Paramount had stiff compeition for rights to UFC events
Paramount had stiff compeition for rights to UFC events
ESPN worked hard to retain the rights, and Netflix made a compelling case as well, according to a new report.
When Paramount Skydance struck a surprise deal with UFC to provide all of the mixed martial arts promotion’s events for free instead of sticking with the traditional pay-per-view format, it was seen by most industry analysts as a game-changer for both UFC and the new version of Paramount. UFC had been a mainstay on ESPN+ for years, and the very profitable PPVs seemed like they would always be in the fighting league’s future. However, this week, the president of UFC’s parent company, TKO Holdings, gave more details about the negotiation process for UFC’s rights during a panel discussion at a Goldman Sachs media and tech conference.
Key Details:
- Outbid: ESPN was always a candidate to retain UFC rights, but couldn’t meet the asking price.
- On the market: Netflix, YouTube, DAZN, and others engaged seriously with UFC in talks.
- Global reach: A UFC deal with Netflix would have been on a global scale.
Speaking at the conference, TKO CEO Mark Shapiro went deep into the backstory that led the UFC rights to Paramount. He said that former rightsholder ESPN was “always in the mix” to keep the MMA cards, but TKO eventually saw that ESPN wasn’t going to meet its demand of doubling the rights fees. ESPN paid around $450 million per year for UFC broadcasts, but the league made it known that it wanted a raise to at least $1 billion annually.
Paramount eventually exceeded that price, plunking down $1.1 billion per annum to begin streaming UFC events in 2026; the deal is currently slated to run for seven years. Shapiro gushed about the Ellison family — billionaire father Larry and son David, who has become Paramount Skydance’s new CEO — during the panel, saying that their plan for the future of media was a big part in TKO’s decision.
“They are visionaries, really,” Shapiro said. “They are at the forefront of technology and content merging. We have a lot of history with David. We represent Skydance on the WME side of the equation. And really, everything he’s touched against all odds from a content narrative business standpoint has very much been in the footsteps of his father. Success breeds success. And we’re big believers in where [Paramount Skydance] is going to go.”
The TKO exec also revealed more about which other media entities were engaged for UFC rights. As was reported more than once over the course of the negotiation process, Netflix had a strong interest in the fighting league, and was among many outlets that approached UFC “in a big way,” according to Shapiro. Other companies that at least kicked the tires included Amazon, YouTube, and DAZN; UFC also had discussions with Warner Bros. Discovery, as well as Apple, “to a lesser extent.”
Had Netflix won the bidding war, it would have broadcast UFC events globally. But Shapiro expressed his confidence that TKO subsidiary IMG will do a better job at securing favorable terms for UFC rights on the global market than Netflix was willing to pay, and isn’t bemoaning the way things turned out.
If nothing else, the sheer number of massive companies that were involved in discussions over UFC to some degree is a sign that sports rights are still the hottest property on the market. Essentially, every legacy media company and streaming service except NBCUniversal got in on the conversation in some capacity, and it would hardly surprise me to learn that they at least called as well.
Paramount eventually landed the rights to UFC by backing up a truckload of cash to get them. But the bidding process was clearly competitive, and that puts extra pressure on Paramount to nail it when UFC broadcasts begin on Paramount+ next year.
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