As UFC entered its latest round of media rights negotiations, it seemed be a matter of not “if” but rather “when” the MMA giant would strike a deal with Netflix.
And that’s what made it so shocking when UFC did announce its new media rights agreement — an all-encompassing $7.7 billion pact with not Netflix, but rather Paramount.
To most, the surprising nature of the deal seemed pretty academic: Paramount swooped in with a massive offer shortly after Skydance completed its merger with the legacy media giant. But according to TKO president Mark Shapiro, there’s more to the story, including what Netflix did — and didn’t — want over the course of their negotiations.
“There was one moment of disappointment. And that was when we were getting pretty close with Netflix, frankly, and they kind of stood by the fact that they didn’t want to have the volume,” Shapiro told Puck’s John Ourand on the latest episode of The Varsity.
Shapiro explained that Netflix executives Ted Sarandos and Bela Bajaria had been upfront the entire time that they were only interested in UFC’s monthly pay-per-views, which they would have given viewers access to for free behind the streaming service’s paywall. TKO, however, wanted to package the numbered events with its other Fight Night cards, which carry less prestige.
“Over the course of conversations, they really didn’t come off of that,” Shapiro explained. “And that’s what opened the door for Paramount and CBS.”
Ourand stated that he found Netflix’s stance confusing, considering that the streamer currently carries another TKO property, WWE Raw, on a weekly basis. Shapiro, however, said that ultimately worked against UFC’s negotiations, as Netflix felt that it already had the volume of content it was looking for and remained only interested in adding more high profile events.
That’s not to say that TKO and Netflix won’t do business in the future, as the streamer just carried the the combat sports conglomerate’s boxing debut with this past weekend’s Terence Crawford vs. Canelo Álvarez event. But according to Shaprio, those are the “big spectacles” that Netflix is now looking for, leaving TKO to strike its multibillion dollar deals that don’t fit that strategy elsewhere.
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.