TKO Reveals HBO Talks For UFC Broadcasts

TKO Group Holdings is exploring ways to put UFC content on HBO and TNT, according to statements made during the company's third-quarter earnings call this week.

Mark Shapiro, president and chief operating officer of TKO, told analysts Wednesday that discussions are underway about distributing UFC programming across multiple Skydance-owned networks. "We will be maximizing HBO, TNT, Paramount+ and CBS," he said, per MMA Mania. The goal is to increase viewership and audience engagement across the company's growing media portfolio.

How Paramount's Warner Bros. Discovery Deal Opens New Doors

The expanded distribution possibilities follow Paramount's acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, which brought CBS, Paramount+, HBO, TNT Sports and other outlets under one corporate roof. That structure gives UFC access to far more platforms than when it signed its seven-year, $7.7 billion deal with Paramount+ at the start of 2026.

No specific plans or launch dates have been announced. Paramount+ remains UFC's primary home for numbered events and Fight Night cards, with select marquee shows available on CBS. HBO and TNT could host live events, simulcasts, documentaries or supplemental programming if the talks progress.

A UFC card on HBO would mark the network's return to live combat sports nearly a decade after its final boxing broadcast in December 2018. HBO carried some of boxing's biggest fights for 45 years before abandoning the sport. Shapiro made clear that TKO and Skydance are actively weighing how to use every available outlet, though the shape of that rollout remains uncertain.

Reported via:

• MMA Mania — Maximize views! TKO reveals talks to expand beyond Paramount+, including UFC on HBO