Netflix had the first rights to negotiate for UFC.
Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics obtained an unredacted document from his coverage of the WWE shareholders’ lawsuit.
In the unredacted portion, it is noted that WWE’s media rights deal with Netflix gave Netflix the first rights to negotiate for UFC’s domestic rights.
“Unredacted: WWE’s media rights deal with Netflix gave Netflix first rights to negotiate for UFC domestic media rights.
Those rights ultimately went to Paramount, not Netflix.”
Thurston added:
“WWE’s attorneys raised this in the merger lawsuit as part of litigation about whether post-merger media rights evidence should be included at (the ultimately cancelled) trial. WWE argued merging with UFC benefited media rights deals, contrary to plaintiffs’ expert’s assertion.”
WWE’s attorneys raised this in the merger lawsuit as part of litigation about whether post-merger media rights evidence should be included at (the ultimately cancelled) trial. WWE argued merging with UFC benefited media rights deals, contrary to plaintiffs’ expert’s assertion.
— Brandon Thurston (@BrandonThurston) October 27, 2026
The WWE portion of the merger lawsuit settlement was revealed, and that can be read about here.
