A second ESPN-UFC deal has been announced, this one more significant than the last.
ESPN has acquired the UFC television package under a five-year, $150 million/year deal that begins in 2019, Variety reported early Wednesday morning. ESPN announced the deal Wednesday afternoon.
The news comes two weeks after ESPN announced a separate digital rights deal with the UFC to carry 15 fights per year on its new ESPN Plus streaming service. The new deal adds 15 more cards that will be split between ESPN’s linear and digital outlets, as well as 12 UFC prelims.
Combined, ESPN will pay $300 million annually for linear and digital UFC rights and carry 42 live events per year. ESPN Plus will air 20 cards, and ESPN’s television platforms will carry 10 cards and 12 prelims.
ESPN will now own all of the UFC inventory that is not broadcast in-house via pay-per-view or the UFC Fight Pass.
ESPN replaces Fox Sports as the UFC’s linear television partner. Variety reported earlier this year that ESPN and Fox would partner on a joint bid for UFC rights, but that apparently fell by the wayside.
No doubt making it easier for Fox to part ways with UFC was its pending WWE rights deal. According to multiple reports, the WWE and Fox have agreed to a deal that will put the weekly “WWE Smackdown” on the FOX broadcast network Friday nights starting October of next year.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, Fox will play $205 million annually for the WWE, exceeding what the company was willing to pay for UFC — $175 million per year.
Fox had been the home of UFC since 2011. Prior to that point, Spike TV (now the Paramount Network) held the rights.
[News from ESPN PR 5.23, Variety 5.23; The Hollywood Reporter 5.23]
