The UFC‘s opportunity to secure a new broadcast rights deal officially opens in January 2025, but discussions regarding the next contract commence even earlier.
Currently, ESPN holds the rights to all UFC content, including pay-per-view broadcasts, under a seven-year deal inked with the promotion after a stint on FOX. The collaboration between the UFC and ESPN has proven lucrative for both entities, particularly contributing to the substantial growth of ESPN+ as the primary streaming platform for the MMA organization.
Broadcast Rights Up in the Air as UFC has Major Decision to Make in 2025
Despite this, Mark Shapiro, president of TKO Group Holdings, disclosed that multiple potential bidders have already expressed interest in securing the broadcast rights for the UFC once negotiations kick off later this year.
During the Morgan Stanley Tech, Media, and Telecom conference, Shapiro outlined TKO’s plans:
“It is our preference to stay at Disney, because of this history, “But we’ve had impromptu three different platforms inquire about that window that you’re talking about and when we might be able to sit down with them to discuss moving to a different platform, which we will do if we can’t get the right deal.
“But the window opens in January. There’s no reason we can’t start talking about it earlier.”
It remains uncertain which three platforms Shapiro is alluding to, although various streaming services have increasingly ventured into live sports programming. For instance, Amazon’s Prime Video secured exclusive rights to the NFL’s Thursday night football schedule for a staggering $1 billion annually. Similarly, Apple invested $250 million per season to bring Major League Soccer to its platform.
Even Netflix, traditionally steering clear of live sports, has shifted course with the upcoming Jake Paul-Mike Tyson boxing match and a substantial $5 billion deal to broadcast WWE’s flagship series Monday Night Raw for the next decade.
While Shapiro didn’t explicitly mention Netflix concerning the UFC, he did discuss the network’s expansion into more live event programming following the deal with WWE.
“This is a landmark deal. This is an industry changing deal. This is a transformative deal. It’s Netflix. [Netflix always said], ‘We’re not going to get into live sports,’ and even though WWE is quasi-live sports, ‘We’re not going to get into it,’ and everybody was waiting on when the code would be cracked, and we cracked the code.
“It’s $5 billion over 10 years, and it’s highly visible revenue. It’s high-margin revenue. It’s locked in. It’s recurring. We’ve de-risked the whole merger with that alone. Netflix itself has got unbelievable reach and scale globally, it’s a global deal. They’re a marketing powerhouse. People forget that.”
Considering Netflix’s recent involvement in combat sports, such as the upcoming Paul-Tyson fight, it’s conceivable that the UFC might be the next addition to their wishlist.
However, Shapiro emphasized that the UFC’s relationship with ESPN remains strong, highlighting the genuine synergy the two brands have developed since their initial partnership.
“ESPN and Disney are the greatest partners you could ever have. If we can replicate that at Netflix [with WWE], we’re going to be golden. They get the sport. They’re fans of the sport. It was Bob Iger, frankly, that saw the vision. It was his decision to go bite off all the UFC, including the pay-per-views, but [ESPN chairman] Jimmy Pitaro and Burke Magnus and [Rosalyn] Durant, who now runs programming, are huge fans of the UFC and they support it in every way.
“So social, SportsCenter coverage, short-form content, long-form content, and they work with us on scheduling about trying to get us the best windows. They want more UFC, not less. By the way, they have a pretty crowded sheet of programming. Their schedule, their calendar is nip and tuck. What I would tell you is we love the marketing strength.”
Acknowledging ESPN’s busy schedule in the upcoming months, particularly with the NBA pursuing a new broadcast rights deal, Shapiro suggested that the UFC’s dynamics could be influenced depending on the outcome of the NBA negotiations and potential shifts in content needs for other outlets.
“We’re curious what happens with the NBA. “That will have an impact on us. Are they getting more content? Are they getting less content?”
“I’m anxious to see where this all goes. ESPN flagship, what happens at ESPN+, obviously the cable bundle is completely imploding, ABC’s kind of had a little resurgence right now. So we’re going to work with them behind the scenes to figure out what the next chapter of our partnership looks like.”
