Paramount has acquired exclusive rights to display all UFGE Fighting Championship (UFC) events in the US for the next seven years, companies announced on Monday in a $ 7.7 billion agreement designed to boost the Paramount+streaming service.
Paramount will offer UFC’s 13 main events and 30 additional nights on its streaming service, as well as displaying selected events on the CBS open TV network, starting next year. The main UFC events are usually numbered and feature title fights with the best fighters, while fighting nights usually involve rising athletes or less prominent fighting.
Paramount said it will pay an average of $ 1.1 billion a year and explore the purchase of international rights in the future as available.
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David Ellison has not wasted time to leave his mark at Paramount since he closed the deal to get control of the company last week. He is paying UFC owner Tko Group Holdings Inc., more than double what the company received in the previous agreement with Walt Disney Co.’s ESPN, hoping the mixed martial arts league attract millions of viewers to the company’s streaming service. Paramount+ had 77.7 million subscribers at the end of June, less than some competitors.
Paramount will offer all fights at no additional cost to consumers, a change from the previous UFC model. Historically, the League sold its main events in Pay-Per-View format. But put these events behind a “double payment barrier” – customers needed to sign ESPN+ and then pay an additional fee – limited the public and encouraged piracy.
UFC offers Paramount+ a sport all year round to engage viewers and avoid cancellations. The streaming service already broadcasts the National Football League, University Football, Golf, Football and University Basketball. But your sports selection is lighter between April and August.
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“UFC is a unicorn sports asset,” said Ellison in an interview. “It will be the largest exclusive sport of any individual platform.”
TKO CEO Ari Emanuel and President Mark Shapiro were negotiating UFC rights throughout the year. ESPN had the rights since 2019 and had an exclusive 90-day trading window to keep them. ESPN let this window expire, when Netflix had a brief opportunity to close a deal thanks to its existing relationship with TKO’s World Wrestling. When this opportunity passed, Paramount, Amazon.com Inc., YouTube, Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. and Fox Corp. They also expressed interest.
Many of the potential buyers were interested only in numbered events. Shapiro wanted to find a single place for all of them. “The idea for our brand is to put all our fights on a platform where, if you just sign the service, you have access. This is monstrous,” he said.
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UFC’s popularity has exploded in the last decade as younger fans turned to mixed martial arts instead of boxing. Although UFC has faced difficulties in recent years to create new stars, it has not prevented TKO from ensuring a significant increase in its rates.
Endeavor acquired majority participation at UFC in 2016 and then bought the rest of the company. After purchasing World Wrestling Entertainment in 2023, he created a new combat sports company under the TKO brand. ESPN announced last week an agreement to acquire some rights to TKO’s World Wrestling.
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