WBD remains ‘wildcard’ in UFC TV rights negotiations, major players revealed

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The UFC TV rights negotiations are heating up with a wrestling-centric player in the mix.

Reported by John Ourand in his weekly Varsity newsletter for Puck, Ourand gave an update on the talks as TKO/UFC’s exclusive negotiating window with ESPN closed recently.

Ourand noted that at least four companies are in the mix with a split in two packages appearing to be the likeliest outcome. It could be just one if one of the big streamers wants everything for themselves, leaving the sport “underexposed” — something TKO’s Mark Shapiro has cautioned about in the past.

He said renewal talks with incumbent ESPN “appear to be the furthest along” which would include retaining content for their linear networks in addition to their new direct-to-consumer ESPN streaming service launching this year.

He stated that both Amazon Prime and Netflix are in talks with the former “most interested in UFC’s pay-per-view business.” That is currently controlled domestically by ESPN where they pay UFC for the rights to sell PPVs for whatever price they choose. Of note, Prime began offering AEW PPVs earlier this year.

Ourand then noted that AEW partner WBD (Warner Bros. Discovery) is the “wildcard in the negotiations” as they have been acquiring various sports rights to help replace the NBA which has officially departed the network as of this week. He noted they would air fights on their linear channels in addition to HBO Max, but did not mention if there is any interest in PPV — a technology they are building to offer AEW PPVs.

If they were to acquire UFC rights, it’s assumed that AEW Collision would need to move from Saturdays on TNT or potentially go head-to-head on a different WBD station which seems very unlikely. Given the company’s occasional Thursday Collision due to NBA/NHL playoff games and to avoid WWE PLEs, moving to Thursdays would appear to be the most logical for a variety of reasons.

Ourand stated his sources indicate any deal closure is still nearly two months away. UFC’s current $1.5 billion deal with ESPN signed in 2018 ends at the close of 2025.