UFC News & FeaturesTKO Exec: There Were 'A Lot of Players At the Table' for UFC Broadcast Deal
While Paramount won the bidding war, the
UFC had a number of interested suitors for its broadcast
rights.
TKO COO and president Mark Shapiro recently discussed which companies were in the running to land UFC programming during the Goldman Sachs Communacopia and Technology conference. Ultimately, the Las Vegas-based promotion reached a reached a seven-year, $7.7 billion agreement to move all of its content to Paramount+ and CBS.
“We set our sights talking to everybody else,” Shapiro said
(transcription via MMAFighting.com). “From Warner Bros. Discovery
to a lesser extent Apple, Amazon in a big way, YouTube in a big
way, Netflix in a big way, DAZN in a big way. There were a lot of
players at the table.
“I’m not saying all of them were at the number we ultimately received and signed or that they all would have taken the entire package, because there’s a lot of volume when it comes to 43 fights and then you have The Contender Series and ‘Ultimate Fighter’ and our library. Only a few vehicles can take that kind of a load, and ultimately we pivoted this to CBS and Paramount+ and we’re really excited about the opportunity there.”
One company that was never really a consideration is the UFC’s current broadcast partner, ESPN. The Worldwide Leader has been the home of UFC programming since 2019, with its contract expiring at the end of this year.
“I can’t say enough about ESPN. They were an extraordinary partner on the UFC,” Shapiro said. “A lot of our growth and the fact that we’re mainstream and we’re so young and we’re so diverse, so global, has a lot to do with the marketing machine that is the Walt Disney Co. Period, end of story. They are the definitive authority and stage when it comes to sports.
“Having said that, we knew they were not going to be there at the price we wanted for UFC. While we had conversations and across the timelines, there was a time where they might have come in for some of the numbered events, which are the pay-per-views, or some of the Fight Nights or all of the Fight Nights, they were always in the mix and they wanted to be in the mix and Bob Iger and Jimmy Pitaro are huge fans of the UFC and they have a great personal relationship with us and with Dana White. We never ruled them out, but we pretty knew they weren’t going to be able to get to a 2X [price], and that’s what we were setting our sights on.”
The final UFC event on ESPN will take place on Dec. 13 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas with a card headlined by a flyweight scrap between Brandon Royval and Manel Kape.
TKO COO and president Mark Shapiro recently discussed which companies were in the running to land UFC programming during the Goldman Sachs Communacopia and Technology conference. Ultimately, the Las Vegas-based promotion reached a reached a seven-year, $7.7 billion agreement to move all of its content to Paramount+ and CBS.
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“I’m not saying all of them were at the number we ultimately received and signed or that they all would have taken the entire package, because there’s a lot of volume when it comes to 43 fights and then you have The Contender Series and ‘Ultimate Fighter’ and our library. Only a few vehicles can take that kind of a load, and ultimately we pivoted this to CBS and Paramount+ and we’re really excited about the opportunity there.”
Shapiro: ESPN Wasn’t Going to Meet Our Price
One company that was never really a consideration is the UFC’s current broadcast partner, ESPN. The Worldwide Leader has been the home of UFC programming since 2019, with its contract expiring at the end of this year.
“I can’t say enough about ESPN. They were an extraordinary partner on the UFC,” Shapiro said. “A lot of our growth and the fact that we’re mainstream and we’re so young and we’re so diverse, so global, has a lot to do with the marketing machine that is the Walt Disney Co. Period, end of story. They are the definitive authority and stage when it comes to sports.
“Having said that, we knew they were not going to be there at the price we wanted for UFC. While we had conversations and across the timelines, there was a time where they might have come in for some of the numbered events, which are the pay-per-views, or some of the Fight Nights or all of the Fight Nights, they were always in the mix and they wanted to be in the mix and Bob Iger and Jimmy Pitaro are huge fans of the UFC and they have a great personal relationship with us and with Dana White. We never ruled them out, but we pretty knew they weren’t going to be able to get to a 2X [price], and that’s what we were setting our sights on.”
The final UFC event on ESPN will take place on Dec. 13 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas with a card headlined by a flyweight scrap between Brandon Royval and Manel Kape.
It's time for a new home.@UFC on @ParamountPlus, coming in January 👊 pic.twitter.com/Bgf3LFL5yK
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) September 7, 2025
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