Paramount Lands Exclusive US Broadcast Rights to UFC in $7.7bn Seven-Year Deal
3 hours ago
Paramount has made its first major sports rights play since merging with Skydance, securing exclusive US broadcast rights to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in a $7.7 billion, seven-year agreement with TKO Group Holdings.
From 2026, Paramount+ will stream all 13 numbered UFC events and 30 “Fight Nights” annually, with select numbered cards also simulcast on CBS. Significantly, the broadcaster will abandon UFC’s traditional pay-per-view model, making top-tier fights available at no extra cost to subscribers.
Paramount CEO David Ellison described UFC as a “global sports powerhouse”, adding that year-round live events would be a “significant advantage” in the company’s long-term content strategy. The deal, averaging $1.1bn annually, follows high-profile sports acquisitions by Netflix (WWE Raw, NFL) and Disney’s ESPN (NFL, NHL, MLB, CFP).
The move aligns with Paramount’s focus on live sports as a driver of real-time audiences in an era of accelerating cord-cutting. The UFC, which stages around 43 live events per year and reaches nearly 950 million households globally, attracted strong interest due to its young, male-skewing audience.
Negotiations began in June and intensified post-merger, with Paramount chosen for its financial capacity, CBS’s reach, and Ellison’s tech-driven, growth-oriented vision. The company is also exploring UFC rights in other territories.