It is no surprise that the success of the UFC is the number 1 MMA business story of the year. Both Disney and Endeavor have praised the UFC in their respective earnings calls. Disney touts the UFC for its increase in subscribers to ESPN+. Notably, UFC PPV events on ESPN+ went from $64.99 to $69.99 […]
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Top 10 of 2021: No. 2 Endeavor buys the UFC, goes public
This past spring, Endeavor purchased the rest of the outstanding holdings the UFC and went public. The company has touted the profitability of the UFC and the promotion was praised for events it held during the pandemic. Endeavor had paused its IPO a couple years back due in part to several factors. The pandemic also […]
Top 10 of 2021: No. 3 UFC partners with Crypto.com
The UFC forged a deal with Crypto.com in one of the biggest partnership deals in the company’s history. The deal, announced the same weekend, as McGregor-Poirier III in July was in the low 7 figures. Crypto.com became the first-ever global Official Fight Kit Partner and the First-ever Official Cryptocurrency Platform Partner for the promotion. It […]
Top 10 of 2021: No. 4 The Return of Conor McGregor
2021 saw the return of Conor McGregor as he fought Dustin Poirier twice this year and lost both fights. Each saw a different side of McGregor. Regardless, he still is a top draw in the company as the PPVs saw the biggest buy rates this year. In January, McGregor returned to fight Poirier on Fight […]
Top 10 of 2021: No. 7 PFL returns from one year absence for third season
The Professional Fighters’ League returned after a year absence due to the pandemic for its third season. The company streamed on ESPN+ and ESPN2 for most of its events. It signed Claressa Shields who fought in two MMA fights. While the signing brought in some traffic, it was clear that Shields was a novice with […]