Chael Sonnen recently discussed how the UFC and WWE might be valued at $50 billion together at the moment. He came to the conclusion by pointing out that TKO's stock price has doubled in the last year and also stated that he should've invested in the company's stocks on time.
Under the banner of TKO, UFC and WWE went public on the New York Stock Exchange in September 2023. This was after Endeavor initiated the process of combining the world's biggest sports entertainment organization, WWE, with the world's premier MMA promotion to form a sports and entertainment company called TKO Group Holdings.
Valued at $21 billion at the time of merger, TKO marked the beginning of new chapter for both the UFC and the WWE and in no time, it's stock price has doubled.
Discussing this exponential growth of both companies since they went public, the former UFC title contender regretted not taking his friend's advice who wanted him to invest in TKO back in 2023.
TKO is the publicly traded company that owns WWE and UFC. Now, don't hold me to these numbers and dates perfectly, but a year ago, TKO was valued at $70. I remember getting a call from Jesse on Fire when it hit $70. Jesse on Fire calls me and he's telling me to load up, and I did not. I did not load up. I bought, but I did not load up.
While "The American Gangster" was still processing if TKO was really a good investment opportunity as his friend had already made money on it, the stock grew by another 10%.
And like that, it was at $77. It jumps 10% while I am processing what Jesse told me. So I don't get in until it hit $90. That's when I finally go load up. But I want you to think about this, okay, the UFC sold for what was a higher valuation for a franchise than the evaluation at current time of the New York Yankees'. And the New York Yankees were said to be the most valuable franchise in the world, and the UFC sold for more than the Yankees' valuation.
TKO also owns the WWE, and here's how Sonnen came to the conclusion that both the brands, together, might be valued at $50 billion now:
You then have WWE, which sold—I'm going to round numbers here—but for over twice what the UFC sold for. You had a statement by TKO where they said they valued the entire company, so having both entities, at $22 billion. Now, the UFC had sold for $4.2 billion, WWE had sold for $11 billion, and now, because they are together, just go ahead and add 30% to that number to get us to $22 billion. But the stock is still hovering around $90 at the time of this story.
He further theorized:
Now, fast forward one year, and the stock, as we speak, is $153. So let's just call that double. That's double what it was when Jesse on Fire calls and tells me. If I look at the stock price—and this isn't a perfect way to do an evaluation, I'm just sharing for you, loose terms—if I look at the stock price, it's valued at $22 billion when it's at $77. Now that it's worth twice that, are we saying that together, they're worth $50 billion. Is that what we're saying?
Sonnen's friend, Jesse Merl, undoubtedly gave him solid advice regarding loading up on TKO stocks as he himself is now enjoying a 100% profit on his investment in just a year. The YouTuber posted about the same on X and is pretty confident that this is just the beginning for the UFC, Dana White, and TKO.