The UFC is moving to ESPN this January, which will give the MMA promotion $300 million annually for the five year deal.
UFC President Dana White is now claiming that after signing the deal with ESPN, it has made the UFC worth $7 billion.
“When you think about it we haven’t even scratched the surface yet of how big this thing can be,” White said in an interview with Tony Robbins. “We just did a TV deal with ESPN for $1.5 billion for five years. Now the company is worth $7 billion.”
It is unknown at this time just how accurate White’s assessment is because the UFC is a privately owned company, which means they do not have to release their financial records to the general public.
White also claims that the ESPN deal is going to be massive, both for the promotion and for the fighters.
“Obviously this ESPN deal is going to be massive for us, expose us to millions of people just here in the U.S. that haven’t been exposed to the UFC,” White said. “We’re going to continue to go into markets we haven’t been, we’re going to continue to find the best talent in the world. I love to find up-and-coming talent. I love to find the next guy or girl. Continue to build the sport. That’s it. That’s my focus. It’s not rocket science, it’s nothing crazy. Just continue to do what we do and get bigger and bigger.”
No debut date has been given yet for the first UFC event on ESPN, but it is expected to happen sometime in January.
