Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) took a very important step in the sports commercial landscape where on August 11 it was announced that Paramount acquired the broadcast and streaming rights in the United States of all UFC’s annual live events for $7.7 billion over seven years, or $1.1 billion annually for Dana White’s league starting in 2026.
With this historic agreement, all these events will be broadcast exclusively in the United States by Paramount+ streaming, and some “UFC Fight Night” will also be broadcast on the CBS television network. As a result, UFC, which has used the Pay-Per-View (PPV) model for its numbered cards since the company’s inception in 1993, is moving away from this signal contracting system. For some, a model from the last century that should be given “retirement.”
Boxing adapts to streaming and leaves PPV behind
All of these stories have important consequences, but the most pressing in the boxing community is the perception of PPV, the main model of television broadcasting in the sport. The rise of internet streaming services is encroaching on combat sports where boxing is no stranger to this change after remembering that the Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson fight and soon Saul “Canelo” Alvarez vs Terence Crawford has been Netflix who acquired the rights. In the wake of this historic news, the boxing world is discussing with itself whether this means the death of the PPV structure in combat sports.
Several boxing icons certainly believe so. An example is Tyson Fury, who wrote “RIP PPV” in his Instagram story on August 11, along with an image of White’s announcement about the UFC’s new deal with Paramount and CBS. Even Arab sheikh and leading promoter Turki Alalshikh considers the PPV structure dead, as he expressed in an X post: “A great meeting with my brother Shay, CEO of DAZN. We have a great vision for the growth of boxing and have decided: No more PPV.”
The streaming model has taken over sports worldwide
After this announcement, all Riyadh Season and The Ring events will be free for DAZN subscribers. The PPV model has been forgotten by boxing and many have abandoned it, such as the wealthy Arab promoter, who has mentioned that “we are with the boxing fans”.
The co-founders of MVP (Most Valuable Promotions), Jake Paul and Nakisa Badarian, who still use PPV for many of their events, still see value in it, as Bidarian conveyed in an Aug. 11 X post: “The less PPV, the better for consumers and fighters who really make a difference. MVP has hosted the biggest fight without PPV since the advent of cable television, with Paul Tyson. But PPV is not dead at all.”
In addition to the signing of DAZN and Netflix in boxing, Paramount with the UFC, some streaming services have opted to buy the rights to certain sports leagues in the world. TUBI, a Fox Sports subsidiary, has acquired the rights to several soccer competitions such as the Premier League, Champions League, Concacaf Champions League and lately Fox Sports 1 programming from Mexico.
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