UFC, DirecTV Fail to Reach New Distribution Deal for Pay-Per-View
UFC 234 will not be available on DirecTV pay-per-view after the two companies failed to come to an agreement on a new broadcast deal.
On Thursday, UFC officials announced that the upcoming card from Melbourne, Australia will not be available on DirecTV after they reached an impasse with the AT&T owned company in recent negotiations.
DirecTV is one of the biggest pay-per-view providers in the country but as of now they will no longer carry UFC cards until a new deal is struck.
“UFC’s live events are some of the most-watched pay-per-views in the country and remain must-see viewing for all MMA fans. Unfortunately, we have been unable to reach an agreement with one of our primary distributors, DirecTV,” UFC officials said in a statement released this week.
“Though we continue to work to reach a resolution, UFC 234, LIVE from Melbourne on Saturday, February 9, will not be available on DirecTV. To ensure that fans don’t miss a minute of action, DirecTV subscribers should consider other viewing options, including UFC.TV, ESPN.com, Amazon Prime, Sony PlayStation, Xbox, local cable providers, and Dish Network.”
https://twitter.com/ufc/status/1093556668275732480
The typical split between organizations like the UFC and the pay-per-view providers is 50-50 — so if a card generates $100 million on pay-per-view, the UFC would get $50 million and the pay-per-view provider would take the other $50 million.
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Last November, UFC president Dana White revealed that he had negotiated a new fee with pay-per-view providers that was ‘closer to 30-percent’, which would have increased the company’s profits by a huge margin.
It’s unclear if those demands are what ultimately caused the split between the UFC and DirecTV but it certainly seems possible.
For now, DirecTV will not offer any UFC pay-per-view until a new broadcast distribution deal is reached.
