NFL’s current TV deal at $111 billion largely eclipses UFC’s hedging $1.5 billion with ESPN. But that could change with Noche UFC, which is also UFC 306 pay-per-view in the numbered card order, this weekend. When the second annual Noche tribute rolls in, it is to have deep implications, not just on the running of the sport, but also on its future media rights deal. Dana White gives his take on the matter.
UFC has a contract with ESPN which runs through 2025. ESPN MMA has been a catalyst for the UFC, as the lone martial arts broadcaster during COVID-19, the streaming deal kept it afloat. But, UFC could garner double its current ESPN contract on a new broadcast rights deal. It all depends on what the Saudi GEA-backed Noche UFC media package has to offer. UFC could rehash the $1.5 billion deal or reap with new partner/s if what it has to offer comes out likeable.
It’s gonna be interesting how this plays out. I mean, we could end up being like the NFL and other sports where we could be on multiple platforms…or just one, …I, I don’t know how that’s gonna play out,…But yeah, we’re in those talks now. To be honest with you, a lot of those potential media people will be at the Sphere this weekend…
Dana White to Scarlet Fu on “Bloomberg The Close” for @BloombergTV
In a ‘Money Movers’ CNBC Exclusive for CNBC TV (@CNBCtelevision) with co-anchor Sara Eisen, Dana White recently aired lofty ambitions. Modeling himself and his promotion to be bigger than the NBA and NFL, he thinks UFC could also end up on multiple streaming platforms. Disney, NBC, and Amazon Prime could be the deals UFC starts fielding if their Mexican tribute LED production goes well.
It all depends on the media packaging. The pay-per-view is promoted as a “love letter” to Mexican heritage and combat sports staples. To that end, UFC chief content officer and executive producer Craig Borsari oversees the entire Noche UFC production. There are to be 360-degree short film montages, each lasting 90 seconds, on the Mexican contribution to the sport. Much rides on the ambitious venture.
Dana White on post-event monetization of second Noche UFC
UFC CEO Dana White, along with Borsari and the UFC production team, had their first in-situ test shots at the Las Vegas ‘Sphere’. Having visited it, the promotional bossman and maverick is unapologetically billing it as the real star of the UFC 306 Noche card, much to headlining champ Sean O’Malley’s woe. With UFC’s media rights deal at stake in a year, White is willing to take the venture further.
Dana White has big plans for second ever Noche UFC (Source: complex.com/X)UFC aims to replicate the immersive experience for pay-per-view viewers. Two separate media trucks will be accompanying their regular A and B unit fight trucks. The promotion got its own director and even cinematographer, to regulate media. That, along with its feature films would be quite the media packaging. During ESPN’s ‘First Take’ Show, Dana White detailed he wanted to bank on these UFC 306 recordings.
In a perfect world for me, if this thing goes off the way I want it to on Saturday night, I think that we could re-package this and this could stay at The Sphere and be a show that people can come in and see for the rest of the year…
Dana White to Stephen A. Smith and Shannon Sharpe for ‘First Take’ Show
The reality TV Roku’s Fight Inc: Inside the UFC, and the Contender series were great first steps towards a new media rights deal. A 4D seating global system and media package selling fight snippets could be a large step toward expanding the UFC media umbrella. Consequently, if the UFC 306 Noche card is as big as projected, recordings of the historic Mexican tribute could go on for the whole year.
