Fans are going to win big with the UFC's new Paramount partnership. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for fighters.
On Monday, it was announced that the Ultimate Fighting Championship's broadcasting deal with ESPN+ will end after Paramount plunked down $7.7 billion to obtain the company's exclusive streaming rights for the next seven years starting in 2026.
Perhaps the most exciting bit of news is the fact that fans will no longer have to shell out $80 per month for pay-per-view events as all UFC cards, including premium numbered shows, will air exclusively on on Paramount's streaming service, effectively killing the promotion's antiquated pay-per-view era.
That'll save UFC fans nearly $1,000 annually, but it may come with a cost.
The fans are big winners because now it goes from having a plus subscription, plus having to buy pay-per-views for $79.99," Ariel Helwani said while discussing the UFC/Paramount deal. "If you’re a hardcore fan, that equals approximately $1,000 a year. Now, you don’t have to do that anymore. And as of right now, it’s either eight bucks or 13 bucks to be a Paramount+ subscriber. Way cheaper than being an ESPN Plus UFC fan."
"The fighters, to me, they’re the big losers here. Not because the viewership gets affected, that remains to be seen. But they’re sitting here watching all the executives wave their pompoms and say how great this is. They’re hearing Dana White say, this is good for the fighters. So I ask, how is it good for the fighters? Is the base pay going up? Is the introductory pay going up? Are they getting rid of the show-win model? Are the performance bonuses now going to be $100k a pop as opposed to 50k? What becomes of the champions with pay-per-view points? No one has told the fighters. They didn’t consult them. They don’t have to. There’s no collective bargaining agreement.
Dana White confirms fighter bonuses will increase with Paramount deal
With implementation of the UFC/Paramount deal still months away, there's plenty of time for Dana White and Co. to figure out how to make up for a fighter's lost PPV points, though White did acknowledge that bonuses would be "going up" following Tuesday's episode of DWCS.
Bonuses are obviously going up," White said. "So that'll be big. And just forget about the tide rising with all the other fighters. I mean, just the number that the bonuses bring to a fighter is millions of dollars.