The UFC is embarking on arguably the most important year in the company’s history with negotiations about to begin on a new broadcast rights deal.
The promotion’s current exclusive rights are with ESPN for television, streaming and pay-per-view.
It’s long been expected that the UFC would seek a huge increase from its previous broadcast fights deal with Bloomberg reporting that the mixed martial arts outfit is seeking more than $1 billion per year, which is more than double what ESPN currently pays. MMA Fighting has previously reported that the UFC was expected to seek a significant increase in the new broadcast rights deal for numerous reasons — not the least of which is the UFC is the only major sports property with a TV deal coming due for the next three years.
The UFC, and by extension the promotion’s owners at TKO Group Holdings, don’t address details about the broadcast rights deal publicly but negotiations with ESPN are expected to begin next week with an exclusive negotiating window running through April 15.
Following that date, the UFC can begin fielding offers from other potential suitors.
While TKO and UFC executives have continuously heaped praise on ESPN as a business partner, it’s impossible to deny possible interest from numerous other broadcast entities, which now includes major streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon.
“Discussions around our upcoming US domestic rights renewal have not yet begun, and as such we have shared no expectations regarding price,” UFC officials told Bloomberg in a statement. “We are in an exclusive negotiating window with ESPN through mid-April 2025, and look forward to productive negotiations when the time comes.”
ESPN currently pays approximately $450 million per year to the UFC, which includes fees to broadcast pay-per-views exclusively through the ESPN+ streaming service.
It’s entirely possible that the next UFC broadcast deal ends up being split up between multiple partners, which is similar to other major sports leagues like the NFL and NBA. That said, the bottom line almost always comes down to money so it always depends on what a particular outlet is willing to pay and that likely determines if the UFC signs with one network or several.
There are reportedly several major buyers interested in obtaining the UFC’s broadcast rights including Amazon, Netflix, Warner Bros. Discovery, YouTube and obviously ESPN.
Netflix recently inked a 10-year, $5 billion deal to land the broadcast fights for WWE’s flagship show Monday Night Raw, and it’s no coincidence that WWE is part of the same company with UFC.
TKO CEO Ari Emanuel and TKO president Mark Shapiro are expected to lead the negotiations on the UFC’s new broadcast deal. It’s unlikely a decision is made on a new deal until after April 15 when the UFC is free to field offers from other potential partners after ESPN’s exclusive negotiating window closes.
“We’re going to maximize price for our shareholders and we’re going to maximize brand and reach potential for our own properties,” Shapiro said about the new broadcast rights deal in December. “That means almost as much as price. I can’t say enough and I’ve said ad nauseum about ESPN and Disney and the way they’ve supported and grown and marketed and just creatively gotten behind the UFC. Just been an extraordinary partner and FOX, by the way, was an extraordinary partner before that. But ESPN just has so much reach and the CEO of Disney, Bob Iger, came up in sports so he gets it. He gets the storytelling, he gets the reach, he gets engagement. [ESPN chairman] Jimmy Pitaro’s been a phenomenal partner.
“So we’ll be looking to maximize price and we’ll be looking to also do what’s right for the health of our brand. If that means splitting up the packages or creating new packages, or potentially adding fights and dates, we’re willing to do all of the above.”
