Sports Business Journal reports that TKO Group Holdings will continue its partnership with the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas through 2030.
UFC will host a minimum of 4 events at the arena which is the same as its previous agreement. This time around, WWE will hold two events at the venue each year. The UFC has been an anchor tenant at T-Mobile Arena since 2017. T-Mobile Arena is the home of the NHL Vegas Golden Knights. It also has been the 9 Canelo Alvarez fights since 2017.
The UFC has held all of its major PPV events at the venue with the exception of last September’s event at the Sphere. That event caused friction between White and the venue as it allowed Premier Boxing Champions to hold an event in the venue featuring Canelo Alvarez.
As part of the continued partnership, TKO will get welcome signage, branded activations and retail space at T-Mobile. So, you can still get your UFC gear during a hockey game if you wish.
Payout Perspective:
This is a no-brainer for both sides. While there’s always other venues to house the bigger UFC events (The Apex, of course, has smaller cards), T-Mobile has the space (20K seats), access and location to hold big UFC cards. The added benefit this time around is that WWE is a part of the new deal. One can infer that TKO is tapping into the Vegas market for WWE as a “destination spot” for its fans based on its performance last April at Wrestlemania and the decision to have the event in Vegas again.
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