Miesha Tate believe it’s fair for fighters to receive higher compensation following the announcement of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and ESPN TV deal.
The five-year, $1.5 billion deal will bring 30 UFC events across ESPN platforms per year. The major ESPN networks will receive 10 of those events, while the digital streaming platform ESPN+ gets 20 events. The UFC will still have 12 pay-per-views a year.
With a deal this big, many are hoping that the fighters are compensated more than they currently are. One former women’s bantamweight champion agrees and she explained why during a recent appearance on MMA Tonight (via MMAFighting.com):
“I can only imagine that it’s going to lead to fighters wanting more money, deserving more money. Without the fighters, the UFC doesn’t make these kinds of deals. The fighters are the laborers. The fighters are the ones making this happen, they’re the entertainers, they are what makes the UFC go around and they absolutely deserve to be compensated. It’s a short career and it’s certainly hard on your body – probably takes years off of our lives – so I think it’s reasonable to ask for fair compensation.”
UFC had a seven-year relationship with FOX. Before the major ESPN deal was announced, reports surfaced revealing that FOX was bringing WWE’s SmackDown Live brand on board in a five-year deal. FOX Sports recently released a statement following the UFC’s 2019 departure.
It’ll be interesting to see how the deal impacts both sides. There is now a huge hole to fill on the FOX Sports networks, especially FOX Sports 2 as a bulk of the programming was provided by the UFC. As for the ESPN side, many are wondering how the promotion will fare within the next five years on the sports media juggernaut.
Do you believe there’s any chance of higher compensation for fighters as a result of the UFC-ESPN TV deal?
