Bellator does 607,000 viewers for tape-delayed Rory MacDonald’s debut

The debut of Rory MacDonald on Friday's Bellator show from London, England, drew an average of 607,000 viewers for a show that aired on a several hour tape delay.

The number is in the ballpark of what a usual Bellator show would do when airing live, but not the boost one would have hoped for under normal circumstances for MacDonald's debut, particularly against Paul Daley, a big-talking fighter of some name value.

Not being live didn't help. The last time Bellator was on tape delay, the April 14 show from Budapest, Hungary, they did 522,000 viewers, so this was an increase from under similar circumstances, but it was also a far stronger main event. Bellator also faced competition from the NBA…