The UFC is looking to get some huge money in TV rights for their programming when their contract with FOX Sports ends. When Zuffa sold the UFC to WME-IMG last year for $4 billion, one of the main talking points in the aftermath was what kind of money they could get when their seven-year contract with FOX Sports ends in 2018.
Currently, FOX pays $90 million annually for the UFC’s content. Just last month, FOX’s exclusive window to negotiate a renewal ended.
The plan that WME-IMG has for the new TV rights deal is to get a major price bump. Since the exclusive window with Fox ended, WME-IMG has been shopping the promotion around to other broadcasters.
The UFC handles production of its shows, including all of the costs of production, but the new deal may shift that burden onto the new partners, increasing profits for the UFC. It should be noted that in the past UFC President Dana White and Zuffa was very firm on their stance regarding controlling production.
The promotion has been under a broadcasting deal with Fox since 2011 in the United States. That financial number has apparently increased over time to around $120 million-a-year, with a planned increase to $160 million in this last year of the deal.
Sports Business Daily (SBD) reports the promotion is seeking $450 million-a-year in broadcast rights revenue now that their exclusive negotiating period with FOX has ended. As a result of such an increase of money, it sounds like there aren’t many buyers.
Keep in mind that Fox wanted to sign the UFC to a new television deal or somewhere in the neighborhood of $200 million-a-year.
However, that deal wasn’t made. SBD reports that Turner Sports has shown the most interest in a UFC deal, but a current lawsuit from the Justice Department over a potential merger between AT&T and Time Warner seems to have cooled talks between the two sides.
The UFC has also had talks with Amazon as well as other digital providers. As of this writing, it appears that the UFC will not be able to get close to their asking price with just one broadcast partner. Thus, they may make their fans find their content over a variety of platforms come 2019.
At the end of the day, the new TV deals that WME-IMG negotiates are going to set the stage for years to come in the sport. It’s going to be one of the biggest stories of 2018, to say the least.
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