TKO COO Mark Shapiro describes the bottleneck that the Netflix negotiations of UFC has killed – Mmasucka

The UFC has concluded a huge new broadcaster with Paramount, where a 7 -year contract has been signed An incredible $ 7.7 billionIt starts in 2026. This step comes apart after the partnership of the ESPN promotion has fallen apart in recent years, mainly because of low pay-per-view figures and important streaming disruptions during events such as UFC 304 and UFC 313. Earlier this month, reports confirmed that ESPN was never seriously considering an extension of the MMA.

For a long time many believed that Netflix would get the rights. After all, the streaming giant already closed a 10-year-old deal to broadcast WWE’s Monday Night Raw, a flagship show for the Sister Company of UFC under the TKO banner. Netflix entered into negotiations with the UFC, but the conversations eventually collapsed in the final phase over a single bottleneck.

TKO head unveils Netflix only desired UFC’s numbered pay-per-view cards

In one Recent appearance on the Varsity PodcastTKO President and COO Mark Shapiro confirmed that conversations with Netflix were serious, but eventually fell apart because the streamer was not interested in wearing all the UFC events.

“Although we had many different interested parties, not everyone wrote a big check,” Shapiro unveiled.

He added, “So we knew it would take a lot of time to finally get the figures above it. I would tell you at the moment, there was a moment of disappointment, and that was when we got close with Netflix.”

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The most important bottleneck was that Netflix only wanted the numbered Pay-per-View events from UFC, which have much deeper cards compared to the typical Fight Night shows at the UFC Apex.

Netflix was not interested in the Fight Night schedule and would have completely abolished the traditional pay-per-view model, instead placing the largest maps of UFC behind the standard subscription spaywall. TKO, however, wanted to bundle fight evenings with the numbered events.

As Shapiro explained, “They were a bit with the fact that they did not want the volume that we understood from the start.”

The TKO COO added further, “Were [Netflix] Looking for major events, so the fact that you could give us one pay-per-view, which they would simply put on the platform for free as long as you are a subscriber, as long as you just give us, we are in it and we pay premium for it, but we don’t want to wear the other 30 fighting evenings. “

Netflix’s attitude was not surprising. The company usually tends to broadcast large, one -off glasses such as Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson or his NFL deal, who currently only treats two Christmas day matches.

CEO Ted Sarandos has also made it clear to investors that Netflix was only aimed last year on selection events such as Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson.

Although the global reach of Netflix of more than 300 million subscribers made it a strong candidate, it was not something that TKO wanted to split. “In the course of the conversations, they really didn’t get out of it,” Said Shapiro. “That is what the door opened for Paramount/CBS.”

For the unexpected, Dana White has already plagued a packaged calendar for 2026: 44 UFC events, plus 14 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu cards, 16–18 boxing shows under Zuffa Boxing, and possibly the number of events of the Contender series. In the end, the Paramount Deal is also a victory for fans.

Fighting nerds in the United States no longer have to increase $ 80 per event or tackle ESPN’s frequent streaming problems. Instead, they get access via Paramount+ for just $ 13 a month, a price that could not only attract new subscribers, but also fans who had turned to piracy because of the old pay-per-view costs.