2026 will be a new era for the UFC as Dana White finally penned a new broadcast deal for the UFC. The deal with ESPN ends this year, and when the next year starts, MMA fans will be able to access all the UFC content on Skydance’s Paramount network. But on the other side, things are looking bad for boxing, as combat sports analyst Luke Thomas revealed some serious issues prevailing in the sport.
The UFC and Paramount struck a $7.7 billion deal, which will have the promotion making around $1.1 billion a year. This is a little less than what Dana White and Co. were expecting, since they wanted to be able to make $1.5 billion annually. Nevertheless, it’s a fair deal, and guess what? The UFC will no longer have the PPV model, which has gotten the fans excited. But on the boxing side of things, the sport could see a potential takeover, according to Luke Thomas.
Despite a high-profile matchup taking place in September between Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford, Luke Thomas claims that boxing is in trouble, and somebody needs to fix it. He suggested a couple of ways, with the first being the proposed bipartisan bill, the Muhammad Ali American Boxing Revival Act, which is also supported by UFC’s parent company, TKO Group Holdings.
While Thomas claims that the Boxing Revival Act may not fully fix the sport, it could change the way boxing operates. On the other hand, the analyst claimed that the boxing authorities can also make use of the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act. However, Luke Thomas claims that the act will require a bit of enhancement and boost so that boxers can be protected, and the sport keeps its integrity intact.
“Boxing is in need of repair, no matter what. Now, you can choose to prescribe the Boxing Revival Act, which I don’t think really repairs it. I think it just fundamentally re-alters it from the inside out,” Luke Thomas stated on YouTube. “But the other one would be just to boost and enhance the existing Ali Act, obviously, as a way to protect the boxers.”
Tyson Fury lands a left jab to Deontay Wilders chest during the Tyson Fury vs Deontay Wilder III 12-round Heavyweight boxing match, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday, October 9th, 2021. PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxHUNxONLY LAV2021100954 JAMESxATOA
Meanwhile, there’s another issue that boxing is supposedly facing right now. Luke Thomas analyzed the UFC’s new $7.7 billion deal and highlighted how the promotion’s new direction will make it more attractive to viewers compared to that of boxing.
Insider claims boxing needs to be consumer-friendly just like Dana White’s UFC
Luke Thomas mentioned how the UFC’s new deal has helped them get away from the PPV model and get onto the streaming platforms so that fans and viewers would not need to pay extra cash. But for boxing, they’re still stuck with the PPVs and are struggling to get a deal with any network compared to Dana White’s promotion. Thomas believes that boxing needs to adopt a similar strategy to the UFC and adopt more consumer-friendly media distribution models.
“The point I’m trying to make is the UFC has a deal for complete streaming and partly linear. No more pay-per-view. meanwhile, boxing may not even have a television deal to be accessing FOX, or CBS, or ABC,” Luke Thomas added. “And they’re still stuck behind the PPV and, at a massively discounted price relative to UFC, they’re still having difficulty securing a network television deal. Like, boxing isn’t just down bad, it is ripe for the picking.”
Well, Dana White and TKO have already entered the boxing realm. Seeing how things are looking bleak for the sport at the moment, the UFC head honcho and the promotion’s parent company could opt to take advantage of the situation and build a similar structure in boxing, just like the UFC. What do you think? Let us know in the comments down below.
The post Boxing’s Inevitable Takeover Looms as TKO-Backed Dana White Puts UFC in $7.7 Billion Deal appeared first on EssentiallySports.
