Dave’s Hot Chicken and the UFC announced a sponsorship deal on Thursday which makes the fast-food restaurant an Official Sponsor of the promotion.
The restaurant chain started to appear at UFC events late last year and based on the social media response stating that many saw the ads at promotion events it decided to expand its sponsorship in 2025.
Financial details were not disclosed, but the success of its sponsorship last year led to a bigger deal with the company this year. Dave’s CMO stated that their target demo was predominantly male Gen Z and younger millennials who love UFC.
Dave’s will be seen at select UFC fight cards this year and will be integrated into all PVV cards and there are plans for Dave to utilize UFC IP at its retail stores.
The company was founded by 4 friends who are longtime fans of the UFC per the Sports Business Journal. The business started as a pop-up in Los Angeles in 2017 and has exponentially grown over the years. It does not advertise in sports although it bought ad time last year and this year during the NCAA College Basketball Tournament. .
Per a Wall Street Journal article, the chain with approximately 270 locations (with a quarter in California) are in “advanced talks” to sell itself to private equity firm Roark Capital for $1 billion.
SBJ calls sponsor deals like this “consumer-facing brands” as you might deduce are service-based and deal directly with the public. It stated that TKO is trying to monetize the property (UFC) with “more mainstream” brands.
Payout Perspective:
Nowadays its hard not to think how tied in the UFC is with conservative-leaning groups and sponsors. That is why its interesting that the broader company, TKO, wants the UFC to expand to more well-known brands. We note that the UFC still hasn’t filled its QSR (Quick Service Restaurants) category with that many sponsors. Dave’s happens to be the first national chain to do so. While the UFC will look in other categories, brands may be concerned with the association it has with Black Rifle Coffee Company or Jeremy’s “Anti-Woke” Razors. We will see how many “consumer-facing brands” it will sign this year.
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