The initial ratings are in for Bellator 180's pay-per-view lead-in and they are solid.
Monday, Bellator and television partner Spike announced that announced that the televised portion of Bellator 180 from Madison Square Garden in New York on June 24 averaged 901,000 viewers in overnight ratings, with the featured bout, Ryan Bader's light heavyweight title win over Phil Davis, drawing 1.1 million viewers.
The ratings announcement is slightly unusual in that the numbers combine the viewership of both Spike, as well as another Viacom-owned property, Country Music Television, which also aired the program.
The early ratings reflect only live and overnight viewership; recent Bellator MMA events on Spike have experienced significant ratings growth when factoring in DVR +3 numbers, which will be available later this week.