While there aren’t many major sports media rights packages available in the near future, one of the few comes in the form of UFC. And with the MMA giant’s exclusive negotiating window with ESPN set to expire on Tuesday, all indications are that the TKO property will be taking its product to the open market.
That’s not necessarily surprising considering the expected interest in UFC, nor does it seem to bother ESPN. Speaking to Sports Business Journal, ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro said that people shouldn’t “read too much into” the exclusive negotiating window expiring without an agreement.
“We’re not hyper-focused on that window,” Pitaro said. “We know that there’s going to be interest in the UFC and that’s great for the sport. It’s great for them. But we remain interested in trying to figure something out with those guys.”
According to SBJ, UFC is targeting more than $1 billion per year for its next deal, a sizable increase from the current five-year, $1.5 billion deal it signed with ESPN that’s set to expire at the end of this year. As a part of the current deal, ESPN+ has been the exclusive home of UFC’s monthly pay-per-view events, which have served as the streaming service’s signature property.
“UFC has been really good to ESPN,” Pitaro told SBJ. “We launched ESPN+ in April of 2018, and really the UFC property was the marquee property for ESPN+ at launch. Fast forward to today, and it still is the marquee property for ESPN+. We also at the same time believe that we have been a great partner to the UFC in terms of our promotion, in terms of our commitment to the sport of mixed martial arts and specifically the UFC across our studio programming across dot com, the ESPN app.”
As Pitaro alluded to, ESPN and UFC remaining partners would certainly be beneficial to both.
For ESPN, maintaining attractive streaming properties has never been more important than it is now with its direct-to-consumer “Flagship” service set to launch later this year. Meanwhile, UFC has undoubtedly benefitted from the promotion it has received on ESPN programming in recent years, even if it’s had to deal with occasional technical difficulties.
The elephant in the room is, of course, Netflix, which is continuing its push into live rights. Not only that, but the streaming giant also has a preexisting relationship with TKO via its deal with WWE.
It’s also worth noting tht TNT Sports has also already emerged as a potential suitor. Suffice it to say, UFC should have no shortage of leverage as it prepares to inevitability hit the open market next week.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.