The new UFC U.S. broadcasting rights deal may have just gotten bigger mere hours after it was first announced.
As part of the new seven-year, $7.7 billion deal with Paramount, which also brings about the end of the pay-per-view model for UFC events, it was announced that certain UFC numbered cards, which historically almost-exclusively aired on pay-per-view, would be simulcasted on CBS.
In a new interview with CNBC, however, TKO executives Ari Emanuel and Mark Shapiro have appeared to one-up that. They stated that the plan is actually to air all of the numbered UFC cards on the network platform.
Shapiro emphasized a desire, despite the deal being primarily for the Paramount+ streaming service, to have CBS as part of the new UFC deal. Shapiro cited CBS' history of sports broadcasting, from the Masters, to the NFL, to the NCAA Final Four.
"It was important to us to have CBS play a big component in this," Shapiro said. "This is Paramount+ exclusively, but CBS will have simulcast on many of the fights, and likely all of the numbered events, which are formerly the pay-per-view fights."
TKO's Ari Emanuel & Mark Shapiro Claims CBS Will Air All UFC Numbered Cards In U.S.
The pair were then asked about the decision to do this when Paramount+ has 77 million subscribers, and almost all of them are located within the U.S.
Emanuel responded by saying that while part of the purpose is to drive traffic to Paramount+ and gain the platform subscribers -- citing Paramount's deal with the television program South Park last month as an example -- there is also the aspect of the reach that CBS can provide. This would be, as pointed out, similar to how the NFL has never left broadcast networks completely.
"A unified platform, more personalization, more customization, integrating sports betting, which is a big part of our fan experience when it comes to the UFC, that was all the stuff that was very attractive to us, way beyond the price," Shapiro said.
"But you need CBS, as Ari said, to really drive that reach. Think about it. [CEO David Ellison's] goal is to get more subs; take that 77 million up to 300. But to keep them there, and the fact that we're year round, the fact that every month we have a big premium fight, that will be an antidote."
Emanuel, in fact, claimed that TKO and the UFC tried to get more events on ABC -- which almost exclusively were put on during the summer and for events that took place in the Middle East (with exceptions).
"When we were at ESPN and Disney, we always actually were asking for a little bit of ABC, because we want the broadest reach," Emanuel said.
Shapiro followed it up by praising the visions of Ellison, who was Skydance CEO before the company merged with Paramount and became the CEO of the merged organization.
"His strategy: streaming, sports, and studios," Shapiro said. "It's right in our wheel house. He sees media...he sees content, he sees storytelling through the prism and lens of technology."
What will be interesting to see is how CBS handles its sports broadcasting rights alongside the UFC, if the plan for CBS to air all of the numbered pay-per-view cards comes true. CBS currently has college football rights to air matchups in the Big Ten (since 2023) and the newly-reformed Pac-12 (starting this year). College football on ESPN was a main reason why the UFC's Fight Night events in the fall were exclusively on ESPN+, as well as accounted for differing channel airings for prelims on pay-per-view fight cards.
No information has also come out on what will happen for a UFC numbered cards that takes place outside the U.S. UFC pay-per-views that have been held in Australia and England have traditionally aired in the UFC's typical 10 p.m. ET start time; however, pay-per-view cards in Abu Dhabi, which have annually taken place in the fall since 2019, have had special 2 p.m. ET start times.
The UFC's deal with Paramount will be for 43 events total per year -- 13 numbered events (the former pay-per-views) and 30 Fight Nights.