FACEBOOK FIGHTNIGHT LIVE SERIES ECLIPSES 1,000,000 VIEW PLATEAU THIS PAST SATURDAY
Ten month-old fan-friendly fight series averages 88,952 views per show; set for first-ever “tripleheader weekend” Feb. 23-24.
NEW YORK (Feb. 15, 2018) – The million-view mountaintop has been submitted by the FIGHTNIGHT LIVE series, with sights set only higher for what is to come in 2018. The ten month-old, fan-friendly Facebook platform has already featured two outstanding fight cards in the first six weeks of the New Year – and up next: Feb. 23-24 back-to-back-to-back Friday and Saturday shows spanning from the casinos of New England to the Boardwalk of Atlantic City.
The interactive series that – among other aspects – prides itself on the real-time conversations held between fight commentators and the viewing audience recorded new high-marks with 5,033 in-show comments and 3,421 total hours viewed in Philadelphia last Saturday. The ultimate result of all of the show-by-show views, the series interactivity and the global reach of the Facebook platform throughout the U.S.A. and also to significant audiences in the U.K., Mexico and South America – FIGHTNIGHT LIVE surpassed a new milestone by reaching its 1,067,435th view in only its 12th show.
And Facebook itself has taken notice – the world’s No. 1 social network recently profiled FIGHTNIGHT LIVE on its “Success Stories” media blog, noting the series’ use of best practices for production and interactivity: https://www.facebook.com/facebookmedia/success-stories/fightnight
“THANK YOU, fight fans! We’re extremely proud that Facebook FIGHTNIGHT LIVE has provided free, action-packed events for more than a million fans in just over nine months, by posting a show-by-show average audience of nearly 90,000,” said Mark Fratto, Principal and Director of Business Development, Linacre Media. “But beyond the numbers, we’re really pleased with the way the shows have been presented, using multiple promoter-friendly production models. We’ve been able to showcase up-and-coming fighters to fight fans all over the world, and help them expand their bases. And we’ve been able to invite our viewers to be part of the action by fostering real-time interaction between our broadcasters and viewers on the fight activity, the decisions and the knockouts; it’s the next-best thing to having a ringside seat.”
Over the first nine-plus months of programming, the numbers on the 12-show FIGHTNIGHT LIVE series have showed promise and potential for the new platform with an average of close to 90,000 fight fans tuning in per event and more than one-million fans served.
The Sept. 9 “Real Deal Promotions: Empire State” from Resorts World Casino (225,000), the August CES “Super Saturday” from Foxwoods (203,000), the Sept. CES “Twin River Twinbill” from Lincoln, R.I. (157,000) all topped 150,000 views, and collectively the 12-show series saw a total of more than 21,000 total hours of Facebook video consumed by 1,067,435-plus users across all devices.
In addition to the raw viewership numbers, the fully-interactive, fan-friendly productions have seen more than 142,000 collective live post engagements (nearly 12,000 per show), including almost 97,000 “likes” or “loves,” more than 22,000 comments and almost 6,000 shares.
FIGHTNIGHT LIVE broadcasts are viewed by 76 percent men, 24 percent women. The top demographic is comprised of males ages 25-34, which encompasses approximately 30.0 percent of the audience, on average.
The Sept. 9 “Real Deal Promotions: Empire State” set a new bar with 224,658 views and the Sept. 15-16 DiBella-CES doubleheader carried the series to three-quarters-of-a-million views in just over four months. The Feb. 10 Hard-Hitting Promotions “Philly Fight Night” show stands out individually with 3,421 live hours of content viewed, while the Sept. 15 DiBella card saw more than 40,000 viewer interactions including almost 39,000 “likes” or “loves.”
The FIGHTNIGHT LIVE page on Facebook has more than 80,000 fans and more than 82,000 followers.
Facebook FIGHTNIGHT LIVE has been delivered to fans absolutely free since its May 2017 launch courtesy of series corporate partners like Elite Heat Water, Montauk Iced Tea (montaukbev.com), Mr. Custom Made (mrcustommade.com) and BallWash (ballwash.com).
Many FIGHTNIGHT LIVE cards are called by world-renowned blow-by-blow announcer Ray Flores of Premier Boxing Champions, Showtime Boxing, HBO Boxing and CBS Sports Networks. Often joining Flores ringside are analysts like Michael Woods of the TalkBox Podcast, NYFights.com and Ring TV. Marc Abrams of AWE, NBC Sports Philadelphia, 15Rounds.com and AbramsBoxing.com and Xavier Porter of BrooklynFights.com and Notorious Boxing are frequent contributors while pro fighters like former IBF and WBA World Champion Paulie Malignaggi and Top Ten world-ranked light heavyweight Mike Lee have provided expert analysis from the broadcast booth. Locally-based ringside reporters with significant social media followings are often employed for weigh-in day “behind the scenes” taped interviews and post-fight reports.
Created and produced by Linacre Media out of New York City, the FIGHTNIGHT LIVE series features professional announcers, multiple camera angles, television graphics, replays and behind-the-scenes access and interviews. The streamed shows are available globally wherever Facebook is available. The initiative not only enables fans from around the world to tune in, but also gives up-and-coming fighters a global platform to showcase their abilities, gives promoters an accessible “broadcast” solution and gives sponsors the ability to reach a mass audience via branded content.
