UFC Wants To Receive Up To $450 Million Dollars In Their Next TV Deal
The UFC is looking to get some huge money in TV rights for their programming when their contract with FOX Sports ends. When Zuffa sold the UFC to WME-IMG earlier this year for $4 billion, one of the main talking points in the aftermath was what kind of money they could get when their seven-year contract with FOX Sports ends in 2018. Currently, FOX pays $115 million annually for the UFC’s content and has an exclusive window to negotiate a renewal in late 2017.
The Sports Business Journal put up a piece looking into the plan WME-IMG has for the new TV rights deal, and that is to get a major price bump with the UFC seeking $450 million per annum for ten years for their TV rights.
“Its magic number is $450 million a year, a potentially staggering increase from the $115 million annual average that FOX Sports now pays, according to several media and UFC sources. Although formal negotiations aren’t expected to start until next year, network executives have learned that the UFC plans to seek at least a 10-year deal under those terms, sources said.”
If the UFC does not renew their TV contract with FOX or just take negotiations to the open market, then the deal offered will include four annual broadcast windows (the FOX shows), six annual cable events, weekly programming currently carried by FS1, and Fight Pass. It will not include PPV events, but the likely bidding TV network will receive more input on the matches that go to PPV.
The UFC handles production of its shows, including all of the costs of production, but the new deal may shift that burden onto the new partners, increasing profits for the UFC. It should be noted that in the past UFC President Dana White and Zuffa was very firm on their stance regarding controlling production.
If FOX loses the reup bidding, it would lose one of the cornerstones of its programming and the best ratings earner for FS1. Other than UFC, NASCAR and college sports pull in the best ratings for the network. ESPN, Turner Sports, and NBC Sports Group are all likely to throw their hats in the bidding ring.
