Set for a NASCAR Deal, Dana White Admits Rejecting NBA Franchise Offer – “Toys for Multi-Billionaires”

Dana White is perhaps more responsible than anyone else for making UFC (and consequently MMA) one of the top four sports in America. When the UFC CEO, with the Fertitta brothers, bought the promotion in 2001 as Zuffa LLC, mixed martial arts was seen as a savage bloodsport. It was banned in many jurisdictions, most notably, New York.

Since the UFC CEO took over, the promotion has become a popular, mainstream sport with a global reach. It has partnerships with the biggest brands in the world and has a dedicated (MMA) website and division in ESPN, the world’s biggest sports broadcaster.

This is, in no small part, due to the Las Vegas resident’s excellent business sense. That’s also apparent in his other business ventures, especially Power Slap, which has exploded in popularity But, White is not interested in the major sports leagues for one simple reason that he revealed in a recent podcast appearance.

Dana White on why he doesn’t entertain offers from major sports leagues

Speaking to the comedians Andrew Schulz and Aakash Singh on their ‘Flagrant’ Podcast, Dana White talked about his plans to get involved in other sports. The UFC boss revealed that he would fly out to meet NASCAR officials, to talk about a new Electric car series for America’s biggest motorsports organization. “After Fourth of July, I’m flying a NASCAR and we’re doing a deal with NASCAR, we’ll be the electric series for NASCAR,” White told Schulz.

The UFC boss further said he likes “taking Niche Sports that people don’t think work and making them work,” as he did with the UFC and is doing with Power Slap. He claimed that he had had offers for ownership stakes in teams from major sports leagues like the NBA, but he repeatedly turned them down as they are generally not very profitable ventures.

“You know how many times I’ve been offered deals, like ‘Hey we got an NBA team coming to Vegas we’d like to talk to you’… So those kind of businesses are… like toys for multi-billionaires, right? Multi-billionaires buy these things and they lose money on them for the equity over decades and then when they die, the family sells the team,” White made an interesting revelation.

The UFC CEO, however, has quite an extensive sports business portfolio apart from two of his most well-known combat sports promotions.

UFC CEO talks about other businesses he has stakes in

Talking to Schulz, Dana White said that apart from the Power Slap and the UFC, he is already involved in many other sports businesses. The 54-year-old revealed that he owns “a company called Throw One” with the Fertitta brothers, which produces the show ‘Ridiculousness’ on MTV. Interestingly, that was just the tip of the iceberg.

White also revealed that he owns a skateboarding league called Street League Skateboarding (SLS), along with the action sports company, Nitro Circus, and even has ownership stakes in Nitrocross’s Electric league. This means that the Las Vegas resident already has some prior experience with motorsports, which would undoubtedly be useful for him if the deal with NASCAR goes through.

What are your thoughts on Dana White’s revelations?