The blockbuster programming deal between UFC and ESPN, inked back in 2018 when FOX lowballed the promotion with its scant $200 million offer, is set to expire in early 2025. That means competing networks and digital streamers will soon have an opportunity to make a play for the world’s most valuable combat sports promotion.
“As far as multiple partners, one partner, we’ll see what happens when we get there,” TKO Group Holdings President Mark Shapiro said during this week’s financial update. “Our window opens up in mid-January, it’s a three-month window with the UFC and Walt Disney Company.”
“They’re a great partner. They’re the best marketing machine in the business and they are the No. 1 premiere, automatic destination for sports fans everywhere, certainly in the U.S. That is the first-stop shop, that is the go-to when it comes to looking for sports events. We’re not looking to get away from them. We’re not looking to reduce our commitments, but at the same time, we have a window, we’ll listen, we’ll talk, and we’ll do what’s in the best interests of the UFC going forward.”
Rumors of a potential move to Netflix heated up after WWE scored a 10-year, $5 billion programming deal beginning Jan. 2025. UFC merged with WWE under the TKO Group Holdings, Inc. (TKO) banner early last year, with Shapiro serving as COO. Negotiations for UFC are expected to be handled by Shapiro, along with TKO CEO Ari Emanuel.
“We look at UFC as a premium sports product with great growth ahead of it,” Shapiro continued. “We feel good about the potential package we’ll end up with and we see the demand for live sports is outstripping the supply of premium sports content. The great thing about UFC, let’s not forget, it’s not just a volume product.”
“In fact, it’s not really a volume product. It’s a premium volume product. Sort of like the NFL used to be before Thursday Night Football. It was frankly Sunday and Monday nights. It was driven by scarcity. I think UFC benefits the same way. We’re also both at once a subscriber acquisition tool and a churn antidote. We’re attractive to both digital and linear and we’re year-round. We’re optimistic at the potential package we will end up with.”
Either way, UFC is expected to command a pretty penny for its next broadcasting deal.