How can this Paramount deal screw us over?

[don't ask]

re: PPV-level event, big disagree. Larry Ellison didn't spend ~8billion dollars for bullshit. They will have what ESPN+ had. Leaving the door open for a big PPV event is just that, leaving the door open.

What I'm predicting is that they'll continue to hold PPV-level events, but it won't be available to subscribers until after a month has passed from the date of the event (but there may be an expensive, premium subscription that has them included). You'll have to purchase it as a special in that time. I can't tell if you're agreeing with me or not because this is basically how ESPN+ works now and you're saying they'll have what ESPN+ had.

 

[rjmbrd]

What I'm predicting is that they'll continue to hold PPV-level events, but it won't be available to subscribers until after a month has passed from the date of the event (but there may be an expensive, premium subscription that has them included). You'll have to purchase it as a special in that time. I can't tell if you're agreeing with me or not because this is basically how ESPN+ works now and you're saying they'll have what ESPN+ had.

To clarify - "they'll have what ESPN+ had" ... Paramount is contractually getting 13 numbered events per year and 30 Fight Night events. (read: Dana saying they are still open to PPV will not materially change that Paramount has all the rights, its more a "what if mega event" scenario.

re: "UFC Subscription Tier" certainly is possible, but not in the short term. If you missed it, Paramount explicitly states in their press release UFC is included in current subscription packages. Quote, emphasis mine:

"As part of the agreement, UFC and Paramount will move away from UFC’s existing Pay-Per-View model in favor of making these premium events available at no additional cost to the expansive U.S. subscriber base of Paramount+. This shift in distribution strategy will unlock greater accessibility and discoverability for sports fans and provide an important catalyst for driving engagement and further subscriber growth for Paramount+."

Paramount+ rounded out Q2 2025 with 77.7 million subs, which was a net loss of 1.3 million compared to Q1. They made an enormous bet the UFC will bring in new viewers and keep them there.

IMO if I had to guess, they are focused on growth and later price increases for all customers, not spinning out a special UFC package.

 

[don't ask]

To clarify - "they'll have what ESPN+ had" ... Paramount is contractually getting 13 numbered events per year and 30 Fight Night events. (read: Dana saying they are still open to PPV will not materially change that Paramount has all the rights, its more a "what if mega event" scenario.

re: "UFC Subscription Tier" certainly is possible, but not in the short term. If you missed it, Paramount explicitly states in their press release UFC is included in current subscription packages. Quote, emphasis mine:

"As part of the agreement, UFC and Paramount will move away from UFC’s existing Pay-Per-View model in favor of making these premium events available at no additional cost to the expansive U.S. subscriber base of Paramount+. This shift in distribution strategy will unlock greater accessibility and discoverability for sports fans and provide an important catalyst for driving engagement and further subscriber growth for Paramount+."

Paramount+ rounded out Q2 2025 with 77.7 million subs, which was a net loss of 1.3 million compared to Q1. They made an enormous bet the UFC will bring in new viewers and keep them there.

IMO if I had to guess, they are focused on growth and later price increases for all customers, not spinning out a special UFC package.

You might be right. However, we're living in a world where it's unwise to expect companies to act in the interest of long-term growth when enshittification leads to bigger short-term profits. Let's see what happens.

 

[TommyBikes]

Numbered events will be on CBS. CBS is free over the air broadcast in the US so cable isn't needed.

Networks like Fox, CBS, ABC, and NBC are what most people who don't have cable use to watch sports.

How do you get CBS for free? Strong antenna? Honest question, I live in the sticks.

 

[Bowel-forged Stool]

$99.99 PPV ... $109.99 if the Main Event is WMMA

What kind of disgusting, dispit.. despicable… lack of hespect does that para-what’s -his-name show..

Spoiler

 

[CutStryker]

I’m o no it sure but it will somehow.

 

[Jeffy37]

I’m expecting Paramount to announce that an account can only be used in one household, causing people to stop freeloading off others and get their own subscriptions. I know it’s not the worst thing in the world, since the subscription isn’t ridiculously price, but still a punk move.

Do you see them raising the cost on their subscription price? What else can you see them doing to make the UFC fans fork over a little more cash to make up for this deal?

They will definitely raise subscription price. Or it will be a tier package. I'm not sure if they have other sports but I'm sure it will be a different price

 

[Kenny Powerth]

It definitely seems to good to be true and I am also waiting for a major *with the purchase of* moment of something priced way higher like TS

 

[CatchnShoot]

They’ll want your first born baby or you’ll have to show proof that you’re gay, to watch UFC!!

That you are watching a sport where Chimaev is Champion with that last performance is proof enough that you are teh ghey.

 

[BEATDOWNS]

The streams will be overloaded and crash constantly just like the ESPN + ones. Not that i would know first hand cause I ain't a sucker and didn't pay for that shit. Only that I had to listen to Ya'll complain about it in teh PBP's while my Russian Link was crystal clear and silky smooth.

 

[Deltron 6060]

Paramount is not a public company.

