It was first reported by Variety earlier today that UFC has signed a five-year deal with ESPN that is valued at 1.5 billion dollars that will bring the mixed-martial arts league’s entire rights package to ESPN in 2019.
This new deal follows a prior deal announced earlier this month between ESPN and UFC. The entire package will reportedly cost $1.5 billion over five years.
“The deal consists of 30 UFC Fight Night events per year, including 10 main cards on ESPN’s television networks. The other 20 will stream on ESPN+, the company’s newly launched streaming service.
UFC Fight Night events consist of 12 bouts. Additionally, ESPN networks will air preliminary bouts prior to 12 pay-per-view events in 2019.
ESPN offered double of what Fox Sports did previously, and the declining ratings on Fox sports were also one of the reasons why UFC decided to go with the ESPN. William Morris Endeavor invested $4.4 billion in acquiring UFC from the previous owners “Zuffa, LLC” and the yearly revenue isn’t helping the investors make profits out of it.
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