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The UFC is still negotiating a new broadcast deal that kicks off in 2026, and Dana White offered a brief hint on where the promotion may be headed.
Currently in an exclusive contract with ESPN through the end of 2025, the UFC is reportedly seeking around $1 billion per year under the new terms with the possibility that the package ends up being split between multiple partners. Speculation has run wild for months that the UFC may end up working with Netflix or Amazon Prime on at least part of the new broadcast fights deal due to the sheer reach and volume that those streaming platforms can provide.
Netflix alone boasts over 300 million subscribers worldwide — a number ESPN, which is a U.S.-based network only, can’t come close to touching as linear cable continues to struggle in recent years.
“The world’s going to change a lot in the next year with our rights deals,” White told the Full Send podcast. “Depending on where we end up, but more than likely, we’re going to end up with a platform that is way more global than we are now.”
The UFC CEO saying “global” seems to hint at one of the streaming platforms that reaches a much bigger, worldwide audience.
It’s well documented that Amazon nearly landed the UFC’s broadcast rights during the last series of negotiations before ESPN eventually swooped in and closed the deal
Of course, the UFC’s parent company at TKO Group Holdings now has a very close relationship with Netflix after inking a massive $5 billion, 10 year deal to bring WWE’s flagship series Monday Night Raw there. Add to that, TKO also negotiated a deal for the Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford fight to air exclusively on Netflix where White is serving as the promoter for that matchup.
Still, White wasn’t ready to name anybody as a potential partner just yet as TKO executives like Ari Emanuel and Mark Shapiro continue to seek out the biggest and best deal possible.
“There’s nothing. I don’t have anything right now,” White said about the new broadcast rights deal. “We’re in the middle of talks. We’ll see how it plays out. Literally have zero info on that right now.”
There’s plenty of speculation where the UFC might end up not to mention numerous outlets showing interest in obtaining the company’s broadcast fights.
That’s why White is predicting another game-changing deal just like the previous moves when the UFC landed at FOX and then shifted gears to go to ESPN>
“Every year that we’ve done a deal — if you think about it, Spike TV we started,” White said. “From there, we went to Fox. From there, we went to ESPN. We’ve leveled up every single time and it made the sport bigger and bigger and bigger.”