Report: ESPN, Fox Propose Joint Bid for UFC Programming Rights
The Ultimate Fighting Championship could have two broadcast
partners after its current deal with Fox comes to an end.
According to a Tuesday report from Variety, ESPN and Fox Sports have recently proposed to split the UFC TV rights between the two companies. One of the elements of the deal would bring approximately 15 UFC events to the recently launched streaming service ESPN+.
Per the Variety report:
According to sources with knowledge of the proposal, ESPN has signaled that it would be willing to pay $120-180 million per year to add the Endeavor-owned mixed martial arts league to its collection of live-event rights.
Fox, which currently pays $120 million per year UFC rights, would be willing see that number increase to a little more than $200 million. Fox’s current package includes four Saturday-night fights per year on Fox Broadcasting and a number of fight events on cabler Fox Sports 1 that has increased annually under its current agreement. A joint bid with ESPN would see Fox’s total number of events decline slightly.
Representatives from ESPN, Fox and the UFC declined to comment in the report. The UFC’s current deal with Fox, which began in 2011, ends this year. That agreement brought the promotion an average of $120 million per year but increased to $160 million in 2018.
The UFC was rumored to have been asking for as much as $450 million per year with the new deal, while Fox reportedly offered approximately $200 at the end of last year. There have also been rumors that the UFC is exploring the possibility of distributing its content via its own streaming platform, and speculation increased when the company purchased streaming provider NeuLion last month.
Disney, which owns ESPN, and Fox have shared rights to other sports programming in the past, including Big Ten Conference content, Major League Soccer and Pac-12 football.
According to a Tuesday report from Variety, ESPN and Fox Sports have recently proposed to split the UFC TV rights between the two companies. One of the elements of the deal would bring approximately 15 UFC events to the recently launched streaming service ESPN+.
Advertisement
According to sources with knowledge of the proposal, ESPN has signaled that it would be willing to pay $120-180 million per year to add the Endeavor-owned mixed martial arts league to its collection of live-event rights.
Fox, which currently pays $120 million per year UFC rights, would be willing see that number increase to a little more than $200 million. Fox’s current package includes four Saturday-night fights per year on Fox Broadcasting and a number of fight events on cabler Fox Sports 1 that has increased annually under its current agreement. A joint bid with ESPN would see Fox’s total number of events decline slightly.
Representatives from ESPN, Fox and the UFC declined to comment in the report. The UFC’s current deal with Fox, which began in 2011, ends this year. That agreement brought the promotion an average of $120 million per year but increased to $160 million in 2018.
The UFC was rumored to have been asking for as much as $450 million per year with the new deal, while Fox reportedly offered approximately $200 at the end of last year. There have also been rumors that the UFC is exploring the possibility of distributing its content via its own streaming platform, and speculation increased when the company purchased streaming provider NeuLion last month.
Disney, which owns ESPN, and Fox have shared rights to other sports programming in the past, including Big Ten Conference content, Major League Soccer and Pac-12 football.
