The UFC PPV prices have seen their fair share of changes over time. Once, when the UFC wasn’t as established as it is today, when crowds weren’t as large and the UFC was still in its proving grounds, the PPV price was $39.35 in 2006. Since then, the promotion’s PPV prices have seen a massive rise as the promotion has grown with its ever-increasing fan base and star-power potential.
In the present day, however, UFC PPV prices have skyrocketed into a different dimension. Currently, fans have to pay a humongous $79.99 to buy the PPV and watch their favorite fighters compete in the Octagon. Addressing the PPV Model’s future, UFC CEO Dana White gave fans a hint on what’s to come next. With his eyes set on a billion-dollar deal for his organization’s broadcasting rights, it seems ESPN’s run with the UFC may finally see an end on April 15th, as Dana White will look for a possible Netflix deal, with TNT also interested in the negotiations.
Dana White is asked if he is open to the idea of doing away with PPV in the next broadcasting rights deal. pic.twitter.com/HFz7gUZ4a8
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) April 13, 2025
When asked whether he wants to continue the ESPN PPV module post the end of the TV deal, White said: “Yeah, it’s like what I said to him, usually we do what works for the network, what they wanna do, want to put on their. Did they want to do PPV? I don’t know! Do they wanna put it behind a paywall? I don’t know. Tuesday, the window opens, and we start talking to other networks, um, and we’ll get more on that.”
The year 2025 will be the last year for the partnership between the UFC and ESPN and the deal was signed in 2020 for a whopping $1.5 billion. So what’s the status currently for the sports network and the premier MMA promotion of the world? Will Dana White renew the broadcast deal with ESPN or is he looking at other avenues? Let’s take a closer look.
Dana White fed up with ESPN, searches for new avenues for UFC
While Netflix is busy taking over the combat sports world, with mega organizations like WWE on its broadcast service app, the UFC is quite done with the ESPN broadcast service due to its streaming issues like video lag, connection drops, and poor video quality. Fans across the world shared their streaming issue complaints during UFC 313, Alex Pereira VS Magomed Ankalaev—a very bad day for an organization indeed, considering it was hyped as one of the biggest events of the year. After surviving all of this and with negotiations right around the corner it seems that the UFC won’t stick with ESPN any longer.
TKO, the parent company of the UFC wants to bring along the combat sports giant to Netflix alongside WWE as both the companies are at the same phase of their expansions. With high tier development projects for the UFC Apex and announcement of a plethora of international events, its simply logical for the UFC to go to Netflix as has WWE, and is currently within an international expansion project of its product itself.
With the negotiation phase just around the corner, and the world’s biggest platforms one step away, Dana White will do his best to look away from the struggles and issues ESPN has brought to the UFC and the fans. He remains to be the man who makes sure there are no hiccups for the viewing experience for fans from his end, and with UFC’s ever-expanding presence in the physical world, the only place it needs to take over is the streaming world. Will the UFC successfully secure this mega deal with Netflix? What do you think? Let us know in the comments down below.
The post As Fans Pay $79.99, Dana White Gives 1 Clear Message on PPV Model’s Future After ESPN TV Deal appeared first on EssentiallySports.