One of the last major sports TV rights deals in some time will come with a hefty price tag, with the UFC reportedly expecting more than $1 billion a year for its next TV rights package.
The number was Bloomberg reported on Friday Note that in addition to ESPN, Netflix, Amazon, WBD and YouTube are also eligible for the pay-per-view component. ESPN and UFC/TKO are currently in their exclusive negotiating window, which runs until mid-April.
A rights split remains a possibility, as TKO boss Mark Shapiro has discussed in the past.
UFC is close to finalizing a five-year, $1.5 billion deal with ESPN later this year. This includes exclusive rights to offer UFC PPVs through its ESPN+ platform in addition to Fight Night events, The Ultimate Fighter and access to library content.
It will be the second of three straight years of TKO properties reaping financial gains in TV rights, following the launch of a 10-year, $5 billion deal between WWE and Netflix in January 2025; a five-year, $1.4 billion deal between WWE and NBC Universal that began in October 2024, and WWE's domestic PLE/library rights for next year, currently on Peacock, launching in March 2026.
