Paramount buys UFC rights in $7.7 billion, 7-year deal

Days after completing its merger with Skydance, Paramount has acquired the U.S. rights to TKO Group’s UFC for seven years, beginning in 2026.

Paramount is paying an average of $1.1 billion per year, totaling $7.7 billion, for UFC’s full slate of 13 marquee events and 30 “Fight Nights,” the companies said in a statement. All matches and events will be streamed in the U.S. via Paramount+, and select events will be simulcast on CBS. The deal payments are weighted, with Paramount paying less than $1.1 billion in the early years of the deal and higher values later.

Paramount won’t charge users any additional fees for access to the events, eliminating the pay-per-view model that ESPN+ has used for certain premium UFC events. Disney’s ESPN had been paying an average of $500 million for five years of UFC rights. That deal expires at the end of 2025.

“The pay-per-view model is a thing of the past,” said Mark Shapiro, TKO Group’s president and chief operating officer, in an interview. “What’s on pay-per-view anymore? Boxing? Movies on DirecTV? It’s an outdated, antiquated model. So, it was paramount to us – forgive the pun – where it’s one-stop shopping, especially for our younger fans in flyover states. When they find out, ‘Wait, if I just sign up for Paramount+ for $12.99 a month, I’m going to automatically get UFC’s numbered fights and the rest of the portfolio?’ That’s a message we want to amplify.”

It’s been a busy few days for both Paramount and TKO. Paramount officially sold control of the company to Skydance Media on Thursday, bringing in new leadership led by Chief Executive Officer David Ellison. Also last week, TKO signed a five-year, $1.6 billion deal with ESPN for the U.S. rights to WWE’s premium live events. UFC and WWE merged to become TKO in 2023.

TKO leadership initially believed it would sell just the 30 Fight Night events to Paramount and the premium numbered events to another media partner, said Shapiro. When the Skydance-Paramount deal closed Thursday, the two sides negotiated this deal in 48 hours, he said.

“We have shown in the past with our ESPN deal that we drive [subscriptions], which is crucial to David’s strategy,” TKO CEO Ariel Emanuel said Monday on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street.”

It was important for Ellison to buy the entire UFC package given the scarcity of sports rights available in the coming years, he said in an interview. With Formula 1 rights likely earmarked for Apple and Major League Baseball waiting until 2028 to reorganize its major media packages, there won’t be many top-shelf sports assets coming to market for Paramount to acquire.

“UFC is a unicorn asset that comes up about once a decade,” Ellison said. He described himself as a UFC fan.

UFC events are desirable for streamers because they take place year-round — keeping fans paying for monthly subscriptions with less incentive to cancel seasonally than with other sports. There are 43 live events annually, consisting of 350 hours of live programming.

Paramount is interested in buying UFC’s international rights to pair with U.S. rights, the company said in a statement. Those rights arise on a rolling basis, with about one-third of them available each year. UFC matches are currently available in more than 210 countries.

Paramount will have a 30-day exclusive negotiating window for each country’s rights when they’re up for renewal, Shapiro said.

“We’re getting the brand, we’re getting the reach, and they’ll get the signups,” Shapiro said on “Squawk on the Street.”