Paramount gets UFC streaming rights in US with $ 7.7B deal
Skydance -owned Paramount will become an exclusive American house of the final fighting championship under a seven -year streaming deal, priced around $ 7.7 billion, which is the first major strategic move by the newly merged media veteran under the new CEO David Alison.
From next year, Paramount+ 13 will take the UFC events and the full American slate of 30 fight nights. The UFC, owned by TKO Group Holdings, will also have card simultaneous cards on the CBS broadcast network of Paramount, the companies announced on Monday.
The deal is based on Alison’s commitment to increase investment in high quality exclusive materials, which he called “the biggest driver of subscriber growth”.
Sports content, especially the rights of live events, have become the cornerstone of media strategy as cord-cutting accelerates, rivals such as Netflix and Disney also influenced similar deals to strengthen their offerings.
Netflix achieved $ 5 billion, 10 years global deal for WWE Raw from 2025 and added two NFL Christmas day games. Disney’s ESPN extended rights with NFL, NHL, MLB and college football playoffs.
Alison called UFC “global sports powerhouse”, “UFC has a major victory to see the year -long round on our platforms.”
The company will pay an average of $ 1.1 billion in a year and incorporates incidents without any extra cost to subscribers, away from the UFC’s traditional pay-per-view model. It also said that it can seek rights in other markets as they come to bid.
While Canadian can subscribe to paramount+, it is not clear whether they will be able to see the UFC quarrel on that platform. Sportsnet has kept special rights for UFC Live events in Canada since 2024.
CBC News has reached Rogers, who owns Sportsnet, for comment.
The UFC has about 40 live events a year, reaching around 100 million American fans and around 950 million homes globally. Its slate includes Marqui Number Card events like UFC 300, Weekly Fight Nights and Reality Show. Last Warrior And Dana White Candidate Series,
Paramount Global and Skydance Media completed its $ 8.4 billion merger last week and appointed Ellison as CEOs, capping a deal process marked by political investigation and shareholder concerns.
