Paramount just put the UFC in a completely other league. LITERALLY! In a media rights landscape where billion-dollar contracts are rare but growing, Dana White‘s promotion has secured a package that eclipses even the most iconic sports and entertainment brands. By agreeing to pay $7.7 billion over seven years for the UFC, Paramount has made it clear that mixed martial arts is no longer a niche. Now, it is a global heavyweight in the streaming era.
When compared to Paramount’s other major deals, the numbers look almost absurd. The UEFA Champions League, with all of its prestige and global fanfare, fetched $1.5 billion for six years of US rights. South Park, the pop cultural phenomenon, received the same figure across five years of global streaming.
Both are considered tentpole properties in their own right, but neither comes close to the annual sum that the Dana White-led promotion is about to enjoy. The scale of the UFC deal becomes clearer when broken down. Starting in 2026, Paramount will pay around $1.1 billion per year for exclusive U.S. rights. This includes all UFC content, 13 major events, and around 30 Fight Nights, streamed on Paramount+ and simulcast on CBS.
For example, the Champions League contract averages around $250 million per year, whereas South Park earns $300 million. Put together, that’s still $550 million less per year than Dana White’s business will bring in alone. This isn’t just about money; it’s about a change in how UFC content is delivered.
The Paramount deal marks the end of the pay-per-view era for American fans, folding major events into a subscription model. It’s a daring move that might boost audience growth while also tying subscribers to the Paramount ecosystem. With ESPN’s current UFC deal at around $550 million per year, this new contract more than triples the promotion’s domestic media rights value.
Even UFC middleweight star Paulo Costa couldn’t help but react to the sheer scale of it all, calling the deal “huge” in one of the Instagram posts breaking down the figures. And he’s not wrong. This is more than just a win for Dana White and the UFC; it shows that MMA has reached the same financial level as the world’s most prominent sports leagues. But how does this deal compare globally?
How does Dana White’s new deal compare to other sports broadcasting rights globally?
When compared to the world’s top sports broadcasting contracts, the UFC’s new deal stands on its own. While the NFL continues to dominate with an eye-watering $13 billion annually, the UFC’s $1.1 billion per year now places it within striking distance of leagues such as MLB ($1.8 billion) and ahead of several international competitions in single-country markets.
The English Premier League earns about $2.17 billion per year from global rights, while the NBA’s domestic deals bring in about $2.6 billion. Even one of football’s crown jewels, the UEFA Champions League, has a much lower U.S. rights fee of roughly $250 million per year. This makes the UFC’s domestic streaming package one of the most valued in sports outside of the very top tier.
The UFC now sits in talks previously reserved for global football, basketball, and baseball, proving that combat sports can bring in mainstream sports revenue. It is no less than a message to sponsors, networks, and rival promotions that MMA’s commercial ceiling is far from reached. So, what do you think? Can the UFC find more success without the PPVs bringing in major money? Let us know in the comments.
The post Dana White Earns UFC $6.2B More Than South Park, UEFA Champions League’s Paramount Deals appeared first on EssentiallySports.