Endeavor announces Q4 earnings, UFC doing well

UFC parent company announced its earnings for the fourth quarter of 2022 and the promotion once again proved that the acquisition was worth it.

Overall, in 2022, Endeavor saw revenue of $5.268 billion.  However, sales dipped 16% to $1.26 billion in the fourth quarter of 2022. 

Also, of note, it did not appear that Dana White slapping his wife in a New Year’s Eve video would be addressed by Endeavor in its quarterly report.  While this seemed like a public relations issue at the time, silence seems to have been golden for all those involved after Endeavor refrained from making a public statement and Dana White’s explanation sufficed. 

Endeavor touted the UFC’s 21 consecutive sellouts in the year and an ongoing tally of 29 consecutive sellouts since returning to live audiences.  Notably, sponsorship dollars hit a record once again and the company renewed 10 international media rights deals.

Although the Professional Bull Riders is grouped in with the UFC for Endeavor Sports Properties, one might infer that the MMA promotion is carrying the heavy weight when it comes to earnings.  The segment’s Adjusted EMITDA was $142.4 million up $17.3 million (or up 14%) to the prior-year quarter. 

In addition, Endeavor had the chance to whittle down its debt load from the purchase of the UFC.  It made $500 million in debt payments in Q4 (per Variety report) to bring its long-term debt to $5.17 billion from $5.63 at the end of 2021.

While the rumors of Endeavor being a rumored buyer of the WWE, Endeavor remained non-committal in the potential acquisition.  WWE is said to be looking for $9 billion for the company.

Payout Perspective:

The UFC’s return to full-live events have contributed to the excellent fourth quarter for the company.  Notably, the UFC’s big event in November in New York, its December event in Las Vegas, a Fight Night in Orlando and the Abu Dhabi event in October were the highlights of the 4^th quarter.  But it is worth noting that the media deals and sponsorships have been huge for the promotion.  One might expect with the return of Jon Jones this week and Conor McGregor later this year we will see another record year in 2023.