UFC returned to Prudential Center for a fourth straight year Saturday night — setting
another arena revenue record in the process.
The UFC 328 card will top $7.5 million at the gate, surpassing the alltime arena record
set by UFC 302 in 2024. UFC events now hold four of the top six spots on Prudential
Center’s all-time revenue list, a sure sign of the strength of the Newark market.
Dylan Wanagiel, the vice president of sports properties and special events for Harris
Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, is taking nothing for granted.
With every major arena in the world chasing UFC events, he knows the Pru Center
needs to stay on top of every detail of the relationship.
“It’s more than just filling the building,” he said.
“Every arena in the country — and around the globe — wants this event. Australia, the
Middle East, everywhere. When we get the ‘Yes,’ we have to make sure they feel how
much we care about their product, their athletes, their employees. That’s what we can
control.”
Support from the city and state certainly plays a role, but Wanagiel points to the
relationship HBSE has with UFC.
“When they come here, we do everything in our power to make sure they want to come
back,” he said.
That includes finding ways to make a nearly two-decade-old building feel modern.
“Each year we find ways to make it better for UFC — a room we didn’t use before that
becomes perfect for a main-event fighter, small improvements that add up,” he said. “It’s
hard to keep raising the bar, but we’ve done it.”
The building’s combat-sports ecosystem also helps.
Saturday’s crowd included representatives from kickboxing, sumo, wrestling and boxing
– all of which have had events in the Pru Center.
“If you’re in combat sports, you see this is a place that understands you,” Wanagiel said,
noting HBSE has done jiu jitsu events at a different HBSE venue.
That all-sports approach pays off.
A recent boxing card drew Newark native Shakur Stevenson, who may bring a future
fight to the Pru Center. That opportunity doesn’t happen without giving a local boxing
promoter a shot and inviting Stevenson in from the West Coast to see it, Wanagiel said.
And that visibility goes beyond attracting more sports.
UFC’s global broadcast Saturday night showed Prudential Center on one side of the
Octagon and New Jersey on the other, with leadin shots of the Jersey Shore and
Newark’s Ironbound — and a shoutout to Newark before the main event.
“It’s a huge tourism driver,” Wanagiel said.
It’s a huge economic driver, too.
Because the event draws so many out-of-towners (it’s estimated more than two in three
are from out of state), the economic benefit — including hotels and restaurants — is far
greater than a typical event at Prudential Center.
A report last week showed that the 2025 card (UFC 316) had an economic impact of
more than $27 million. It only follows that this year’s card will top that.
To be clear, this is a win-win situation. UFC clearly is moved by the connection it has
with Newark and New Jersey, too.
numerous signs detailing the 24 cards the state has hosted since 2001. The Pru Center
hosted 12 of them. – TOM BERGERON PHOTO
Earlier last week, the UFC contributed to the first-ever UFC Wellness Center, located at
the Newark Boys & Girls Club. It even sent two fighters to the ribbon-cutting.
“That meant a lot to us here at the Prudential Center and to Harris Blitzer Sports &
Entertainment,” Wanagiel said. “And I know it meant a lot to Newark.”
Saturday night’s card was the fourth-highest revenue event among the 18 UFC cards
held so far this year. It’s a good sign that the event will return in 2027, but Wanagiel
knows nothing is guaranteed.
“We’d absolutely love to have them next year,” he said.
Of course, that’s the goal of every arena around the globe.
Next week’s card is in Las Vegas, but there are three international events scheduled in
the coming months — China, Azerbaijan and Serbia. Three international cards already
have taken place in Australia, Mexico and England.
Wanagiel is hopeful Newark will retain its spot in an ever-crowded lineup.
“It’s a process,” he said. “But when you’re setting records for revenue, attendance and
outofstate visitors, those are all positive signs.”
