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McGregor-Mayweather viewing problems have fans fighting mad

UFC Fight Pass and Showtime face problems due to overwhelming demand, putting a damper on some fan parties and gatherings. The main bout was delayed by about 10 minutes.

Gael Cooper
CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." She's been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She's Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.
Expertise Breaking news, entertainment, lifestyle, travel, food, shopping and deals, product reviews, money and finance, video games, pets, history, books, technology history, generational studies. Credentials
  • Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won "Headline Writer of the Year"​ award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.
Gael Cooper
2 min read

Saturday's much hyped fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and UFC champion Conor McGregor drew fans from all walks of life, even those who'd never typically watch a standard boxing match. But when some of those fans settled in to watch the spectacle, beverage and snacks in hand, they found themselves in a world of hurt.

Watching the fight wasn't cheap (nearly $100 on pay-per-view), so naturally, those who had technical issues as fight time neared -- on whatever platform -- were fighting mad. The fight was delayed by about 10 minutes as broadcaster Showtime worked to fix the transmission. (Disclosure: Showtime is a subsidiary of CNET parent company CBS.)

"Due to high demand, we have reports of scattered outages from various cable and satellite provides and the online offering," Showtime Sports said in a statement. "We will delay the start of the main event slightly to allow for systems to get on track.  We do not expect a lengthy delay."

Problems started early, and not just for one streaming platform. At 6:28 p.m. PT, as the undercard matches preceding the event aired, the UFC admitted on Twitter it was having technical issues with its Fight Pass streaming service due to the overwhelming interest in the bout. It promised a quick resolution.

Fans were not soothed.

Of course, many fight fans had planned parties, with large groups of friends hoping to watch the fight, making things worse. (UFC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.)

Some fans thought they could turn to Showtime's pay-per-view stream. 

That didn't work for everyone either.

But at least some fans had a sense of humor about it.

First published Aug. 27, 7:52 p.m. PT
Update, 10:03 p.m. PT:
Adds comment from Showtime.