Netflix has big plans for combat sports in 2026 after inking a deal to broadcast the upcoming Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano fight in May as well as Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao 2 in September.
The streaming service, which touts over 325 million subscribers, already set records with Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson as well as Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford and it appears the strategy to focus on these big one-off events is working. Prior to the UFC signing a broadcast rights deal with Paramount,
Netflix heavily pursued a package for all 12 or 13 of the promotion’s “pay-per-view” events.
A deal was nearly struck but then Paramount made an offer the UFC couldn’t refuse for seven years and $7.7 billion. But that didn’t stop Netflix from going after the biggest and best combat sports events and that’s not slowing down any time soon.
“We’ve said from the beginning that this is as much an events strategy as it is a sports strategy,” Netflix vice president of sports Gabe Spitzer told Sports Business Journal. “It’s not necessarily some larger strategy, like Netflix is going to get into MMA in a much bigger way. It’s just that we’ve seen these combat events really resonate with our members.”
As of now, Netflix hasn’t set a quota of any kind for how many of these big marquee events could air there during any given year but it’s definitely becoming a priority.
Rousey vs. Carano serves as Netflix’s first foray into MMA but boxing has also become an important part of the ecosystem including Tyson Fury’s upcoming return from retirement against Arslanbek Makhmudov on April 11 from the U.K.
Spitzer wouldn’t commit to any grander strategy when it comes to MMA specifically but the overall strategy remains that Netflix wants to be “that home for the biggest combat events around the world.”
The early expectation is that Rousey vs. Carano could score huge viewership numbers for Netflix considering Rousey was one of the biggest stars the UFC ever promoted after Carano held that title when she was still actively competing in Elite XC and Strikeforce.
So far Netflix obviously believes investing in combat sports is working given the company’s attention to detail when it comes to adding subscribers and eliminating churn as much as possible. But the focus remains on the bigger marquee events rather than actually striking a deal to broadcast every fight from a promotion, which is why the streamer was only interested in the UFC’s pay-per-view lineup.
“You might come in for Jake Paul/Mike Tyson, and you might stay for a new season of Bridgerton,” Spitzer said. “It doesn’t have to be that we necessarily have this heavy volume of sports content.”
