Jeff Bezos has sparked speculation about a potential deal with Dana White after being spotted at UFC 306.
The Amazon owner and his fiancée, Lauren Sanchez, had two of the very best seats in the house for the first-ever sports event at the £2billion Las Vegas Sphere.
Bezos and his partner had two of the best seats in the house at UFC 306Getty
White and Co. used the venue’s futuristic LED screen, which wraps around most of the audience, to deliver a truly immersive combat sports event, unlike anything fight fans have ever seen.
Bezos watched on as the bantamweight and women’s flyweight titles changed hands in the two big fights of the night, which also featured the ‘worst cut’ in UFC history and a Fight of the Year contender.
As most people focused on the spectacle and the fights, others wondered what the American business magnate’s presence meant for the future of the UFC.
Since 2018, ESPN has owned the rights to all US UFC content, including pay-per-view, after striking a deal that makes MMA’s premier promotion around $300million per year.
The window for the UFC to ink a new broadcast rights deal officially opens in January 2025.
A bidding war is expected to start soon, and it seems highly likely that Bezos will look to bring the UFC to Amazon Prime after previously making a play for the rights six years ago.
“Interesting — Jeff Bezos front and centre for the card tonight,” MMA reporter Damon Martin tweeted during UFC 306 on Saturday night.
“It’s entirely possible that Amazon becomes one of the biggest bidders for the UFC’s broadcast rights in 2025.
“Remember, UFC nearly signed with Amazon last time around before going with ESPN.”
MMA fans seem to like the idea of the UFC collaborating with Amazon.
Bezos got to see the UFC at its very bestGetty
White is about to start fielding TV rights offersGetty
One person wrote: “If UFC moves to Amazon I might start watching again.”
Another said: “ Hopefully they sign with Amazon and Bezos funds another sphere show.”
A third person added: “Signing with Amazon would be the move if they plan on keeping PPVs.”
Someone else predicted: “ESPN, Amazon, Netflix and maybe Apple but think ESPN and Amazon will be top 2.”
White believes the UFC’s next TV rights deal could look a bit different.
Rather than everything airing on one platform, the MMA mogul recently suggested that UFC events could be split between several broadcasters.
Our rights deal is going to be a big deal coming up here,” White said in July. “Who knows? We could end up like the NBA and the NFL where we end up on multiple channels instead of just one.
“It’s all moving and changing so quickly. I could definitely see [ UFC on multiple networks].
“We have a lot of different levels of fights, whether it’s Contender Series, Fight Nights or pay-per-views. They could end up on multiple platforms.”
