Despite the rocky start, Dana White and Co. have come a long way in their partnership with ESPN. The deal began with a 5-year handshake that was worth $1.5B in 2019. Later on, the deal was extended, and ESPN+ became the exclusive platform for all pay-per-view events in the USA. However, not everything went according to plan. UFC 313 witnessed some issues with streaming and created quite an uproar in the fighting community. But now, as the current broadcasting rights deal nears its end, White has been openly searching for the next rights holder. And as the search continues, the UFC head honcho has offered some lucrative scenarios for the broadcasting platforms thinking of striking a deal with the MMA promotion.
Not too long ago, the UFC and ESPN entered an exclusive negotiation window. While the $24B company wasn’t too invested in the window, it was clear that ESPN still wanted to figure things out with UFC. Even the 55-year-old UFC boss had nothing but positive stuff to say for ESPN. But when it comes to bringing in some innovation, there are quite a few limitations. And White knows them pretty well.
During the UFC 314 post-fight press conference, White revealed, “It depends on what ESPN or wherever else we go is looking for. Most of the times when you do these deals, you’re catering to what the network needs. Plus, they’ll have other programming, other sports that they’re already committed to at certain times and seasons, and whatever it may be. It always changes. It doesn’t matter to me.”
As Amazon and Netflix (worth a combined estimate of around $2.7 trillion) enter the picture, fight fans have begun to wonder whether the new broadcasting rights deal will introduce any innovations. That’s exactly what Aaron Bronsteter asked during his brief interview with the UFC CEO. He questioned if we’d get to see more events in the future, including weekday events. The MMA reporter also pointed out the renovations at the Apex. So, does this really mean that we’d get to see the event numbers double in the near future?
White replied, “Yeah, I mean, whatever the next right holder wants, we can do anything. There isn’t anything we can’t do. We can custom build whatever they want as far as programming goes. But as far as the sport, yes, I see a day where we could be doing… Look at the Contender Series. We can do the Contender Series, you know, 365 days a year if there was enough talent.”
1-on-1 with Dana White on UFC 315, upcoming American TV rights and more pic.twitter.com/VoZWEQvayD
— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) May 9, 2025
Things are still a bit unclear as White keeps scanning through his options. However, as the scrutiny continued to rise, people began chanting for the UFC to sign a deal with the $504B giant, Netflix. But Ted Sarandos seemed to be taking a step back. Let’s see what the Netflix co-CEO had to say about acquiring UFC’s broadcasting rights.
Has Dana White lost a potential broadcasting deal with Netflix?
During a Netflix investors call, back in April 2025, Sarandos weighed in on the potential deal with UFC. He quoted, “I’m not going to comment on any of those specific opportunities at this time. But I will steer you back to the letter to show you that our live event strategy is unchanged. We remain really focused on the big, breakthrough events. Our audiences love them.” Of course, Netflix already has a deal with TKO Group. WWE has already made its debut on the streaming platform. But as White was looking forward to a similar response for the MMA promotion, a word of caution struck him.
The Netflix co-CEO continued, “So anything we chase in the event space or the sports space is a deal that would have to make economic sense as well. Live is a relatively small part of our content spend. We have about 200 billion view hours, so small relative to view hours, too. But that said, all viewing is not equal. What we have seen with live is this very outsized positives around conversation and acquisition and we suspect retention. We’re really excited to keep building on that.”
Needless to say, Netflix faced quite a bit of backlash when it live-streamed Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson. The reason? The stream wasn’t smooth at all. Nevertheless, according to FightOracle, if there were to be a deal, Netflix would actually receive the shorter end of the stick. In other words, PPVs, DWCS, and Fight Nights would go on ESPN, while Netflix would get the fight nights that aren’t held at the Apex. And as far as the $2.13 trillion platform, Amazon, is concerned, things are yet to be brought to the forefront.
Would you like it if the UFC starts hosting events on weekdays? Which platform do you think would be the best choice for the UFC for broadcasting live events on TV? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.
The post Dana White Puts 3 Streaming Giants With $2.7 Trillion Valuation on Alert With Crucial Detail on UFC TV Rights Deal appeared first on EssentiallySports.
