“When the window opens, we’ll obviously start talking to lots of different people and we’ll see what the options are out there. We’ve said this every time: There could be a time when we end up on several different networks like all other sports do,” UFC CEO Dana White told reporters at the post UFC 314 presser.
The UFC’s exclusive US broadcast rights deal with ESPN will end this year. The window for the promotion to solicit offers from different networks and platforms opened April 15, and presumably, Dana White and co. are already talking to interested parties which might include major networks like Fox, NBC, as well as streaming platforms.
And on episode #2307 of the JRE podcast with comedian Tim Dillon, Joe Rogan gave fans some clue about where the UFC could go next, or at the very least, with whom he would like the promotion’s next broadcast deal to be.
“Well Netflix has almost too much content. I love Netflix, don’t get me wrong. And I think the UFC might be going to Netflix soon. Wild, because Netflix is international, it’s everywhere. Whereas I was in Italy and on vacation, and I tried to access a UFC fight through my ESPN app and it said ‘not available in this area.’ I was like ‘What are these people watching now?’ You can’t even watch the fights,” Rogan said.
“No, I mean they’ve won whatever the streaming war was. They won,” the comedian pointed out, rightly pointing out that Netflix was the largest, most-watched streaming platform in the entire world. Of course, some keen-eyed fans will point out that Rogan has a personal and selfish interest in the matter since he has a relationship with Netflix and releases his stand-up specials on the platform.
MMA: UFC 261-Na vs Carnelossi, Apr 24, 2021 Jacksonville, Florida, USA UFC ringside announcer Brendan Fitzgerald, UFC ringside announcer Joe Rogan and UFC ringside announcer Jon Anik during UFC 261 at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports, 24.04.2021 17:54:55, 15959686, NPStrans, UFC, VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, Joe Rogan, MMA PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xJasenxVinlovex 15959686
But as Rogan pointed out, the actual reason he would be in favor of UFC being bradcast on Netflix is because of its global reach. After all, the UFC’s deal with ESPN is for American broadcast rights. In other jurisdictions, like Italy, the promotion has tied up with Warner Bros. Discovery’s discovery+ streaming platform.
But presumably, a truly global platform like Netflix would want to have exclusive global rights to broadcast UFC events, which Rogan would certainly like. But there is another, even more unexpected dark horse in the running, according to the UFC commentator.
Joe Rogan wonders if the UFC could go to YouTube next
“The UFC, you know, probably talked to YouTube as well. I just think there’s a thing about a subscription model versus free, and you know, ads, and the generating income. I mean you’re talking about billion-dollar corporations, it’s not that simple,” the UFC commentator told Tim Dillon.
Indeed, if one is talking about global reach and pure numbers, YouTube is in a stratosphere of its own, and far far ahead of Netflix. The Google-owned video sharing platform has an eye-watering 2.5 billion active monthly users, nearly eight times Netflix’s 300-odd million global subscribers.
So if YouTube wanted, they could buy the global broadcast rights for the UFC and sell PPVs on its platform as it does movies already. The platform certainly has the pockets to do it. However, that seems unlikely. If it’s not broken, don’t fix it, as they say, and YouTube is so wildly successful that they don’t need the UFC.
Netflix or Amazon Prime Video, or major networks like Fox, NBC, TNT, etc. could extract a lot of value in the form of new subscribers to their platform or network, but YouTube isn’t in desperate need for new subscribers. What platform or network do you think the UFC’s next broadcast rights should go?
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