The new contract will last for seven years and earn the promotion a reported $7.7 billion, which is nearly double the yearly amount UFC is earning from ESPN currently. Additionally, the contract marks a move away from the pay-per-view (PPV) model, and it should save the average UFC fan a pretty penny. General fan reaction has been hugely positive to the news, both because of the money-saving potential and general ESPN-related frustrations.
Fortunately, UFC CEO Dana White addressed some of those concerns in Tuesday’s Contender Series press conference. When asked about how fighters with PPV points in their contracts will be handled, White didn’t have any definitive answers. However, he did state that the deal was “so good” for fighters and that those few athletes with PPV points would have their contracts worked out.
“It’s not massive restructuring,” White said of the adjustments to be made in UFC fighter contracts. “We’ve got a bunch of smart kids over there that work in the accounting department to figure out how to make this stuff work. But it’s so good for the fighters, and what I love about being with one company that made such a big investment with us is they’re all in with us. The fighters are going to get tons of promotion built by all these different unbelievable networks that these guys own. These are aggressive, smart guys that are going to build a big media company.”
When asked to elaborate further on fighter pay changes, White was willing to confirm at least one significant change: bonuses are going up! Outside of random one-off events, UFC performance bonuses have remained stagnant at $50k since 2012, but White says that will change next year.
“We’ve still got to get together and figure this stuff out,” White continued. “It’s August, we have until January to figure all that stuff. But the low-hanging fruit that’s easy to answer? Bonuses are obviously going up, so that’ll be big. Forget about the tide rising with all the other fighters, just the number that the bonuses bring to a fighter is millions of dollars.”
