Dana White seems to have pretty big aspirations for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. With a massive pool of money going into hosting spectacular events at venues like the Sphere, White is not someone who backs away from an extravagant approach. And that’s exactly what he aims for as the UFC’s deal with ESPN nears its end. Needless to say, the UFC head honcho wants to go big.

A couple of months ago, White announced that he wanted the MMA promotion to appear on multiple platforms. It was indeed an urge to surpass the big sports promotions like the National Football League. And now, it seems like things are falling into place as per White’s plans. 

The famed sports reporter, Damon Martin, took to X and revealed that additional broadcasting organizations can come and make a bidding after the window for UFC’s negotiation with ESPN gets closed. 

The tweet read, “The UFC’s exclusive negotiating window with ESPN on a new TV deal runs from January 15 to April 15. After April 15, additional bidders could get involved on the UFC broadcast rights if a new deal isn’t reached by then. Per TKO president Mark Shapiro.” Needless to say, this is exactly what the UFC boss wants.  

NFL’s TV broadcasting deal is currently worth around $111 billion. While the one that UFC has with ESPN is just $1.5 billion. But that didn’t stop White from saying, “I mean, we could end up being like the NFL and other sports where we could be on multiple platforms or just one. I don’t know how that gonna play out.”

https://twitter.com/DamonMartin/status/1833928925069853070

The question that has the entire fighting community wondering is the indeed the timeline. After all, even the TKO Group Holding’s president also wants more than one platform to stream live UFC events.

Dana White and Mark Shapiro’s take on having multiple broadcasting partners

In a previous financial call, Shapiro revealed that the UFC would enter negotiations with the Walt Disney Company in the middle of January 2025. No doubt, they are pretty impressive broadcasting partners. But when it came to signing deals with multiple broadcasters, the TKO President didn’t back down.

Shapiro continued, “As far as multiple partners, one partner, we’ll see what happens when we get there… We’re not looking to get away from them. We’re not looking to reduce our commitments, but at the same time, we have a window, we’ll listen, we’ll talk, and we’ll do what’s in the best interests of the UFC going forward.” 

But the story will begin with UFC 306. Talking to ‘Bloomberg’, Dana White revealed that the team was already in talks with the media houses, and some of them will even grace the Sphere with their presence at the event. This will, without a doubt, give them the reason why they should partner with the MMA promotion.

What are your thoughts on the UFC CEO’s wish to chase after TV deals that mimic the NFL and NBA? Do you think White can achieve this goal during the negotiations? And how will it impact the future of UFC? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.