UFC owners staying flexible with any potential broadcast partner but ‘pay-per-view is still a strong model’
The UFC is set to embark on potentially the biggest year in the history of the promotion with a new broadcast rights deal arriving in 2025.
While executives at TKO Group Holdings—the combined parent company to UFC and WWE—remain flexible when addressing any potential business partners moving forward, it’s also possible that nothing much changes when a new deal is struck. TKO President and Chief Operating Officer Mark Shapiro has stated that nothing is off the table when it comes time to negotiate a new UFC broadcast rights deal, but that the current way major events are sold as pay-per-views continues to work well.
“What I can tell you as we enter into these negotiations, at the end of the day it’s what the market will bear,” Shapiro said during a TKO earnings call on Wednesday. “That’s really what it is. We’re next up. We’re the next big thing on the block, if you will, We have a proven track record. Our demos are insane, really just across TKO. Fifty percent of our audience is 18-to-34 [year olds], which is what most platforms and companies are chasing. So we’re in good stead there. We have terrific versification and we drive a very strong Hispanic audience when it comes to the UFC and we’re gender neutral. We’re not just talking about women watching women’s fights. That’s not the case. We have a strong base of women watching all our fights. So we’re sitting at a pretty good position.
“Pay-per-view is still a strong model. It worked to build ESPN+. It’s worked for us internationally. We’ve got great history with it. DirecTV and DISH [Network] may be coming together. So who knows the kind of opportunity there.”
During past calls with investors, Shapiro has said that there was a world where the UFC’s PPV model could potentially go away under the right terms with a broadcast partner. For instance, Netflix is about to broadcast the upcoming Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight to its 282 million subscribers without any additional cost attached to watch the event.
Meanwhile, WWE used to operate under a similar format as UFC with monthly PPV events but that model changed with the launch of the WWE Network in 2014. Now major WWE events such as WrestleMania or SummerSlam are considered “premium live events” that are currently broadcast on Peacock—one of the promotion’s broadcast partners—at no additional cost outside of paying for a subscription to the streaming service.
As much as that works for WWE, Shapiro can’t say for certain if PPV is ever going away for UFC. That decision depends on what a broadcast partner wants when negotiations start in early 2025.
“Things change. Models change. Viewing patterns change,” Shapiro said. “Broadcast is now kind of back in if you will, cable is obviously having its struggles but still nothing to frown at. Streaming is on fire and new platforms and fast channels are coming all the time.
“So it’s really just demonstrating and signaling to the market that we have flexibility and a willingness to play ball on a myriad of business models. Ari and I in particular are very focused on not just communicating that but actively discussing those potential models with all of the partners and then some.”
When the UFC initially signed with ESPN in 2018, a five-year deal eventually turned into a seven-year partnership with the Disney-owned company also taking over PPV broadcasts. Now all of the major UFC events are sold exclusively through ESPN+ rather than the previous model where those same events would be available through traditional PPV outlets like inDemand.
As the UFC’s current broadcast partner, ESPN maintains an exclusive negotiating period to reach terms on a new deal, although it’s highly unlikely the two sides strike a bargain before Dana White’s MMA organization at least fields offers from other potential suitors. Shapiro made it clear the UFC wants to maximize its value in these next negotiations with potential partners.
In other words, if somebody is willing to pay, the UFC is willing to listen.
“In terms of what really benefits us and our shareholders is maximizing value on these renewals,” Shapiro said. “That’s the bottom line. We’re not looking to upend or change for change sake or unorthodox models, we are looking to maximize our rights. End of story. UFC is mainstream, incredibly popular. I see some of the struggles going on with other leagues right now, both linear and digital. Leagues that have started new seasons and they’re not off to a rocket start like we’re accustomed to. That’s not the case with UFC. We’re still driving [subscriptions] to ESPN+. When we’re on ESPN, ESPN2 or ABC, we’re a ratings winner and driving more advertising for those platforms.
“If we have to be creative to help potential partners or bring other suitors in the door so that we get a higher price or live up to the guide that the street has been giving us on the renewal — not the one that we’re giving them but the one their giving us — then we’re going to do it. All we’re trying to signal to our shareholders and all we’re trying to signal to the media suitors, the platforms, the companies that are going to be chasing us relatively soon.”