TKO Group Holdings President Mark Shapiro spoke positively of the UFC’s relationship with Disney, mentioning his hope that the two parties can reach a new deal as the promotion’s current media rights agreement nears its end.
UFC has spent years under a media rights agreement with Disney-owned ESPN, putting all of their events on the U.S. sports goliath since early 2019. However, as the deal nears its final year and is set to expire at the end of 2025, discussions about what will come next have become a big talking point around the top MMA promotion.
Shapiro recently revealed that the exclusive negotiation window between the UFC and Disney will go from January 15 to April 15, giving the channel a chance to pitch their own offers before other competition can come into the mix. While Shapiro says no formal talks have taken place yet, he hopes that the promotion can stay in their current media home.
“It is our intention to re-sign with Disney because they have shown that they do it best,” Shapiro said, appearing at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology conference this week. “They understand synergy, they understand marketing, they’ve done a great job technologically with developing their platform, engaging their consumers, and of course, ESPN flagship, which is their direct-to-consumer, is on the way, so we’re anxious to see what that’s about and where we can fit in there.”
While he praised the work that Disney has done for UFC’s brand, including a mention of how much money they have put into promoting their events, he remained open to the numerous other possibilities that UFC is open to if a deal isn’t reached with ESPN.
“There’s so many other platforms that are looking for premium sports content,” he said. “And again, demand is out-stripping supply. If we get out of that window and we don’t have a deal, we will immediately take up with two or three platforms specifically that have told us they’re anxious to have those conversations.”
UFC’s live programming has aired solely on Disney platforms for more than half a decade. ESPN has become the sole distributor of the promotion’s monthly pay-per-view broadcasts, along with week-to-week shows like Fight Nights, The Ultimate Fighter, and Dana White’s Contender Series.
