The Hey Not the Face! Podcast

Francis Ngannou got away and we’re so very happy he did. Going from a $600K payday in the UFC—all because of the UFC’s hard-nosed tactics at the negotiation table—to a 10-figure purse in your second boxing match is unheard of unless your name is Conor McGregor. Ngannou may be giving the Irish superstar a run for the money in that regard very soon, and might even wind up on the coveted Forbes List this year. But how did he get there?

The long and the short of it is that he bet on himself and waited for the terms of his sunset clause to come to their conclusion, and then he took the Francis Ngannou show on the road. First stop, Riyadh, where he took the lineal heavyweight boxing champion of the world to a split decision that many in the community felt he won. He even put the champ on the canvas. Impressive for a pro debut, to say the least.

Now, he’s set to take on the number one contender in the world, a former champion in Anthony Joshua, and he’ll be doing it for a huge payday. After it’s all said and done, Francis could be looking at a $30M - $40M payday in his second pro bout. And the best part is he doesn’t have to give up a percentage of that to his MMA promoter, as the UFC requires.

Let’s take a look at some of the topics we covered in this episode:

1. How much do we think Ngannou is making for this fight?

2. How much is Joshua making?

3. What is PFL going to be watching to come out of this match?

4. There is a Harvard case study that came out, what does that say about Ngannou's PFL contract? Does it give us any info on what the terms are? How much he is getting paid? 

5. When we look at what Ngannou is making, one would think other fighters would try to follow his path. Why haven't we seen other UFC fighters do what he did?

6. What are the changes the UFC made in their contracts that prevents other fighters from doing what Francis did?

You know you can count on us for quick, consistent quality UFC coverage. The MMA Draw is an independent, reader supported publication. Please subscribe to our newsletter to keep up with our best work and learn how you can support the site. We’re constantly refining to try and provide our readers and listeners with the best, most current MMA news and opinions.

TKO Group Holdings, the conglomerate that went public last fall after the merger of the UFC with the WWE, released its full 2023 financial results last week. Having reported on their SEC and investor reports for the first and second quarter of last year, I am once again only going to focus on what we learn about the UFC’s finances from their 8-K, 10-K and earnings call.

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The big takeaway is that everything was gold for the UFC, setting records in almost every category. They saw increases in their revenue (including increases in each of the four segments that make up revenue), an increase in their EBITDA, and, in some good news for their fighters, even an increase in their athlete costs AKA fighter pay.

REVENUE

In 2023, the UFC delivered record financial results once again. Total revenue increased 13%, from $1.140 billion to $1.292 billion, an increase of $152 million. A breakdown of the individual segments is as follows:

* Media rights and content fees were up 10%, from 2022, going up $76.2 million from $794 million to $871 million last year. “The increase in media rights and content fees was primarily related to higher domestic and international rights fees resulting from increases in contractual revenues, higher fees associated with international renewals and one additional pay-per-view event in 2023 as compared to the prior year period.”

* Live events revenue were up 34%, a $42.6 million increase to a record $168 million, driven by growth in ticket revenues and site fees. “The increase in live events revenue was primarily related to 5 additional events with a live audience (26 in 2023 as compared to 21 in the prior year) and higher site fees.” In 2021 they sold out 20 live events with seven of them now ranking among the top 20 highest grossing UFC events of all time.

* Sponsorship revenue were up $29.5 million over the previous year, an 18% increase to another record $196 million. This was driven by new brand partners and renewal increases.

* Consumer product licensing was up from $53.6 million in 2022 to $57.3 million last year.

You know you can count on us for quick, consistent quality UFC coverage. The MMA Draw is an independent, reader supported publication. Please subscribe to our newsletter to keep up with our best work and learn how you can support the site. We’re constantly refining to try and provide our readers and listeners with the best, most current MMA news and opinions.

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