Just how big of a surprise was the UFC’s bombshell $7.7 billion deal with Paramount and CBS? So big that even UFC CEO Dana White didn’t see it coming.
“No, I didn’t think this is where we’d end up,” White said Monday during an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” to discuss the new broadcast rights deal. “But this is sort of how it played out. I love it. These guys are obviously very smart guys, very aggressive.”
In an interview on CNBC, TKO president and COO Mark Shapiro said he initially expected to make a deal that would bring only the UFC Fight Night events to Paramount. But after Skydance Media completed its deal to purchase control of Paramount last week, Shapiro said, the deal for the entirety of the UFC’s U.S. broadcast rights came together in just 48 hours.
Now, instead of just the 30 UFC Fight Night events per year, Paramount+ will feature all UFC content, including the 13 numbered UFC events each year.
“We’re getting the brand, we’re getting the reach, and they’ll get the signups,” Shapiro said of Paramount’s streaming service.
Possibly the biggest news in all this for fight fans is the end of the UFC’s pay-per-view era. Ever since the very first UFC event in 1993, pay-per-view has been a vital part of the UFC’s strategy. Under the current deal with ESPN, each UFC pay-per-view costs $79.99 in the U.S., plus the cost of the ESPN+ subscription on top of that.
With pay-per-view revenues reportedly in decline, it makes sense for the UFC to finally ditch that model. The fact that it’s doing so as part of a deal that will essentially double the roughly $550 million per year that the UFC currently receives from ESPN likely only made that calculation easier.
“The pay-per-view model is a thing of the past,” Shapiro said on Monday. “What’s on pay-per-view anymore? Boxing? Movies on DirecTV? It’s an outdated, antiquated model. So, it was paramount to us — forgive the pun — where it’s one-stop shopping, especially for our younger fans in flyover states. When they find out, ‘Wait, if I just sign up for Paramount+ for $12.99 a month, I’m going to automatically get UFC’s numbered fights and the rest of the portfolio?’ That’s a message we want to amplify.”
What’s still unclear is exactly how and when UFC events might be included on the CBS network TV lineup. According to Shapiro, Paramount+ will be the home for all 43 UFC events per year — 30 UFC Fight Nights and 13 numbered events — when the deal begins in 2026. But he added that those numbered events, which typically feature the title fights and the biggest names on the UFC roster, could also air on CBS.
“It was important to us to have CBS play a big component in this,” Shapiro said on CNBC. “As they’ve laid out, this is Paramount+ exclusively. But CBS will have simulcast on many of the fights, and likely all of the numbered events, which are formerly the pay-per-view fights.”
For many, it was probably a surprise to see Paramount emerge as the winner in the battle for UFC broadcast rights, especially after months of speculation that pegged Netflix and ESPN as the most likely destinations. After all, Paramount+ is currently known more for TV dramas like “Yellowstone” than it is for live sports.
But, as the UFC CEO White added, many streaming services are looking to bolster their appeal to subscribers with the help of live sports, which create an urgency among viewers that scripted shows can’t match.
“I think all these streaming services, no matter who they are, have to be involved in live sports,” White said. “Any type of sport, you have to watch it live. Nobody’s going to watch a taped or delayed sporting event. So yeah, I think they all have to have it.”
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