UFC Closes In on TV Deal, Reportedly Seeking at Least $1 Billion per Year
Posted on: May 15, 2025, 03:44h.
Last updated on: May 15, 2025, 03:44h.
Merab Dvalishvili steps into the Octagon against Sean O’Malley in a bantamweight title bout June 7 at UFC 316 at Prudential Center, in Newark, with stories today that the UFC is reportedly seeking at least $1 billion a year in a new broadcast right deal.
Topuria Versus Oliveira Generating Betting Buzz
One thing the UFC has is personality and star power – premium content that broadcasters are looking to embrace and squeeze revenue out of.
The promotion’s current deal with ESPN expires at the end of 2025, with TKO Group Holdings President and COO Mark Shapiro telling a J.P. Morgan Global, Technology, Media and Communications conference Tuesday that money isn’t the only focus – what’s best for the brand is another deciding factor in the company UFC goes with, according to an MMA Fighting story.
Shapiro said they are in talks with numerous networks and streaming outlets all interested in obtaining broadcast rights. UFC stars regularly appear on ESPN programming. Therein lies marketing opportunities that go beyond just what goes on in the Octagon.
DraftKings odds on Saturday’s title bouts: Dvalishvili is at -380, O’Malley is at +300. UFC 316 also features titleholder Julianna Pena versus Kayla Harrison in a women’s bantamweight title bout that night, with Harrison the big betting favorite at -575 (Pena is at +425).
Topuria Wanted a Makhachev Fight
Lots of buzz, though, about Ilia Topuria versus Charles Oliveira now set for UFC 317 June 28 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, for the lightweight championship, as we wrote about yesterday.
UFC CEO Dana White also announced a date and location for Dricus du Plessis versus Khamzat Chimaev for the middleweight title at UFC 319 at the United Center in Chicago on Aug. 16.
Topuria wanted to fight Islam Makhachev, the pound-for-pound men’s top ranked UFC fighter, who vacated his lightweight title to move up to welterweight in a pursuit of a second belt against Jack Della Maddalena.
Topuria tore into Makhachev today: “It was the fight everyone wanted to see. I was willing to do it. He is the biggest hypocrite I have ever seen.”
Impact on Betting Odds
Again, controversy, pizzazz, buzz and jam is what comes with UFC, and that’s what’s going to be factored into a new broadcast deal. Topuria is the betting favourite at DraftKing at -345, with Oliveira at +275. Chimaev is currently at -198 at DraftKings, with Du Plessis at +164.
From a betting perspective, talking about UFC 315 this past weekend in Montreal, UK-based BetVictor trader Mark Collier talked about the impact of star power on UFC betting odds at their end.
In Montreal, Della Maddalena beat Belal Muhammad by unanimous decision to take the welterweight belt, now to be defended in a fight with Makhachev, the date of which hasn’t been set yet.
Betting business was the norm for a PPV without a fighter who I would class as an elite level of popularity,” Collier told Casino.org. “The current and active elite fighters are Alex Perreira and Paddy Pimblett, who both hold numbers around about 30% higher than typical PPVs or Saturday’s UFC 315. Quickly looking at UFC 314, our figures were 27% higher than this past Saturday and this was with ‘Paddy the Baddy’ as the co-main. Could you imagine if the Scouser got his lightweight title fight in Liverpool and had solid bouts accompanying this – numbers would potentially compete with non-active events such as Jon Jones or Conor McGregor.”
Pimblett Next?
From a betting number perspective, Topuria brings in numbers higher than most recent champions, Collier added. Collier said he assumes the winner at UFC 317 will face Pimblett later in 2025, and there’s no love lost between Topuria and Pimblett after various social media exchanges.
[Topuria’s] last outing at UFC 308 where he comfortably dispatched Max Holloway (whom I would class as someone who would win a lot of fan favourite polls), operated around 12-13% higher than most of the recent PPVs. With the consideration of this turnover maybe due to Holloway being the opponent, we go further back to his bout against Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298, which had more reasonable turnover, making us think that his popularity doesn’t hold much weight.
“With this in mind, his performance or impact to our numbers is more down to opponent and the potential trash talk pre-event. I have no doubt his bout with Charles at UFC 317 will correlate with numbers generated against Max Holloway with future possibilities of fighting Paddy Pimblett taking numbers to another stratosphere.”
Broadcasting Deal Expires End of 2025
The glam and glitz around these fighters boosts betting interest, Collier said, more so than a fighter like Makhachev, whose high fight IQ style of performance is something some fans find boring.
“To counterbalance this, a different type of fan finds comfort in this approach so bet in the knowledge that Makhachev is more likely to successfully carry out his fight style,” he said. “Khabib [Nurmagomedov] and Islam by decision or late submission were and are respectively always dangerous variables for any bookie to take on with this unlikely to change in the future of Islam Makhachev.”
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