Conventional wisdom among sports media industry types when the UFC signed a surprising seven-year, $7.7 billion deal with Paramount last summer was that the popular MMA promotion well outkicked its coverage. Observers saw newly anointed Paramount owner David Ellison attempting to make a splash in live sports, and thus overpaid for the UFC.
The jury is still out on whether or not that is the case. Paramount has seen some promising subscription data driven by UFC on Paramount+, but paying over $1 billion per year, with no pay-per-view model to fall back on, is a rather steep hill to climb.
Regardless of if the deal is a good one for Paramount or not, UFC CEO Dana White knows that the price tag got people’s attention. Particularly, White believes the $7.7 billion payday got the attention of NFL executives who are actively attempting to refresh their own media rights deals to secure larger fees.
🗣️”We are not the same” – Dana White claims NFL executives were stunned by the UFC’s $7.7 billion deal.
“We are not the same. We are literally competing with the NFL, the NBA, Major League Baseball, and the NHL right now. The day we announced the $7.7 billion deal, executives at… pic.twitter.com/hjrDQ8RpG0
— FREAK.MMA (@FREAKMMA1) June 21, 2026
“I don’t know this to be true, but I f*cking guarantee you it is,” White began. “The day we announced we did a $7.7 billion deal, the executives at the NFL said, ‘How the f*ck did we not get this money, and how did we not know that money was sitting out?'”
As has been extensively reported this year, the NFL is looking to court its current broadcast partners to complete new deals at higher rates in exchange for removing its exit option at the end of the decade, thereby solidifying the status quo through the 2033-34 season. That effort has proven more challenging than initially anticipated, as networks balk at the magnitude of the increase the NFL is seeking. Prior reports indicate that Paramount, the only company already in active negotiations with the NFL, is okay stomaching a 25 percent increase on its current NFL rights fees, but the league is seeking something in the 100 percent range. Paramount currently pays about $2.1 billion annually for NFL rights. Hypothetically, if the NFL and Paramount met in the middle, the additional rights fee would approximately equal the annual fee Paramount is now paying UFC.
While White said he doesn’t know the NFL’s frustrations to be true, his assertion is based in reported detail. Several prior reports have indicated part of the impetus for the NFL seeking new deals is the 11-year, $76 billion deals the NBA recently secured. It’s certainly not beyond the NFL to see what’s going on in the market for media rights, and use that information to extrapolate what the value of its broadcast inventory should be.
The only question now is, can the league capitalize?
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.