UFC Signs Deal with Paramount; How Does It Compare to Other US Sports?

• The UFC recently signed a deal with Paramount worth $7.7 billion over seven years.
• Starting in 2026, Paramount Plus will stream the UFC numbered events, as well as the Fight Night cards.
• The NFL and NBA media deals are still larger, but the UFC’s deal is still larger than Major League Soccer and the NCAA.

The UFC has announced a deal with Paramount to broadcast their numbered events, as well as the Fight Night events, for $7.7 billion over seven years.

The deal is smaller than the NFL and NBA’s media agreements, but it’s more than the likes of Major League Soccer and the NCAA, and more comparable to WWE.

UFC Deal with Paramount Should Pave Way for Numbered Cards on CBS

The news was announced on X by UFC president Dana White on August 11.

The deal is for $7.7 billion over the next seven years, breaking down to $1.1 billion per year. The agreement will begin in 2026, as the UFC looks to increase its fanbase. Paramount, via their streaming service, Paramount Plus, will show 13 numbered events next year, along with the Fight Night cards that currently air on ESPN. It should also allow the UFC to show their numbered cards, which are currently available via pay-per-view, on not only Paramount Plus, but CBS. That network is owned by Paramount.

White also said in an interview with CBS Mornings that the UFC will host a card at the White House, which President Donald Trump alluded to last month. The event is being discussed for July 4, which will be the 250^th birthday of the United States. Nothing is set in stone yet, but there are odds on UFC betting sites on whether this event will actually happen.

How Does the UFC’s Deal Stack Up to Other US Major Leagues?

The UFC’s deal is much smaller when you compare it to the likes of the NFL and NBA. The NFL’s deal with six companies (Amazon, CBS, ESPN, Fox, NBC, and DirecTV) is for 11 years and $110 billion, and works out to about $9 billion a year. The NBA signed a deal with ABC, ESPN, NB, Peacock, and Amazon, for $76 billion over 11 years, which is about $7 billion a year.

However, if you compare the UFC and Paramount deal with other leagues, it looks great. Major League Soccer has a 10-year deal with Apple worth $2.5 billion, while the NCAA has a deal with ESPN for eight years and $920 million.

The WWE is a better measuring stick for the UFC media deal. The company signed a deal with ESPN to show major events like WrestleMania, which starts in 2026, for $1.6 billion. Netflix has a deal to show Monday Night Raw each week for 10 years and $5 billion. It should also be noted that these deals were down with TKO, which is a union between WWE and the UFC, which started in 2023.

While the UFC isn’t in the ballpark of the NFL and NBA, this is a very lucrative deal for the company when you compare it to other sports. The UFC is growing fast in popularity, and moving away from the pay-per-view model should increase their visibility.