When the UFC began negotiating a new broadcast deal, there were some assumptions that Netflix would become Frontrunner after already inked a massive 10-year, $5 billion deal for WWE’s flagship show Monday Night Raw.
Considering that the UFC and WWE operate under the same ownership of TKO Group Holdings, Netflix looked like a perfect landing position, but then Paramount plunged into a $7.7 billion contract. It was a surprise that no one came in Paramount, but TKO’s president and COO Mark Shapiro revealed that his talk with Netflix was very alive, but it turns out that the streamer wasn’t interested in taking all the UFC fights offered at the table.
“We had a lot of different stakeholders, but not everyone was writing big checks,” Shapiro said. Varsity Podcast. “So we knew it would take a lot of time to get the numbers in the end, and there was a moment of disappointment.
“They confronted the fact that they didn’t want to have the volume. We understood from Go-Go. (Netflix Co-CEO) Ted (Sarandos) and (Chief Content Officer) Bella (Bajaria) were very frontlined. And we pay a premium for it, but we don’t want to carry the other 30 fight nights.”
After years of resisting the transition to live sports, Netflix has recently started investing more in these types of events, but not at the season wide level where many trades are hit by different leagues.
Netflix is usually stuck with broadcasting major one-off events like Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson Card, or current contracts with the NFL, which account for two games currently being played on Christmas Day.
Sarandos reiterates when talking to investors that Netflix is only interested in such types of Marque events.
But as much as the UFC was open to the idea of splitting the broadcast fight between multiple suitors, Shapiro admits that it wasn’t an ideal scenario.
“We were all interested, but not everyone was willing to pay the kind of dollar we were looking for. That was twice as much,” Shapiro said. “Of course, you get as much as you can, but you’re balanced. You’re not just getting the biggest checks. Find the right brand and platform to grow your brand and grow your audience.
“We’re happy to get money and as long as those platforms are part of a more premium platform. It wouldn’t have been hopeless. If you don’t have to, you’re not looking to go to five partners.
Netflix makes sense as a business partner with a ridiculous reach given Streamer’s over 300 million global subscribers, and did not split its new broadcast contract to appeal to the UFC.
“In the course of the conversation, they really didn’t fall out of there,” Shapiro said. “That’s what opened the door to Paramount/CBS.”
Although it is clear that Netflix executives only wanted a large UFC marquee card, in contrast to their current deal with WWE, which has a weekly programme held every Monday night.
Shapiro believes that Netflix actually opposed the UFC as he was committed to having Monday Night Raw for 52 weeks a year, but it appears he wasn’t interested in adding another programming on a similar schedule.
“I think it competed with us,” Shapiro said of WWE’s existing deal with Netflix. “I think they felt they had the volume (using WWE) so it’s not necessary here.
“So they keep playing boxing and look at what Canelo Alvarez did last weekend, the 41 million viewers. It’s insane. (Mike) There’s very little in the amount of marketing and promotions that Tyson’s fight had. I know that was different. A lot of meaning.”
With Netflix coming out, Shapiro says Paramount quickly became Frontrunner, which has led to $7.7 billion worth of transactions over the next seven years.
Paramount will take over the entire broadcast agreement with plans to place all UFC events (including pay-per-view-level cards) with no additional costs for its streaming service Paramount+ at no additional costs to subscribers.
“When CBS/Paramount knocks on the door, we say we play with everything,” Shapiro said. “We promote cross-platform. We use CBS. We need volumes.
“We grow up and get behind Paramount+ as a premium platform, with better technology and better ad tech solutions, and actually generate content by what they have and what (David Ellison’s father) has (David Ellison’s father) has. There are opportunities of all sorts of such combinations.
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