The UFC announced a new multi-year media rights deal with BT Sport in the UK and Ireland per Sports Business Journal. The deal ensures that BT Sport remains the exclusive media home for the UFC.
BT Sport began its media deal with the UFC in 2013.
Via BT.com
The new agreement includes all live UFC events, including numbered events and Fight Nights, plus hundreds of hours of original programming from shows such as UFC Countdown and UFC Connected and a deep library of classic combat sports events, highlighted by the biggest bouts in UFC history.
Payout Perspective:
The news comes as no major surprise as the two have had a long-standing relationship and with the popularity of the sport in the UK and Ireland still high despite no live events due to travel restrictions to the pandemic, interest in the company is high. The return to the UK this past March was a sellout at the O2 with the highest grossing gate for a single sporting event at the venue, $4.5 million (US dollars). At Endeavor’s latest earnings call, it was revealed that international consumption of the product was more than domestic which makes the UFC media deals attractive. Also, the fact that there are multiple bidders for the UFC means that the company is capitalizing on its popularity and doing much better this round than last time out. In the U.S. it also means that the looming ESPN+ rights deal with the UFC will grow exponentially when the rights come due in a couple years.
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