Warner Bros Discovery Reportedly Among the Bidders for New UFC Media Rights Deal & Potential Impact on AEW

UFC’s exclusivity window with ESPN for talks for a new potential media rights deal expired this past April and UFC and their parent company TKO Group are currently able to talk with other interested parties for a potential new deal.

John Ourand reported in a recent issue of his Puck Varsity newsletter that his sources stated that at least four companies are currently in the mix now for a potential new media rights deal for UFC. Ourand reported that AEW’s broadcast partner Warner Bros Discovery is currently considered a “wildcard in the negotiations.”

Ourand reported that while UFC’s talks with incumbent ESPN “appear to be the furthest along” for a new package deal for linear network content and their ESPN+ streaming service, a split of UFC’s rights into two separate packages appears to be the likeliest overall outcome. Ourand reported that there remains a possibility that a major streaming service could bid for the entire package but this is something that TKO President Mark Shapiro had previously cautioned against doing due to it being a move that could leave the sport “underexposed.”

Besides WBD and ESPN, Ourand reported that Amazon Prime and Netflix are also in the discussions for UFC rights. Amazon Prime reportedly is most interested in UFC’s pay-per-view business which is currently controlled domestically by ESPN.

In regards to WBD, Ourand reported that WBD would plan to air UFC fights on their linear channels such as TNT or TBS in addition to its streaming platform MAX. It was not stated if WBD is interested in UFC’s pay-per-view rights for their bid for a potential deal.

Ourand reported that should WBD successfully acquire a significant UFC rights package, AEW’s Collision could potentially go head-to-head with UFC on a different WBD station but this scenario would be “very unlikely.” Ourand speculated that a permanent move to Thursdays instead for Collision would appear to be the most logical for a variety of reasons.

Ourand also reported that those spoken to stated that any closure on a new UFC rights deal is still nearly two months away and UFC’s current $1.5 billion rights deal with ESPN expires at the end of 2025.