Last week, analysts had the chance to ask TKO executives questions about UFC fighter pay. As one might expect, the response was less-than promising.
TKO’s 3rd quarter earnings were impressive yet again buoyed by the UFC’s revenues. It was a red-panty party for the UFC in attendance with a Conor McGregor event. Despite McGregor’s cameo in his loss to Max Holloway the company produced a record gate of $26 million. In addition, the company announced a record gate for its UFC 330 event in Philadelphia.
During the Q&A, analyst Sean Diffley of Morgan Stanley asked about fighter pay.
Andrew Schleimer, TKO’s CEO responded to Diffley’s question.
While the response includes information on WWE, the takeaway from the answer is that “incremental athlete compensation” won’t impact TKO’s revenue margins. This is reassuring to shareholders, but does this mean that fighter pay increases are actually occurring and that the labor force is reaping the benefits of TKO revenue. Or, is it that fighter pay is miniscule to the costs associated with TKO revenue that there is negligible movement if/when raises for fighters occur?
With TKO receiving massive paydays for increasing site fees and media rights, do the fighters and talent get more money as a result?
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