Just days after completing its merger with production studio Skydance, Paramount announced Monday that it will spend $7.7 billion to secure exclusive U.S. broadcast rights to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) for the next seven years, marking the newly combined company’s first major strategic move. They are paying an average of $1.1 billion a year and will explore buying international rights in the future as they become available.
Starting next year, Paramount+ will carry the complete U.S. slate of 13 numbered UFC events and 30 Fight Nights. UFC, owned by TKO Group Holdings, will also have select numbered cards simulcast on Paramount’s CBS broadcast network, the companies announced on Monday.
“The addition of UFC’s year-round must-watch events to our platforms is a major win,” said Paramount CEO David Ellison, former CEO of Skydance, calling the mixed martial arts franchise a “global sports powerhouse”.
David Ellison has moved quickly to make his mark on Paramount following last week’s deal to acquire control of the company. He is committing to pay UFC owner TKO Group Holdings Inc. more than twice the amount the league earned under its previous agreement with Walt Disney Co.’s ESPN, betting that the mixed martial arts powerhouse will attract millions of viewers to Paramount+.
According to Forbes, the UFC will now earn nearly as much in media rights fees as MLB ($1.8 billion), the Olympics ($1.3 billion), and Nascar ($1.1 billion), dwarfing the likes of the NHL ($635 million) and the PGA Tour ($700 million). And that figure covers only the United States. The UFC will continue to sell its international rights territory by territory through IMG, a category worth an estimated $250 million per year.
Paramount will make all UFC matches available at no extra cost to subscribers, a shift from the league’s traditional model. In the past, the UFC sold its biggest events on a pay-per-view basis, often requiring fans to first subscribe to ESPN+ and then pay an additional fee, a “double paywall” that both limited viewership and encouraged piracy.
For Paramount+, the UFC deal adds a year-round sport that can keep subscribers engaged and reduce cancellations. The streaming service already offers NFL games, college football, golf, soccer, and college basketball, but its sports lineup has typically been lighter from April through August.
The UFC’s popularity has surged over the past decade, driven by younger fans increasingly favoring mixed martial arts over boxing. Although the league has faced challenges in recent years producing new breakout stars, that hasn’t stopped TKO from landing a significant boost in fees.
