Could the UFC have multiple suitors for their next media rights deals? There is a likelihood that could be the case, as President and CEO of the UFC Dana White told the Sports Business Journal that he hopes the media rights discussions will wrap up in the very near future—possibly by September.
The UFC and ESPN agreed to a five-year, $1.5 billion deal for domestic broadcast rights beginning in 2019, only to extend the agreement by two years in early 2019, adding pay-per-view streaming rights to the package. Now, with the UFC and ESPN in the final year of the deal, Bloomberg reported the UFC is seeking a price tag of a billion dollars annually moving forward. Furthermore, when asked by Sports Business Journal how the talks were going with the agreement wrapping up this year, White said he’s happy with the discourse so far.
“Everything is going well. We’re happy with the discussions we’re having,” said White to SBJ. The outlet followed up with a question if the UFC would end up with multiple suitors for the broadcast rights, to which White responded, “I don’t know yet, but yes, it’s likely.”
The UFC is owned by TKO Holdings, which also owns the WWE and has multiple broadcast arrangements with Netflix—potentially leading to speculation that the streaming giant may have a leg up on the competition. Additionally, PUCK Media reported earlier this month that ESPN was closest to earning a renewal, but at least four other companies were in the mix for what could turn out to be multiple packages for UFC content.
The reported other suitors in the bidding for UFC include Netflix, Amazon, Warner Bros. Discovery, and ESPN.
TKO President and COO Mark Shapiro earlier this year said that the UFC wanted to have multiple conversations before making what he termed “a smart, strategic decision that works best for our long term.” Speaking at the J.P. Morgan Global, Technology, Media and Communications Conference last month, Shapiro said the long term is not all about money.
“It goes every which way as it relates to these UFC rights. Who’s going to be around? Who’s going to stick around? Who’s got a long-term strategy? Who’s going to be good in just the short term? Can you divide it up into multiple packages and have your cake and eat it, too,” said Shapiro last month. “What’s the future of pay-per-view? Do you need pay-per-view? This is all stuff we’re analyzing and having conversations on.”
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
