At the end of 2018, a 7 -year television copyright contract between UFC and Fox Sports officially ended. The two parties could not find a common voice to renew the contract. Fox only spent 115 million USD/year the royalties for UFC for 7 years, and they resolutely refused when UFC said the unit wanted to increase the price by four times.
“I will tell you a crazy story about UFC's billion -dollar contract with ESPN,” Dana White said. He added: “When the contract with Fox ended, we were determined not to cooperate with them anymore, because this broadcaster was in the process of restructuring and selling their cable network.”
“But not working with Fox anymore makes us in a difficult position. We want to sign a contract with ESPN, the strongest broadcaster, but the obstacle is their president, John Skipper. Everyone loves him, but it is a leader who only likes football, and hates UFC too,” White said in a funny voice.
In the midst of the prospect of signing a television copyright between UFC and ESPN, White received an unexpected information. John Skipper is involved in drug -related scandals. Rumor shows that ESPN president is a heavy addict. Shortly thereafter, John Skipper officially confirmed and resigned as President of ESPN.
The replacement of John Skippers, President of ESPN, is Jimmy Pitaro, who has worked for many years at Yahoo! Sports. Unlike Skipper, Pitaro has been acquainted with Dana White for many years. He also loves UFC and martial arts events. From Pitaro, ESPN and UFC soon reached an agreement on television rights.
On January 1, 2019, the two parties officially signed a 5 -year contract. ESPN “only” accepts 300 million USD/year for UFC, the number is much lower than the expected White level. But $ 1.5 billion is also a record amount that a radio pays martial arts television royalties, turning UFC into the most prestigious MMA in the world.
On the side of John Skipper, after leaving ESPN and detoxing successfully, he took over the position of Dazn chairman. UFC's success made him seriously recognize the value of professional martial arts awards. By this time, Dazn is one of the most expensive units to buy the copyright of big professional boxing events.
Going behind ESPN and Dazn, but Amazon Prime also has a jewel with great development potential: ONE Championship. Success from the One Fight Night events on Amazon Prime has made One decide to expand the scale when entering 2023. It is expected to have nearly 70 big events of One held next year.