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Paramount + -- FINE PRINT thread

Volume.

Subscriber fees + advertising revenue

Search shows they make upwards of 7 billion in annual revenue

I heard on a Twitter news clip from the TKO COO that Paramount has 70m subscribers

63% of which pay for ad free 37% do not

Which equates to

$5.3 billion from ad free subs
$1.6billion from "essential" package subs
+ $___ billion in ad revenue

_____________________

Based on my quick math, at $1.1billion/yr cost for UFC and
avg of $100/person/yr

They need roughly 11million new subscribers to make this a profitable deal (based only on subscriber revenue)

At 70m current subs this would be about a 15% increase in subs


UFC has approximately 700mil fans in their social media accounts, (presumably with a good deal of overlap)

For the sake of convenience let's pretend that is 500m fans, then if 2% of them subscribe to Paramount Plus, this deal is profitable
(based on subscriber fees alone, they will also presumably make ad revenue)




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View attachment 1108019








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Makes sense, I didn't know that they have ads.
 
$12.99 per month sounds like a great deal. Fans have been asking for a reasonable monthly subscription for as long as I can remember.

I agree with people here though, things can always change especially if advertisement revenue streams aren't cutting it if viewership is lacking. One day its $12.99 and the next $29.99
 
Let's discuss the details beyond the headlines. I will do my best to update and move correct answers to the OP if you guys can answer questions.

____________________________________________
Is there an upcharge or is it in the base plan? > NO UPCHARGE <

Multiple sources confirm it is included in the base plan and numbered events will be simulcast on CBS


FYI: current cost is

$7.99/mo or $59.99 annual for "essential package with ads"

$12.99/mo or $119.99/yr for ad free

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How will this impact fighter pay?
Is there a compensation for PPV bonus?

Some posters have suggested a "viewership bonus" which sounds plausible, hopefully it is appropriately scaled to function like a PPV bonus and not some bullshit $50k flat fee
__________________________________

How will this deal work for bars?

Chains like Buffalo Wild Wings and Miller's Ale House have previously paid hundreds of dollars or more per PPV event for the ability to show the fights and bring in customers.

Will there be a Paramount preferred vendors or approved public broadcasters type of deal worked out or does this become a free for all where any bar with TVs can now put on the UFC events if they choose to?

_______________________________________
What will happen to TUF and DWTNCS?

Ariel Helwani pointed out that these were not mentioned in any press releases.

__________________
What IS included?

13 numbered events annually for 7 years
30 fight nights annually for 7 years
_________________
What about prelims?

will the entire numbered card air on CBS?
Or just the main card with the prelims on Paramount+?
_________________
_______________
What about APEX?

Was Paramount smart enough to include incentives sufficient to get UFC to value QUALITY and not just pump out quantity like it felt to some of us was their model during the ESPN+ guaranteed pay deal?

__________________________

What is the break even point for Paramount in terms of number of subscribers needed to gain in order to be profitable?

I heard on a press snippet that they currently have roughly 70mil subscribers.

They are going to pay roughly 1.1bil/year, and at 7.99/mo they make approximately 96$ per new subscriber...

So by my math they need around 11-12million additional subscribers (on avg or rounding out aggregate based on annual income) to turn a profit on this deal )

That seems quite doable to me. But feel free to check my math or point out where I am wrong and why I am dumb.

I posted detailed math and sources in another post below.
** post #35 in this thread **

UFC has 700m followers across all platforms, so Paramount needs roughly 2% of them to subscribe in order for this deal to be profitable for them based on rough estimates and my potentially wrong 4th grade math


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If you have questions that I missed, let me know.



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Really seems like great news for fight fans, particularly US fight fans who have been largely picking up the check for much of the rest of the world that gets the events on their normal cable packages....

Here's our Elon musk of MMA explaining it (no shit, he said he was like Elon musk compared to Renato the other day, lol).










Lmao, sorry but I had to do it to ya. Great thread btw, rejoice.
 
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__________________________________
How will this impact fighter pay?
Is there a compensation for PPV bonus?

Some posters have suggested a "viewership bonus" which sounds plausible, hopefully it is appropriately scaled to function like a PPV bonus and not some bullshit $50k flat fee
__________________________________
Yeah, I don't care about this one.
<36>
 
I'm buying and going as free of course, As should everyone.

To be honest, will still catch some figures at the local BW3's, get some of that mango habernaro and Parmesian garlic wings.
 
Is paramount not Hollywood? They got so much money to waste they’ll waste it in mma trying to make a profit.
 
So currently PPV's are $90 a piece but you can get every single fight including every PPV for a year for $119??

Sounds fishy
 
We're going to need to watch it play out, remember when we got all the details from ESPN, then UFC turned the deal the direction they really were taking. I'm just glad for a new company because ESPN seemed like it was just plain ignorant about UFC.

Still seems like they want to sell 4 PPVs a year, I'll believe it when I go for a year with this and see everything UFC has to offer for 13$ a month. Really hope it's not confusing like have to swap between plus and CBS live, just want to pull it up and watch. Also I've done paramount for a year or 2 and the service is so shaky, I'm bracing for interrupted streams.

Even with all the potential pitfalls, I'm cautiously optimistic, not going to be bad if 13$ a month is all UFC costs. Hopefully this grows the sport which is the real thing that will bring money to fighters.
 
So currently PPV's are $90 a piece but you can get every single fight including every PPV for a year for $119??

Sounds fishy
UFC don't care they get 1.1 billion a year essentially. While they could get rid of almost all their debt but they probably won't, but expect big bonuses for the higher ups.
 
So currently PPV's are $90 a piece but you can get every single fight including every PPV for a year for $119??

Sounds fishy

Yes and no.


Yes if you don't do the math and just take it at face value like that


No if you do the math.

Which I did in a post above. I think it was post #35 or so.

Basically if Paramount go grow their subscriber base by 11 million then they are in profit, and anything on top of that and they could be way up. And that is without ad revenue or price increases


Paramount is 70-77 mil subscribers depending on the source

HBO max and Disney + both rock around 125m subs
Prime 200m and Netflix 300m

So Paramount is betting this brings them to 90+m roughly
(11m added subs is their profit point)

That doesnt seem impossible to me from signing on a company with 700m social media followers which does just about weekly events and monthly big tentpole style events




Screenshot_20250811_161428_Chrome.jpg
 
Yes and no.


Yes if you don't do the math and just take it at face value like that


No if you do the math.

Which I did in a post above. I think it was post #35 or so.

Basically if Paramount go grow their subscriber base by 11 million then they are in profit, and anything on top of that and they could be way up. And that is without ad revenue or price increases


Paramount is 70-77 mil subscribers depending on the source

HBO max and Disney + both rock around 125m subs
Prime 200m and Netflix 300m

So Paramount is betting this brings them to 90+m roughly
(11m added subs is their profit point)

That doesnt seem impossible to me from signing on a company with 700m social media followers which does just about weekly events and monthly big tentpole style events




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Well said. Thanks!
 
Will Paramount have the fight catalog as well?

Will this cause any changes to U.S. Fight Pass users? My annual subscription ends in June of 2026.
 
Will Paramount have the fight catalog as well?

Will this cause any changes to U.S. Fight Pass users? My annual subscription ends in June of 2026.

Good question.

I would guess that fight pass will remain in place for the back catalog and all the regional MMA and BJJ and TMA content.

Do they still do "Fightpass Early Prelims" ?
 
Looks like there won’t be a feature fight capping the prelims anymore. No more building stars on the prelims either if it’s going to be blocked by subscription.
How will any of the new fighters ever establish themselves if casuals never get to see them until they possibly get a main card slot?
 
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