Tag: UFC TV rights

WBD remains ‘wildcard’ in UFC TV rights negotiations, major players revealed

Posted on by Josh Nason

The UFC TV rights negotiations are heating up with a wrestling-centric player in the mix.

Reported by John Ourand in his weekly Varsity newsletter for Puck, Ourand gave an update on the talks as TKO/UFC’s exclusive negotiating window with ESPN closed recently.

Ourand noted that at least four companies are in the mix with a split in two packages appearing to be the likeliest outcome. It could be just one if one of the big streamers wants everything for themselves, leaving the sport “underexposed” — something TKO’s Mark Shapiro has cautioned about in the past.

He said renewal talks with incumbent ESPN “appear to be the furthest along” which would include retaining content for their linear networks in addition to their new direct-to-consumer ESPN streaming service launching this year.

He stated that both Amazon Prime and Netflix are in talks with the former “most interested in UFC’s pay-per-view business.” That is currently controlled domestically by ESPN where they pay UFC for the rights to sell PPVs for whatever price they choose. Of note, Prime began offering AEW PPVs earlier this year.

Ourand then noted that AEW partner WBD (Warner Bros. Discovery) is the “wildcard in the negotiations” as they have been acquiring various sports rights to help replace the NBA which has officially departed the network as of this week. He noted they would air fights on their linear channels in addition to HBO Max, but did not mention if there is any interest in PPV — a technology they are building to offer AEW PPVs.

If they were to acquire UFC rights, it’s assumed that AEW Collision would need to move from Saturdays on TNT or potentially go head-to-head on a different WBD station which seems very unlikely. Given the company’s occasional Thursday Collision due to NBA/NHL playoff games and to avoid WWE PLEs, moving to Thursdays would appear to be the most logical for a variety of reasons.

Ourand stated his sources indicate any deal closure is still nearly two months away. UFC’s current $1.5 billion deal with ESPN signed in 2018 ends at the close of 2025.

UFC looking for more than $1 billion annually in new TV rights deal

Posted on by Josh Nason

One of the last big sports TV rights deals available for some time will come with a hefty price tag as the UFC is reportedly looking for more than $1 billion annually in their next TV rights package.

The number was reported by Bloomberg on Friday noting that in addition to ESPN, possible suitors include Netflix, Amazon, WBD, and YouTube for the pay-per-view component. ESPN & UFC/TKO are currently in their exclusive negotiating window that lasts through mid-April.

Splitting rights remains a possibility as TKO head Mark Shapiro has discussed in the past.

UFC is about to complete a five-year, $1.5 billion contract with ESPN at the end of this year. That includes the exclusive rights to offer UFC PPVs via their ESPN+ platform in addition to Fight Night events, The Ultimate Fighter, and access to library content.

It will be the second of three straight years of TV rights financial windfalls for TKO properties following the January 2025 kickoff of a 10-year, $5 billion worldwide deal between WWE and Netflix; a five-year, $1.4 billion domestic deal between WWE and NBC Universal that began in October 2024, and next year’s WWE domestic PLE/library rights currently on Peacock that comes up in March 2026.

Dana White thinks WBD could potentially bid on UFC TV rights

Posted on by Josh Nason

WBD could be a landing spot for the UFC if ESPN doesn’t close a deal with the world’s top fight company within its exclusive negotiating window.

White did an interview with Sports Business Journal after this weekend’s UFC 303 when the topic of UFC’s impending media rights came up. When specifically asked if WBD was interested in UFC, White said, “I think everyone is kicking the tires and is interested in making a bid.”

The UFC rights expire in 2025 with ESPN’s exclusive window to negotiate beginning this January although White and other TKO executives have previously said both sides have talked already. TKO’s Mark Shapiro has said they want to be “flexible” with these negotiations, even suggesting that ESPN might be willing to buy out their pay-per-view rights altogether in order to charge more for their standalone streaming service.

White said that while UFC has “had some headbutting with ESPN” during the course of their relationship, he thinks both sides are in a very good place with how the overall relationship has gone.

“We’ll see how it plays out,” he said.

White has worked with WBD previously for the launch of his inaugural Power Slap series that only lasted one season on TBS.

It is expected that WBD will lose their long-running NBA TV rights package, potentially opening up some significant budget for a bid. They are currently in negotiations with AEW on a TV rights renewal with that exclusive negotiating window set to expire shortly as the current deal between both sides is believed to end at the end of 2024.