UFC CEO Dana White has set an ambitious target for the promotion’s next round of media rights negotiations. After securing a landmark seven-year, $7.7 billion deal with Paramount and CBS in 2025, White now says he wants the next contract to reach $10 billion. The current agreement, which began in January 2026, pays the UFC an average of $1.1 billion annually.
White revealed his ambition in an interview with Steven Bartlett on The Diary of a CEO, where he also discussed his fractured relationship with his mother.
He pointed to the reported $12.5 billion sale of the Los Angeles Lakers as his benchmark for the promotion’s value.
“The UFC was purchased for $2 million, and if the Lakers sold for $12.5 billion, then the UFC is worth 50 billion,” White said.
That $50 billion figure represents a staggering increase from the $2 million White and the Fertitta brothers paid to acquire the UFC in 2001.
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White has consistently argued that the UFC now belongs in the same tier as America’s major sports leagues.
“We are literally competing with the NFL, the NBA, Major League Baseball and the NHL right now,” he stated.
The valuation claim comes as the UFC currently operates under a dramatically restructured media model. The Paramount deal eliminated the traditional pay-per-view barrier in the United States, making all events available through a single Paramount+ subscription.
This shift was designed to broaden the UFC’s audience reach and increase its value to the streaming partner.
The Paramount Deal
The seven-year deal with Paramount, announced in August 2025, marked a pivotal moment for the UFC’s media strategy. Paramount+ became the exclusive U.S. home for all UFC events, carrying 13 numbered events and 30 Fight Nights annually. CBS also simulcasts select numbered events.
The financial terms represented a massive leap from the UFC’s previous arrangement with ESPN. Under the old ESPN deal, the UFC earned roughly $300 million per year, with marquee events locked behind an additional pay-per-view fee.
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The Paramount agreement more than tripled that annual revenue to $1.1 billion, while removing the pay-per-view double-paywall that had frustrated many fans.
White has emphasized that the deal was not just about the money. He has claimed that the $7.7 billion figure caught the attention of NFL executives, who were reportedly stunned that such a sum was available at Paramount.
“The day we announced the $7.7 billion deal, executives at the NFL said, ‘How the f— did we not get this money, and how the f— did we not know that kind of money was sitting there?'” White said.
The Five-Year Plan to $10 Billion
White’s $10 billion target is not an immediate demand but a long-term objective tied to the remaining years of the Paramount agreement. He framed the current deal as a foundation to build upon, adding that his priority for the next five years will be dedicated to proving that the UFC is indispensable to Paramount’s streaming strategy.
“I want $10 billion after we get out of this deal,” White said. “The way that you do that is by adding value to their company.”
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The UFC’s path to that figure runs through subscriber growth and engagement metrics that Paramount tracks closely.
Early signs have been promising, with a Business Insider report indicating Paramount+ added approximately one million subscribers on the day of its first UFC card in January 2026.
Any future rights negotiations remain several years away, however, as the Paramount agreement runs through 2032. Whether the UFC can command $10 billion will depend on its ability to sustain audience growth, expand its international footprint, and continue positioning itself alongside the traditional American sports giants White now calls his peers.
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