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Fox Sports is out and ESPN is in. At least according to a new report.
Just weeks after nabbing the UFC’s streaming rights beginning next year, ESPN has secured the full broadcast deal for the promotion, Variety reported Tuesday night. The deal would begin in 2019 and signals that Fox Sports will no longer carry UFC events, which it has since 2011. ESPN, its group of networks and the digital streaming ESPN+ will be the small-screen, non-pay-per-view home for the UFC starting next year, according to the report.
ESPN announced May 8 that it had secured 15 UFC events per year for ESPN+, beginning in 2019. The Sports Business Journal reported at the time that it was a five-year deal, worth $150 million per year, which also included elements of UFC Fight Pass and the Dana White Tuesday Night Contender Series.
According to Variety on Tuesday, the revised deal will have the Disney-owned ESPN getting 30 UFC cards per year, pushing the valuation of the contract to $1.5 billion over that same span of time — $300 million per year. It remains unclear how many pay-per-view events the UFC will run in 2019, but the typical 12 or 13 is not expected to change.
Fox was paying the UFC about $100 million per year over seven years on the current contract. The UFC was hoping to up that figure to around $400 annually when this deal expired.
Earlier this week, multiple outlets reported that Fox had signed a deal with WWE to bring its Smackdown show to the network beginning next year. The Hollywood Reporter reported that Fox is paying $205 million per year annually for the program and moving it to Friday night from Tuesday. Smackdown currently airs on USA Network. WWE’s Raw show is still up for grabs, with NBC Universal, USA’s parent company, reportedly preparing a large bid.
Just weeks after nabbing the UFC’s streaming rights beginning next year, ESPN has secured the full broadcast deal for the promotion, Variety reported Tuesday night. The deal would begin in 2019 and signals that Fox Sports will no longer carry UFC events, which it has since 2011. ESPN, its group of networks and the digital streaming ESPN+ will be the small-screen, non-pay-per-view home for the UFC starting next year, according to the report.
ESPN announced May 8 that it had secured 15 UFC events per year for ESPN+, beginning in 2019. The Sports Business Journal reported at the time that it was a five-year deal, worth $150 million per year, which also included elements of UFC Fight Pass and the Dana White Tuesday Night Contender Series.
According to Variety on Tuesday, the revised deal will have the Disney-owned ESPN getting 30 UFC cards per year, pushing the valuation of the contract to $1.5 billion over that same span of time — $300 million per year. It remains unclear how many pay-per-view events the UFC will run in 2019, but the typical 12 or 13 is not expected to change.
Fox was paying the UFC about $100 million per year over seven years on the current contract. The UFC was hoping to up that figure to around $400 annually when this deal expired.
Earlier this week, multiple outlets reported that Fox had signed a deal with WWE to bring its Smackdown show to the network beginning next year. The Hollywood Reporter reported that Fox is paying $205 million per year annually for the program and moving it to Friday night from Tuesday. Smackdown currently airs on USA Network. WWE’s Raw show is still up for grabs, with NBC Universal, USA’s parent company, reportedly preparing a large bid.
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