twitter.com/gWPE1rcVgC

— Ashley Comiskey (@ashley_comiskey) January 24, 2021

Is anyone else not being able to log in to ESPN despite already buying the #ufc257 card which was freaking $70

— Megan Anderson (@MeganA_mma) January 24, 2021

Me watching a black screen right now #UFC257 #ESPNPlus pic.twitter.com/SEnpyE74Km

— Jesse Culwell ☭ (@L0ndonlook) January 24, 2021

Anyone else’s app not working? glad we paid for the event #ESPNPlus

— kristen (@kristen_d5) January 24, 2021

It won’t even load on the tv and my phone keeps coming up with an error. Paid for it though

— Jessy Jess (@missjessyjess) January 24, 2021

“unexpected error” on the #espnplus app for #UFC257 on the #PS5 pic.twitter.com/gQR7NFUdiy

— Kent Graham (@kent_graham) January 24, 2021

Me watching #UFC257 on #ESPNplus pic.twitter.com/Vw1c7zGNKG

— PastyPops (@PastyPops) January 24, 2021

ESPN+ Help issued a statement a little over 80 minutes into the pay-perv-view, which informed buyers it was working to resolve the issues.

We are currently investigating streaming issues impacting some customers— our teams are actively working to have affected viewers back to streaming as soon as possible.

— ESPN+ Help (@ESPNPlusHelp) January 24, 2021

UFC 257 took place Saturday at Etihad Arena on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi. The main card streamed on ESPN+ pay-per-view after prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.