The massive streaming corporations are in the course of a knock down drag out warfare to find out who will find yourself on prime, and UFC followers may benefit tremendously from the battle.
Sports activities is already being touted as the reply to the retention drawback many streaming companies have, and lots of leagues are making massive cash as rights offers are being renewed at report ranges. The UFC’s cope with ESPN expires in 2025, and who is aware of the place the fight sports activities promotion might find yourself after that.
We might see greater strikes than only a swap within the streaming service that sells us pay-per-view occasions. Mark Shapiro, the president of UFC’s mother or father firm TKO, spoke on the JP Morgan Know-how, Media and Communications Convention, and he shared a imaginative and prescient the place a streaming service (like ESPN’s new ‘flagship’ platform) affords UFC PPVs to you for no additional cost for those who signal as much as their service.
“If I, for instance, was launching direct-to-consumer flagship ESPN, I would take into consideration simply shopping for out the pay-per-view and placing it proper on that flagship channel,” Shapiro stated (by way of MMA Combating). “Like you’ll be able to solely get it, identical to ESPN+, in case you have flagship.
“For those who’re attempting to launch ESPN flagship and no matter they could name it — that’s the working title — and also you’re attempting to cost $29, $39.99, no matter it is likely to be, what higher than to have a month-to-month ‘pay-per-view’ that sits unique to that platform?” he instructed. “Now we haven’t had these conversations with ESPN. However that’s simply an instance of the sort of flexibility that we’re going to deliver to the conversations.”
ESPN beforehand purchased the rights to solely promote UFC PPVs by way of ESPN+ in the US, in order that they’re clearly open to those sorts of distinctive concepts being pushed by TKO execs. And so they want the brand new ESPN ‘flagship’ streaming service to reach with a bang so it isn’t dubbed a lemon out of the gate.
What higher means to try this than with ‘free’ pay-per-views?
