The UFC won Sports League of the Year for the second time at the Sports Business Journal annual awards. SBJ cited record-breaking revenue and sponsorships as a reason to make it Sports League of the Year.
The promotion also won the award in 2022.
UFC Chief Content Officer Craig Borsari accepted the award on behalf of the promotion.
While the UFC regularly buys ad for the sports industry trade magazine, it also had a tremendous year. The SBJ cited its 9-figure global sponsorship deal with Monster Energy as one of its biggest accomplishments. It also highlighted its 8-figure deal with IBM as well as its Verizon Wireless sponsorship and Meta deal.
The company was lauded for its events in 2024 including the UFC 306 Sphere event which earned two Sports Emmys, events returning to Mexico City and China for the first time since the pandemic and its initial events in Saudi Arabia.
Payout Perspective:
The company’s ties to the current administration likely helped this year as well. Having the sitting president in attendance at UFC is polarizing but seems to have helped with its young, conservative demo. Since the start of the year, one can tell that the company is leaning more and more to the right unabashedly promoting conservative viewpoints and causes. Whether or not sponsors agree, they see how much the UFC has drawn young (predominantly white) males to its audience. This is an attractive sect for advertisers as the company is on a prolonged hot streak.
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