Paramount Buys UFC Rights in $7.7B Deal

Paramount has agreed a $7.7bn deal to become the exclusive US broadcaster of Ultimate Fighting Championship, the largest agreement since David Ellison took the helm of the group.

Under the seven-year contract, which has an average annual value of $1.1bn and is weighted towards higher payments in later years, Paramount will stream all 13 of UFC’s marquee numbered events and 30 Fight Nights annually on its streaming platform from 2026, with selected bouts also cast on CBS.

The UFC deal by Ellison, who took over as chair and chief executive last week following Skydance’s takeover of the Hollywood studio, highlights the 42-year-old’s willingness to invest heavily in reviving Paramount after years of struggle under its previous ownership.

Once derided as “human cockfighting” by late Arizona senator John McCain, UFC has been transformed from a niche combat sport into a mainstream global business.

Led by promoter Dana White, an ally of Donald Trump and board member of Instagram owner Meta, UFC’s popularity could help attract new subscribers to Paramount+, the company’s online platform.

“The UFC really is a unicorn sports asset that is year round, which is really critical to our overall sports strategy,” Ellison said in an interview with the Financial Times.

“When you look at the incredible portfolio of sports that Paramount has with the NFL, Uefa, Masters and March Madness, there really was a lull in the summer, and now with the UFC, we really do have a very strong year-long sports offering on both Paramount plus and CBS,” he added.

Ellison said that Paramount’s combination of broadcast and streaming channels made it well placed to use live sports such as UFC to boost engagement, and attract subscribers and retain audiences.

“When you look at the growth rate, UFC basically has 100mn fans in the US, and basically, up 25 per cent since 2019 and the fact that it was doing all of that behind the double paywall at ESPN, underscore that by eliminating that paywall it’s going to be an amazing experience for fans of the UFC,” Ellison said.

As part of the agreement, Paramount has the right to create original content based on UFC — similarly to how Netflix developed F1: The Movie — with approval from the MMA group at the expense of the studio.

The deal is a landmark shift for UFC as it will end its long-standing pay-per-view model in the US, with premium fights made available at no extra cost to Paramount+ subscribers.

Ari Emanuel, executive chair and chief executive of UFC’s parent company TKO Group Holdings, told the FT that Paramount won an extremely competitive race for UFC, which until 2026 will continue to be viewed on ESPN+ behind a pay-per-view model.

“We believe wholeheartedly in David’s vision and look forward to being in business with a company that will prioritise technology as a means to enhance storytelling and the overall viewing experience,” Emanuel said.

Mark Shapiro, TKO’s president and chief operating officer, told the FT that part of the reason they picked Paramount was that “David really sees media, content, story, entertainment and sports through the lens of technology. He really believes the viewing experience will be enhanced by the right technological apparatus around it.”

The MMA organisation stages about 43 live events each year, producing more than 350 hours of live content. Its fights are broadcast in more than 210 countries and territories, featuring a roster of around 600 fighters from 75 nations.

Ellison said last week that his top priorities for reviving Paramount include restructuring the company into three focused divisions — studios, direct‑to‑consumer and TV media — to improve efficiency; consolidating streaming platforms like Paramount+ and Pluto TV on to a unified tech stack; and harnessing AI and other tech tools for content discovery and virtual production.

The son of Larry Ellison, founder of cloud computing group Oracle and one of America’s richest people, is working closely with Paramount’s other co-owner Gerry Cardinale of private equity group RedBird Capital to cut about $2bn in costs.

The UFC-Paramount deal is the latest major media rights agreement for a TKO business.

World Wrestling Entertainment, which organises scripted bouts, on August 6 agreed for Disney’s ESPN, which is launching a new streaming service, to become the US home of flagship live events including WrestleMania. The contract is worth over $1.6bn over five years, starting in 2026, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

TKO shares closed at $163.29 on Friday, up almost 40 per cent from a year earlier, giving it an equity market capitalisation of more than $32bn.