In a development that now opens a new chapter in the history of Ultimate Fighting Championship, the company was today sold to a consortium led by WWE-IMG for a mammoth $4 billion that makes the deal one of the biggest in the history of sports franchises. Other than WWE-IMG, the deal has also been backed by private equity players like KKR, Silver Lake and Michael Dell's investment firm. As a report on Bloomberg stated, the company had humbler begginings. "UFC is owned by brothers Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta, who bought the company for $2 million in 2001. Buoyed by fighters such as Ronda Rousey and Conor McGregor, UFC has grown into a billion-dollar business that stages sold-out events in arenas around the world, and reaches a pay-per-view audience that now rivals that of boxing's most recent biggest fights."
Ari Emanuel, the CO-CEO of WME stated, "UFC has experienced tremendous growth over the last decade and we are looking forward to helping the organization and its athletes identify new opportunities to develop and further establish their global footprint," On the other hand the New York Times stated how the new owners might benefit from the deal, "For its new owners, the league represents a prime source of content, particularly in the digital arena. Beyond its headline fights, which the company asserts are the best-selling events on pay-per-view TV, U.F.C. over all generates roughly 2,000 hours' worth of material each year, much of it available on its Fight Pass streaming service.The transaction comes just as U.F.C. concluded its latest series of fights, perhaps the biggest in the organization's history."
The New York Times went on to add that there was interest from other heavy hitters for UFC as well, "Such is the popularity of the company that it drew interest from a number of suitors, including big Chinese media players that reportedly included the Dalian Wanda Group, which owns the AMC theater chain, and China Media Capital, which owns stakes in pro sports teams like the Manchester City soccer club. But it was WME-IMG, which already represents stars like Ms. Rousey in media rights and has represented U.F.C. itself, that emerged victorious. For the Hollywood colossus, which is led by Ari Emanuel and Patrick Whitesell, acquiring U.F.C. is the latest step in creating a huge stable meant to command digital media."
