UFC sold for 4.2 billion dollars

[aholbert32]

Quote: Originally Posted by Money99

I'd be interested in this as well. We know they bought it for next to nothing, but how much did they sink in? I also wonder how the fighters are going to react to this. They've been told the company doesn't earn that much money. $4B says they do.

I'd guess 50-100 million or so. The company was losing money until TUF started. In fact the Fertitas paid 10 million to produce the first season on their own. 2006 was the first year the UFC started making a profit.

Regarding the fighters, I blame them for believing that the UFC "doesnt earn that much money". The info is out there. They know how much the Fox deal is worth. They have estimates of each PPV. The UFC announces the gate and attendance at each fight. The UFC releases its revenue info every 2 years.

Fighters like Conor know this and they use it to their advantage when negotiating. The rest of them should too.

Now just because the UFC is valued at 4 billion doesnt mean the fighters are entitled to that. The main reason the UFC is valued at 4B is because the UFC still has a ton of international growth they can do (Asia and South America are wide open) and the Fox deal is ending in 2 years.

The Fox deal is the big one for a couple of reasons. 1) The UFC is the only major sports franchise that has TV rights available for purchase until 2021 and 2) ESPN/ABC and Fox are expected to get into a huge bidding war over those rights. The current Fox deal is worth 800m dollars in total. For comparison, the NBA's most recent deal is worth 24B total. I'd expect that the next UFC TV deal will at least do 3-5 B.

Once that happens, expect the fighters to demand higher pay just like athletes do in every other sport.

[cima]

ESPN airing UFC someday? No thanks. That would also pretty much kill the Fox Sports network.

[aholbert32]

Quote: Originally Posted by cima

ESPN airing UFC someday? No thanks. That would also pretty much kill the Fox Sports network.

I agree completely but thats what makes it interesting. Richard Deistch from SI (he covers sports media) made a good point this weekend. He noticed how much ESPN was covering UFC 200 this weekend. It was the top 3 stories on ESPN.com. Sportscenter had onsite coverage for hours on Saturday. They covered it like it was a huge event. They appear to be positioning themselves for a bid

So on one hand you have Fox that needs the UFC for FS1 to remain relevant. On the other hand you have ESPN potentially driving the bid up. Thats why that 4B number isnt so big when you think about it. Especially if the TV deal is worth more than that.

[cima]

Quote: Originally Posted by aholbert32

I agree completely but thats what makes it interesting. Richard Deistch from SI (he covers sports media) made a good point this weekend. He noticed how much ESPN was covering UFC 200 this weekend. It was the top 3 stories on ESPN.com. Sportscenter had onsite coverage for hours on Saturday. They covered it like it was a huge event. They appear to be positioning themselves for a bid So on one hand you have Fox that needs the UFC for FS1 to remain relevant. On the other hand you have ESPN potentially driving the bid up. Thats why that 4B number isnt so big when you think about it. Especially if the TV deal is worth more than that.

Oh they're definitely going all in on UFC for sure. Hell who knows, they could try and bid for WWE next time around too, lol.

I just don't want ESPN becoming a monopoly, which acquiring UFC would pretty much seal that.

[redsox4evur]

Anyone else think it could be like the MLS TV deal? Where both ESPN and FS1 get a piece of the pie.


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[aholbert32]

Quote: Originally Posted by redsox4evur

Anyone else think it could be like the MLS TV deal? Where both ESPN and FS1 get a piece of the pie. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Maybe. Every other sports league splits their package accept for the NHL.

[p_rushing]

Quote: Originally Posted by aholbert32

Maybe. Every other sports league splits their package accept for the NHL.

Quote: Originally Posted by redsox4evur

Anyone else think it could be like the MLS TV deal? Where both ESPN and FS1 get a piece of the pie. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That would be very hard to sell though. It's not like teams where fans watch no matter who the players are. So there would be requirements for certain fighters or # of viewers or the UFC has to given money back.

I would love it if ESPN and FOX teamed up to get rid of some PPVs.

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[Dave_S]

Could be interesting, the latest Rousey commercial had her advertising ESPN. Seeing that she's managed by wme-img her advertising for ESPN makes me think there might be some relationship with ufc and ESPN in the future.

It also has people talking about conflict of interest seeing as she's managed by wme and is staying with them. I think that's illegal in boxing because of the Ali act. Of course that question only arises it she fights again.