There is no official viewership data for the UFC Freedom 250 card at the White House, but download and active-user metrics suggest it was a hit for the streaming service while challenging dubious claims that it bested the Super Bowl.
According to data from Sensor Tower shared with Sports Business Journal, on the day leading up to the card, downloads of Paramount+ were up 184% compared to the day before. In addition, daily active users on Paramount+ on fight day were up 17% from the day before.
Sensor Tower also shared data for other events around the same time. For the World Cup, downloads of the Fox Sports app went up 181% on the first day of the tournament compared to the day before. Sensor Tower noted that the Fox Sports app has a smaller user base than Paramount+. Peacock, which is streaming the World Cup in Spanish, saw a 35% increase during the same period.
While this is a strong sign that Freedom 250 was a strong draw for Paramount+, it runs counter to claims by supporters of President Trump that viewership for Freedom 250 was comparable to that of the Super Bowl.
For one, at the end of 2025, Paramount+ had a reported 35 million subscribers in the United States. 2026’s Super Bowl LX was watched by an average of 125.6 millionviewers.
But even assuming there have been many more new Paramount+ subscribers, the download data still offers evidence that these claims are incorrect.
Fox’s most-watched World Cup match on the opening day of the tournament was South Africa-Mexico, which averaged 7.19 million viewers. The majority of the viewership, however, occurred via linear television. That is not the case with Paramount+, which is not offered on traditional television.
If a 181% increase on the Fox Sports app coincided with an official audience of 7 million viewers—most of whom watched via linear television—it seems extremely unlikely that a 184% increase on Paramount+, even with a larger user base and no linear option, coincided with an audience exceeding 100 million viewers.
But even if 100 million people did not watch, a significantly smaller audience would still be a success for the UFC. The most-watched UFC fight ever aired over-the-air on Fox was the 2011 bout between Junior dos Santos and Cain Velasquez, which averaged 5.7 million viewers.
While it is far-fetched to use these baselines to reach 100 million average viewers, aiming for viewership similar to Dos Santos-Velasquez is more reasonable. A streaming-only event with viewership comparable to an over-the-air broadcast is a very strong ratings story for UFC.
At a time when networks and sports leagues are doing everything in their power to promote strong ratings, the UFC and its supporters are among the few entities hurting their PR with comparisons that even casual observers can tell are far-fetched.