The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is nearing the end of its broadcast deal with FOX. The mixed martial arts promotion’s seven year deal with FOX will end at the end of 2018. The promotion’s current deal is worth roughly $120 million per year. That being said, the UFC is now asking a hefty $450 million per year moving forward.
As reported by MMA Payout, “traditional media companies” are currently not jumping at the chance to sign the mixed martial arts promotion.
The UFC has supposedly met with companies Amazon and Oath concerning their broadcast deal, however nothing has yet been set in place.
UFC President Dana White hadn’t ruled out going to a digital partner either, which might be the case if they can’t come to a deal with another network.
“Now with technology, we’re getting to the point that I always dreamed about,” Dana White said to the Unnamed Podvideocast. “I always used to say, we’ll take this thing all around the world, build a fan base, build some talent in every country around the world, and then we’ll get to a point in time where everybody can watch it at the same time on the same platform.
“We’re getting to that day… on an OTT type platform.”
The UFC was sold to William Morris Endeavor in 2016 for a hefty $4 billion, compared to the $2 million from which the Fertitta brothers purchased the company back in 2001.
