One of the most compelling stories in sports business in the past five years has been the sheer dollar amounts agreed to in media rights packages for major North American sports, namely the NFL and the NBA, and, in the opposite direction, Major League Baseball.
What may have come as a surprise to many observers is the recent deal reached by Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), which inked a 7-year, USD $7.7 billion agreement with Paramount+. That’s nearly NBA money for a sport that has never been considered one of “The Big Three” in America.
According to The Huddle Up “at an annual payment of $1.1 billion, Paramount’s streaming service will now own the U.S. rights to all 43 UFC events, including 350 hours of original content.” International distribution remains wide open.
Most intriguing to UFC fans though, is that viewers will no longer have to pay $80 per event. A subscription to Paramount+ provides access to each and every live spectacle.
This gives Paramount a year-round sports anchor and establishes it as a sports streaming leader, in line to compete with sports content now emanating from AppleTV, Prime, Peacock and Netflix.
Yahoo Finance writes that “by adding a sport with a consistent, year-round schedule, Paramount+ could improve retention during quieter months for its existing sports lineup, which already includes the NFL, college football, golf, and soccer.”
From the UFC side, its owner – TKO Group Holdings – saw an initial stock surge of 10% on news of the deal. Its stock has risen 26% in this calendar year and 50 per cent in the last 12 months.
According to Wrestlenomics, UFC and World Wrestling Entertainment, also owned by TKO, generated USD $2.8 billion in 2024, though “profitability was hindered by the company recognizing $375 million in payments toward settling UFC’s antitrust lawsuits.”
The controversy clearly continues to follow UFC, much as it once dogged the WWE, but the fan base and ratings have not suffered a loss. Once considered low on the totem pole of American sports, through creative marketing spurred by CEO and President Dana White, the combat sport is now in the upper echelon of the sports community.
As the NFL and NBA have shown repeatedly, media rights is the key to exponentially rising profits. UFC is now in that conversation, and Paramount+ has to be considered for subscription now by the millions of fans of the sport who might not have eyes towards college football and golf.
It’s a big risk for Paramount+ in its quest to close the gap with its competitors, but a measured business decision. Sub fees seem to be the future of sports broadcasting, not pay per view.
The National Football League is assuredly keeping a close eye on this deal. Already bringing in $11B annually for its media rights package spread around numerous network and streaming partners, the NFL has an opt-out clause in its current deal in 2029. With UFC set to bring in $1B per year, and the NBA about to embark on its 11-year, $76B deal, surely the NFL values its media rights at a higher figure than at present. The league’s annual take could balloon to 25 or even 50 billion dollars annually in the next four years.
In the meantime, the UFC is the latest member of the exclusive billion-a-year club. Fans won’t have to fight for easy access to watch, they’ll just have to fork over a palatable subscription fee.
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