UFC Says Bidding War Likely After Fox Contract Ends
In 2018, the seven-year deal between the Fox Networks and the UFC will be coming to a conclusion, but UFC officials believe that there will be a lot of networks vying to get the rights to UFC television broadcasts.
Besides the Fox Networks attempting to resign the UFC, the promotion claims that there is a plethora of interest from ESPN, NBC and Turner Networks (TNT, TBS, ETC.), and other unnamed networks. NBC is particularly interesting as they're owned by Universal, which broadcasts WWE programming. NBC Sports and NBC also are home to World Series of Fighting.
Another major reason that those within the UFC believe there's likely to be a huge bidding war for the promotion’s television rights is due to the fact that other major sports leagues with Major League Baseball, National Football League, National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League will not be looking for new contracts for at least another five years.
The UFC, in 2015, earned a grand total of $462 Million in revenue, with more than a quarter of that number coming from the domestic TV deal signed with Fox. By 2018, when the contract with Fox expires, the UFC is expected to haul in $168 Million from the Fox deal alone.
Fox or the UFC as yet to announce any kind of negotiations to the public as of yet, but there is around two years’ time before the current contract comes to a close.
