(Bloomberg) -- When the Ultimate Fighting Championship shops around its media rights next year, the mixed-martial-arts company will be looking for a decade-long partnership, Chief Executive Officer Dana White said.
“We started on ESPN seven years ago and had a rocky relationship in the beginning,” White explained on Bloomberg TV. “But now I couldn’t be happier at ESPN, it’s a great relationship and I wouldn’t mind staying with them.” The UFC signed its latest deal with ESPN that began in 2019, a five-year, $1.5 billion-agreement.
The UFC’s sibling company, the WWE, signed a 10-year, $5 billion-deal with Netflix Inc. in January. The UFC and WWE are part of TKO Group Holdings Inc.
White’s company is fresh off its most successful event to date, at the Sphere in Las Vegas, which delivered record ticket sales of $22 million. The previous record, $17.7 million was was set at Madison Square Garden in 2016.
The UFC has no plans to return to the Sphere, in part because of the high cost and also due to the company’s existing relationship with MGM Resorts International at the T-Mobile Arena, where the UFC is an anchor tenant.
White has hinted at entering boxing as well, saying, “We’re still talking about a deal, I am interested, if it does happen it will probably be announced in January or February.”
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