Oh really??

https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/PSKY/

 

[560ti]

How do you get CBS for free? Strong antenna? Honest question, I live in the sticks.

Antennas Direct | TV Transmitter Locator and Mapping Tool

Find your nearest digital TV transmitter with Antennas Direct's mapping tool. It's a quick and easy way to find digital television transmitters (DTVs) nearest to your location.

www.antennasdirect.com

Enter your zip code and it tells you how far the broadcast towers are and how strong of an antenna you need.

Living in the sticks can actually be a good thing because alot of major cities actually have their towers in the outskirts.

 

[Myrddin Wild]

Paramount has been spending a fook load of money lately to boost their subscribers into record highs, & so I'd expect them to just offer teh UFC for their standard perscription price. At least at first.

They bought 5 years of South Park for $1.5 Billion, & so far teh 1st season has been major Democrat / Anti-Trump propaganda in all 4 episodes released so far. Not sure if that's being guided by Paramount or if they just let teh South Park creators run wild. I doubt they'll be able to insert that junk with Dana & Trump being tight from way back, but I hope I'm not wrong about that.

 

[Myrddin Wild]

If showing UFC on network TV results in "football" or "basketball" money for the fighterz, we could see a gravitation toward more high level child athletes aspiring to MMA & thus more stacked cards.

There's only so many super star fighters in the world at any given time. Watering down events happened mainly because of the volume of events per year increased. Unless Paramount adds more events/year, I'd expect things to stay about the same.

More events per year made a huge difference in how stacked each card could be.

• pre-2004 = 3 - 7 /year (1st year was 1 event)
• Pre-2010 = 10 - 20 /year
• post-2014 = 40 - 43 /year (46 in 2014)

For the most part, the UFC has the best fighters, they just have too many events to stack all of those cards.

There's a little something to do with the fighters becoming more well rounded & so it becomes harder to become a super-star & stay on top than it used to be.

That's my 2 cents. I think we'll see more of the post 2014 frequency at around 40 events per year, unless "fook you" money starts making more elite athlete kids become fighters, & then they'll probably raise the frequency.

We got a long way to get to where top child athletes aspire to be fighters instead of football or basketball players, but putting it on network TV & abandoning the PPV model is a great start!

 

[HockeyBjj]

Well I tried to log into paramount + on my iphone app to watch the CBS football game (because kids were watching TV on the 70") and the app wouldn't log me in even after doing a forgot password reset.

Looked on twitter and a bunch of people were bitching at them that they couldn't log in on various devices.

 

[NoStoneUnturned]

FYI: Paramount + via Amazon prime works really good, of course this assumes you have Prime.

 

[FrankNStein]

I think it's a bit ridiculous that people feel entitled the share their passwords and get access from their friends/family members' accounts with streaming services. Could you do that with cable/satellite? Why do people feel they should be able to do this with streaming?

People have been complaining for years that the UFC needs to ditch the PPV model and make their content more accessible. Now, they're doing just that, and still people are complaining, and predicting problems and extra fees, of which there is no indication of at this time (although, I'm sure the cost of Paramount+ will go up a bit, but even if it doubles, it's still a lot less expensive than the current model, and $15 a month should not be a financial burden to anyone.) Just chill the F out and wait and see what happens, instead of this endless whining and complaining about stuff that more or may not even happen.

 

[Streeter]

Never had any issues with P+.

ESPN+ otoh? Just used it this morning to rewatch some of the Paris fight night fights and it was absolute trash. 3 second delay between remote control button click and actual movement. Zero functionality of the fast forward or rewind functions. Does not save settings or offer a “recently watched” feature and forces user to painfully navigate to UFC fights each time you back out. It is unequivocally the worst streaming app I have ever used.

Had Paramount for years as I love the Sheridan shows and it includes showtime shows.


ITS BEEN A GLITCHY MESS since I started. The newer shows are usually fine as long you dont use the FF Rev pause functions it nearly insufferable to ff or Rev.

If you watch older movies most times it freezes every 5 to 10 min making you back out an re enter.

Paramount + is literally worst app i ever used. ESPN + got better last 3 months untill this last event. Parsmount has always been awful.

THE good news ia the number events will be on regular CBS but on a 30 sec delay to edit. So well won't get the cussing in the post fight but picture should be fine depending your provider.

 

[mkess101]

FYI: Paramount + via Amazon prime works really good, of course this assumes you have Prime.

Yep. Just buy it through Prime. Same price but none of the shitty app issues.

 

[FrankNStein]

They already announced that the numbered events will be on CBS

Literally 80% of the professional sports leagues in US put their premier content on network TV. The ad revenue per game/event is often in the 10s of millions of dollars. That's a way better business model then hiding it behind a PPV that relatively speaking few people will actually buy. It also expands your market for long term growth so yes this makes make business sense it's why most sports leagues do this.

No, they didn't. They said "select numbered events will be simulcast on CBS". Meaning, some, but not all the numbered events.

Dana White On New UFC Deal with Paramount+

Paramount To Become Exclusive Home Of The UFC In The United States

www.ufc.com