ESPN doesn’t think UFC is going anywhere
ESPN doesn’t think UFC is going anywhere
Despite the exclusive negotiating window between the two sides expiring on Tuesday, there isn’t much concern on ESPN’s part that it will lose UFC.
Are ESPN and UFC about to break up? ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro certainly doesn’t sound worried about that possibility. The exclusive negotiating window between the two sides is set to expire on Tuesday, but Pitaro’s recent comments about the fighting promotion don’t have the tenor an executive who is afraid one of their most important programming events is about to depart for good.
Sports Business Journal recently spoke with Pitaro about its future with UFC. While Pitaro acknowledged the expiring exclusive negotiating period, he didn’t make it sound as if ESPN has any intention of letting UFC walk out the door without a concerted effort to keep at least some of its rights.
“The exclusive negotiating window is expiring imminently, but I wouldn’t read too much into that,” Pitaro said. “We’re not hyper-focused on that window. We know that there’s going to be interest in the UFC and that’s great for the sport. It’s great for them. But we remain interested in trying to figure something out with those guys.”
He also said that UFC pay-per-view events were important for their host streaming service ESPN+, and that the relationship has been good for both sides in its time.
“UFC has been really good to ESPN,” he continued. “We launched ESPN+ in April of 2018, and really the UFC property was the marquee property for ESPN+ at launch. Fast forward to today, and it still is the marquee property for ESPN+. We also at the same time believe that we have been a great partner to the UFC in terms of our promotion, in terms of our commitment to the sport of mixed martial arts and specifically the UFC across our studio programming across dot com, the ESPN app.”
The deal between ESPN and UFC expires at the end of 2025, and the fighting league wants to make a lot more money in its next deal. UFC wants as much as $1 billion per year for its rights in its next contract with broadcasters; its current five-year agreement with ESPN pays a total of $1.5 billion. Most believe that with its rights now set to hit the open market, UFC will split up its broadcasts into multiple packages to maximize revenue, as the NFL and NBA have done.
Netflix could be a very likely candidate to get at least some of those fights. It already does business with UFC’s parent company, TKO Group Holdings; Netflix streams weekly episodes of “WWE Raw,” which is owned by TKO alongside other WWE properties. UFC president Dana White wants global audiences to be able to watch UFC fights on the same channel all around the world, and Netflix would certainly fit that description. Warner Bros. Discovery has also shown some interest in acquiring UFC rights.
ESPN, however, is moving ahead with a tone of quiet confidence. There’s a good chance that at least some UFC fights end up back on ESPN+, even if the mixed martial arts league also finds other outlets to distribute its events.
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