The UFC are in a prime position to sell their broadcasting rights.
One of the main reasons that Zuffa, the group which previously owned the UFC, was able to sell the company for a whopping $4 billion back in July of this year, was due to the impending expiry of the current TV deal that the UFC has with Fox Sports.
The current television rights deal, which was signed in 2011, expires in 2018.
The popularity of the UFC has grown exponentially since Dana White and the Fertitta brothers took a punt on the floundering promotion in 2001.
They developed and nurtured a product into of the most prominent sporting organisations in the world today.
Dana White is set to make a frankly ludicrous amount of money from the UFC sale 💰💰💰https://t.co/LLxps16Bpw
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) July 14, 2016
The new owners of the UFC, WME-IMG, will be hoping to offset some of this cost by jacking up the price of the TV rights when negotiations over the new deal begin at the end of 2017.
The Sports Business Journal reports that current rights holders, Fox Sports, will have an exclusive window to negotiate a new deal before other parties are allowed to express their interest with their own bids.
WME-IMG will be looking for $450 million per year, a huge increase from the current deal which comprises of $115 million per year.
The chips are firmly stacked in the UFC’s favour in another regard as they are one of the only major sporting organisations whose television rights are up for renewal – another justification for the high asking price.
This makes the UFC more appealing to broadcasters as they look for any opportunity to gain an advantage in viewership over the coming years.
The Sports Business Journal also reports that the UFC may also be considering splitting the package amongst more than one television network.
What this means for the Irish and UK viewers is unclear, as the UFC’s recently re-signed deal with BT Sport is also scheduled to run up in 2018, but we hope for more clarity in the coming months.
