Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) could be coming to a stock market near you.
Endeavor LLC, which serves as the parent company to UFC after purchasing the mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion for $4 billion back in 2016, is currently entering the process to go public in late 2019, per a recent report by Wall Street Journal.
Maybe this wasn’t true after all.
The Journal’s report states that Endeavor is seeking entry into the public stock market in effort to expand its business beyond Hollywood as revenue attached to the talent market declines. Endeavor could shift its current plans to go public depending on the state of the market and the company’s changing business structure.
With UFC recently signing a massive seven-year extension with ESPN, as well as UFC president Dana White stating last year that the MMA promotion is now roughly worth around $7 billion, there will be a lot of stockholders looking to take a chance on Endeavor. White, who will also be attached to UFC for the next seven years, was resistant to the idea of UFC going public in the past. But with Endeavor now in the driver’s seat, things could change.
Should Endeavor go public, it will be required to turn over confidential financial records to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) later this year, following the same laws that overlook the current stock market landscape. While it has yet to be confirmed if Endeavor would have to include UFC in their financial paperwork considering the promotion is a subsidiary, it’s possible that UFC’s inner financial workings will finally be on full display.
The promotion has always been pretty good at releasing fighter pay, post-fight bonuses, estimated pay-per-view (PPV) numbers and revenue brought in from live gates, but this could open up the ledger a little bit more.
Stick with Mania for ongoing updates on Endeavor’s potential public crossover.