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VIDEO | 02:49
Streaming cage match! Paramount’s $7.7 billion UFC deal
Entertainment & Arts

Streaming cage match! Paramount’s $7.7 billion UFC deal

Ryan Faughnder.
Mark Potts.
By Ryan Faughnder and Mark E. Potts
In a major early move under new ownership, Paramount has agreed to pay $7.7 billion for media rights to UFC’s mixed martial arts events in the U.S.

Paramount said Monday that it has signed a seven-year deal with TKO Group Holdings that will put 13 marquee UFC events and 30 fight nights on streaming platform Paramount+ beginning next year. Some of the matches will air on broadcast TV network CBS.

Hollywood Inc. Senior Editor Ryan Faughnder breaks down what the deal means for Paramount, the streaming sports world, and even President Donald Trump.
Entertainment & ArtsSports
Ryan Faughnder

Ryan Faughnder is a former senior editor with the Los Angeles Times’ Hollywood Inc. team, which covers the business of entertainment. He also launched and wrote the entertainment industry newsletter The Wide Shot. A San Diego native, he earned a master’s degree in journalism from USC and a bachelor’s in English from UC Santa Barbara. Before joining The Times in 2013, he wrote for the Los Angeles Business Journal and Bloomberg News. Faughnder was previously a film business reporter for Company Town and was part of the team that was a 2022 Pulitzer Prize finalist for coverage of the “Rust” set shooting.

Mark E. Potts

Mark E. Potts is a former senior editor for video at the Los Angeles Times. A native of Enid, Okla., Potts graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a master’s degree in broadcast journalism. He has created and edited video for DreamWorks, YouTube, Microsoft, Sony and BET.

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