Recent reports indicate that the UFC is leaving ESPN and will instead be available on Paramount+ after signing a $7.7 billion deal spanning seven years.
In an interview with CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street,” TKO COO Mark Shapiro discussed various topics, including the outdated nature of UFC’s previous pay-per-view models, which both companies are transitioning away from.
Shapiro said, “It’s antiquated. It’s just an antiquated model. What’s on pay-per-view these days? Once in a while, a big time boxing match that starts in the middle of the night and/or maybe some movies on DIRECTV.”
He continued, “It’s an antiquated model. It’s a wall. It’s a barrier, at the end of the day, for our fans to get our product. This will be well-received by our athletes, by our fans, and that was crucially important to Dana White.”
On events also airing on CBS:
“It was important to us to have CBS play a big component in this. This is Paramount Plus exclusively, but CBS will have simulcast on many of the fights and likely all of the numbered events which are formerly the pay-per-view fights.”
(H/T to F4WOnline.com for transcribing the above quotes)
