With ESPN and the UFC establishing a partnership this year, ESPN is deepening its partnership with UFC, extending its existing $1.5 billion deal two years to 2025 and making ESPN+ the exclusive distributor of UFC pay-per-view events in the U.S.
The new deal is set to kick off on April 13, with UFC 236: Holloway vs. Poirier 2 event, and makes ESPN’s various platforms the exclusive home for UFC for all of its content. Russell Wolff, executive vp and general manager of ESPN+, stated to The Hollywood Reporter,
“MMA and boxing have both been part of our offering since the beginning,”
“And we’ve had pay-per-view events, but the big difference here is these are exclusive pay-per-view events. It adds a significant new business to our platform.”
UFC’s Fight Pass, which is a global product, will continue to make premium content available outside of the U.S. But fans of UFC in America will need to subscribe to ESPN+ for access to the premium fights.
UFC pay-per-view events on ESPN+ will include all bouts on the main events card and will be streamed in English and Spanish. Preliminary bouts will continue to air nationally on ESPN and ESPN Deportes as part of the original agreement. ESPN+ is priced at $4.99 per month, or $49.99 for an annual subscription.
New subscribers can purchase a one-year ESPN+ membership and a single UFC PPV event of $79.99. Existing subscribers can purchase the PPV events for $59.99 per event.
