AP
—
Hours after Paramount and UFC announced a billion-dollar rights deal, Dana White said he had yet to hear from his friend, President Donald Trump, on his thoughts about the fight company’s new streaming home.
That was fine with White. The UFC CEO was set to travel to Washington on August 28 to meet with Trump and his daughter, Ivanka, to catch up and discuss logistics on the proposed Fourth of July fight card next year at the White House.
Trump said last month he wanted to stage a UFC match on the White House grounds with upwards of 20,000 spectators to celebrate 250 years of American independence.
“It’s absolutely going to happen,” White told The Associated Press. “Think about that, the 250th birthday of the United States of America, the UFC will be on the White House south lawn live on CBS.”
The idea of cage fights at the White House would have seemed improbable when the Fertitta brothers purchased UFC for $2 million in 2001 and put White in charge of the fledging fight promotion.
White helped steer the company into a $4 billion sale in 2016 and broadcast rights deals with Fox and ESPN before landing owner TKO Group’s richest one yet — a seven-year deal with Paramount starting in 2026 worth an average of $1.1 billion a year, with all cards on its streaming platform Paramount+ and select numbered events also set to simulcast on CBS.
ESPN, Amazon and Netflix and other traditional sports broadcast players seemed more in play for UFC rights — White had previously hinted fights could air across different platforms — but Paramount was a serious contender from the start of the negotiating window.
The Paramount and UFC deal came just days after Skydance and Paramount officially closed their $8 billion merger — kicking off the reign of a new entertainment giant after a contentious endeavor to get the transaction over the finish line. White said he was impressed with the vision Skydance CEO David Ellison had for the the global MMA leader early in contract talks and how those plans should blossom now that Ellison is chairman and CEO of Paramount.
“When you talk about Paramount, you talk about David Ellison, they’re brilliant businessmen, very aggressive, risk takers,” White said. “They’re right up my alley. These are the kind of guys that I like to be in business with.”
The $1.1 billion deals marks a notable jump from the roughly $550 million that ESPN paid each year for UFC coverage today. But UFC’s new home on Paramount will simplify offerings for fans — with all content set to be available on Paramount+ (which currently costs between $7.99 and $12.99 a month), rather than various pay-per-view fees.
Paramount also said it intends to explore UFC rights outside the US “as they become available in the future.”
UFC matchmakers were set to meet this week to shape what White said would be a loaded debut Paramount card. The UFC boss noted it was still too early to discuss a potential main event for the White House fight night.
“This is a 1-of-1 event,” White said.
There are still some moving parts to UFC broadcasts and other television programming it has its hands in as the company moves into the Paramount era. White said there are still moving parts to the deal and that includes potentially finding new homes for “The Ultimate Fighter,” “Road To UFC,” and “Dana White’s Contender Series.” It’s not necessarily a given the traditional 10 p.m. start time for what were the pay-per-view events would stand, especially on nights cards will also air on CBS.
“We haven’t figured that out yet but we will,” White said.
And what about the sometimes-contentious issue of fighter pay? Some established fighters have clauses in their contracts that they earn more money the higher the buyrate on their cards. Again, most of those issues are to-be-determined as UFC and Paramount settle in to the new deal — with $1.1 billion headed the fight company’s way.
“It will affect fighter pay, big time,” White said. “From deal-to-deal, fighter pay has grown, too. Every time we win, everybody wins.”
Boxer Jake Paul wrote on social media the dying PPV model — which was overpriced for fights as UFC saw a decline in buys because of missing star power in many main events — should give the fighters an increased idea of their worth.
“Every fighter in the UFC now has a clear picture of what the revenue is…no more PPV excuses,” Paul wrote. “Get your worth boys and girls.”
White also scoffed at the idea that the traditional PPV model is dead.
There are still UFC cards on pay-per-view the rest of the year through the end of the ESPN contract and White and Saudi Arabia have teamed to launch a new boxing venture that starts next year and could use a PPV home. White, though, is part of the promotional team for the Canelo Álvarez and Terence Crawford fight in September in Las Vegas that airs on Netflix.
“It’s definitely not run it’s course,” White said. “There were guys out there who were interested in pay-per-view and there were guys out there that weren’t. Wherever we ended up, that’s what we’re going to roll with.”
White said UFC archival footage “kills it” in repeat views and those classic bouts also needed a new home once the ESPN deal expires.
Just when it seems there’s little left for UFC to conquer, White says, there’s always more. Why stop at becoming the biggest fight game in the world? Why not rewrite the pecking order in popularity and riches and go for No. 1 in all sports?
“You have the NFL, the NBA, the UFC, and soccer globally,” White said. “We’re coming. We’re coming for all of them.”
