TKO Executives Welcome The Increased Competition In MMA
In the latest MMA news, TKO Group Holdings, Inc, has welcomed the competition from rival MMA organisations in light of their own increased revenue.
The merger between the UFC and WWE to form the new company has resulted in some positive success following the initial figures that were provided to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
TKO’s Figures
A report revealed that the UFC’s revenue totalled $611.9 million in the first half of this year. In addition, there was also an increase of 18 percent in the first quarter of the year.
As for the WWE, the organization brought in a revenue of $707.9 million in the first half of this year. And given the rise of the PFL, the news was all the more important.
The PFL recently received an investment of over $100 million from the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund through SRJ Sports Investment.
The deal was part of the PFL’s aim to increase its presence in the Middle East in the hope of improving the grassroots of MMA in the region.
But rather than be worried about the competition that was coming their way, Ari Emanuel and Mark Shapiro of TKO welcomed the increasing number of MMA organizations.
TKO Reacts
“Competition’s not new for the UFC or the WWE. MMA is probably the fastest growing sport and we’re encouraged by the interest. Rising tides lift all boats, in my opinion. We don’t see it as a zero sum game. Not only do we have competition with other MMA or wrestling organizations — football, college football, there’s a lot of competition out there.
“At the UFC, we have a strong and stable fighter [roster], over 600 total. I think the UFC is where fighters want to come and want to be and as I said in my prepared remarks, we feel good about the future of our relationship with Saudi [Arabia]. As one example, we recently announced that we would bring UFC Fight Night to Riyadh in March 2024, a clear indication that Saudi is very high [on UFC] and has intentions to grow this relationship with UFC. That’s kind of our feeling about it,” Emanuel
That has been shown through the PFL’s broadcasting deal with ESPN, which also happens to air UFC events. That has given the fanbase a wider choice of content to consume in the hope of seeing the biggest fights being made.
In addition, it could open up doors for a collaboration between the PFL and the UFC. The biggest fight to be made currently is between Francis Ngannou and Jon Jones.
The former fights under the PFL following his departure from the UFC. Meanwhile, Jones is currently under the UFC. And if such a fight were to be made, it would require a cross promotion.
And the increased competition may increase the calls for that fight to happen. With that being said, the future of MMA sports looks bright. And that can only be a good thing for the fanbase moving forward.
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