How is the UFC making money?

[GoatArtemLobov]

It's a serious question.
Everybody and their mother has pirate links to not pay for ESPN, let alone buying PPVs, they have no money from fight attendance either, where does all the money they need to put up events on an almost weekly basis come from?

 

[daPROFESSOR]

Don’t worry about that. Just enjoy the streams big guy

 

[kimocomplex]

Loans, how do they work?

 

[IDGETKTFO]

sponsors

 

[Xoleth]

ufc is dying bro

 

[killer spider]

espn money man
they got a good deal like 1 billion for the next five years or something

 

[Garnet_StrongerThanYou]

I don’t watch a grainy stream on the internet.
I have guests over to watch the fight so I order the PPV directly.

I’m an adult

 

[Hellowhosthat]

They get shitloads of money from ESPN, people buy the pay per views, they sell merchandise, they have loads of sponsorships, they have a lot of people subscribing to Fight Pass etc etc.

 

[Rvd Slmr]

They made a fortune on Giblert fight kits and UFC hot-dog branders.

 

[pride_rules]

They get shitloads of money from ESPN, people buy the pay per views, they sell merchandise, they have loads of sponsorships, they have a lot of people subscribing to Fight Pass etc etc.

other than at an even, where they bought merch in a line from a stand.

i cant think of a time i ever seen any ufc merch being worn around.
not since tapout/affliction

but i agree. they get a lot of money from multiple sources. although it would seem fightpass is undergoing a pretty heavy change.
not a popular opinion, but losing invicta is not great for FP

 

[beastman]

TV revenue is huge. UFC events aren't just broadcast in the United States, they have TV deals around the globe. There are pirate streams, but Conor/Poirer still did 1.65 million buys in the US.

Advertisers love it because people are typically watching the fights live and aren't going to be skipping commercials. Ads on the canvas aren't free. Whether you pirate or not, you can't avoid the ads.

Then they replay events and chop them up for other shows. Hell, the embedded episodes on youtube have ads and those videos have over a million in a day. Fightpass still going. Plenty of merchandise still getting sold. Even back when fans were allowed in, the gate is a small fraction of the revenue.

 

[GoatArtemLobov]

They get shitloads of money from ESPN, people buy the pay per views, they sell merchandise, they have loads of sponsorships, they have a lot of people subscribing to Fight Pass etc etc.

I don't know any of my buddies who has UFC merchandise though.
And half of my buddies are hardcore combat sports fans...
Agree with the other things though

 

[Wand claude van-damme]

they're probably hurting at the moment.. Hence releasing higher paid guys like Reem, JDS, Yoel
Surviving off ESPN money right now

 

[EnthusiastCultivator]

PPV buys, Sponsorpships deals, Octagon advertising, TV deals all around the world, Fight Pass. Also UFC Gyms (although it’s a franchise)

 

[acannxr]

It's a serious question.
Everybody and their mother has pirate links to not pay for ESPN, let alone buying PPVs, they have no money from fight attendance either, where does all the money they need to put up events on an almost weekly basis come from?

ESPN essentially paid for all of the UFC's PPV upfront with the deal they signed, and the UFC still makes money from international TV deals and advertisers.

 

[GrantB13]

Not as many people stream as what people here try to say. Obviously. If nobody was paying for it then they wouldn't stay in business and there would be big moves to crack down on streaming.

 

[gaffbyknees2]

Loans, how do they work?

Fuckin Magnets how do they work??

Hi Fred

 

[jm5000]

They are still getting ppv buys and I’d imagine most people dont have a problem spending $5/month for ESPN plus TS when they watch a lot of mma.

 

[sdpdude9]

TV deals. Advertising money. And yes Ppv buys. Obviously people still buy them or they wouldn’t do that anymore.

 

[You Will Vote For Dreyga]

It's a serious question.
Everybody and their mother has pirate links to not pay for ESPN, let alone buying PPVs, they have no money from fight attendance either, where does all the money they need to put up events on an almost weekly basis come from?

I know this may blow your mind but most people do indeed BUY PPVs. In addition a lot of their money by selling media rights to broadcasting partners.

Below is a breakdown of UFC’s revenue sources in 2015. This from the leaked court documents from their lawsuit so we know that these are mostly accurate.



As you can see the money they make off of PPV is actually more than their broadcasting rights revenue. Though I should note that these numbers are before the ESPN deal so revenue sources may now have shifted to more heavily toward broadcasting rights.