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Afternoon Edition

August 11, 2025

Paramount just officially changed hands last week, and new owner David Ellison is already making his mark. A $7.7 billion rights deal for UFC illustrates his ambitions for the company while completely upending the MMA promotion’s distribution.

— Eric Fisher [[link removed]] and Colin Salao [[link removed]]

Paramount’s New Era Begins With Landmark UFC Deal [[link removed]]

Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Paramount, newly controlled by Skydance, and TKO Group Holdings have struck a seven-year, $7.7 billion deal for UFC’s U.S. media rights that dramatically changes the trajectory of both organizations.

For UFC, the deal means the end of its long-standing pay-per-view model. Its marquee numbered events and Fight Nights will instead move starting next year to the Paramount+ streaming platform—with some simulcasting on the CBS broadcast television network.

Paramount, meanwhile, is making its first big sports-rights deal just days after closing its $8 billion merger with Skydance, one fraught with political overtones [[link removed]] after settling an extended legal battle with U.S. President Donald Trump. The company was also able to bring the UFC rights away from ESPN, which made its own separate agreement with TKO last week for WWE rights [[link removed]].

“Rarely do opportunities arise to partner on an exclusive basis with a global sports powerhouse like UFC,” Paramount chairman and CEO David Ellison said. Ellison had been spotted at multiple UFC events in recent months, raising speculation about a potential deal.

Deal Terms

The deal, running through 2032, will see the annual rights payments weighted more toward the back end of the term. Overall, though, the yearly average doubles the $550 million that ESPN currently pays for UFC rights.

Paramount also said it intends to pursue UFC’s rights in non-U.S. countries as they become available.

“Our decade-long journey with UFC has been defined by continuous growth and expansion, and this agreement is an important realization of our strategy,” said TKO executive chair and CEO Ari Emanuel. “We believe wholeheartedly in David’s vision and look forward to being in business with a company that will prioritize technology as a means to enhance storytelling and the overall viewing experience.”

The stock market cheered the agreement on both ends. TKO shares rose nearly 5% in early Monday trading, extending a 40% boost over the past 12 months. The newly formed Paramount Skydance increased by about 1% in initial Monday activity.

More Politics

The Paramount-UFC deal also likely extends the overlap between the two entities and the Trump White House after Paramount’s recent settlement with Trump that included a series of concessions, perhaps most notably the creation of an ombudsman position to oversee CBS News content for bias.

UFC president Dana White has been close to Trump, including introducing him on the final night of last year’s Republican National Convention. The Trump Administration and UFC are also in active talks to stage a mixed-martial-arts competition on the White House grounds [[link removed]] as part of celebrations marking the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence. That event, if it happens, could be streamed on Paramount+ as part of the new rights deal.

On a parallel path, TKO is also working with political leaders in Washington to help advance legislation that would support its planned move into boxing [[link removed]].

Sports Is Big Business

At Front Office Sports, we believe that sports is big business. That’s why we’ve trademarked the phrase and launched our new merch shop [[link removed]], where you can say it with us on your hat, T-shirt, or sweatshirt. Orders above $75 ship for free. Pass it on to a friend who also gets it: Sports is big business.

New ESPN-Fox Bundle Revives Venu Sports Concept [[link removed]]

Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

Venu Sports is still dead, but the core of the sports-focused offering remains very much alive.

ESPN and Fox, fierce rivals across much of the sports media landscape, said Monday that they will offer their respective streaming services that are debuting later this month in a bundle that re-creates much of the aborted Venu Sports plan.

The joint streaming offering, available starting Oct. 2, will bring together the direct-to-consumer offering from the Disney-owned ESPN along with Fox One, that network’s streaming service that will combine its sports, news, and entertainment programming. The $39.99 per month price is a $10 discount on the $29.99 unbundled price for ESPN [[link removed]] and the $19.99 one for Fox One, a recently unveiled effort that has that network looking to catch up in the streaming wars [[link removed]].

The collaboration shows how important the streaming efforts are to both companies as cord-cutting accelerates, and how much they still believe in the essence of the Venu Sports idea—despite legal challenges that helped thwart it.

After roughly a year of preparation, ESPN, Fox, and fellow Venu Sports partner Warner Bros. Discovery killed plans for the service in January [[link removed]]. That move arrived just days after ESPN parent Disney struck a deal with Fubo to acquire a majority interest in the company [[link removed]], settling an antitrust lawsuit, with plans to merge that operation with Disney’s own Hulu + Live TV service. Since then, WBD has unveiled plans to separate into two companies [[link removed]] and is not part of this latest effort from ESPN and Fox.

The commitment to the core of the Venu Sports idea also relates to technology and leadership. Some of the prior infrastructure is being repurposed for Fox One, while the service’s CEO, Pete Distad, previously was in the same role for Venu Sports.

Other rival companies such as DirecTV [[link removed]] and Comcast [[link removed]] have made similar bundle-related moves [[link removed]] in a bid to attract sports fans who have either left traditional cable and satellite TV, or never had it.

It Was Foretold

Deals such as this were increasingly expected [[link removed]], particularly after Disney CEO Bob Iger said last week that “there may be opportunities for us to bundle other companies’ sports offerings,” as part of a quarterly earnings report. Along similar lines, Tony Billetter, SVP of strategy and business development for Fox’s DTC business, referred to the ESPN alignment as “our first bundle partner.”

The combined ESPN-Fox offering will particularly be a force in college football and basketball as the two networks have a massive foothold among the major conferences that dominate those sports. Despite that, though, the streaming market for sports content remains disparate, with rival entities such as Paramount+ making major plays for additional programming [[link removed]] and Peacock looking to expand its own profile [[link removed]].

The DTC version of ESPN and Fox One will both debut Aug. 21.

NBA Christmas Schedule Leans on LeBron, Steph While Betting on Flagg [[link removed]]

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Christmas Day, once associated exclusively with the NBA, has turned into a head-to-head battle with the NFL in recent years. Even LeBron James acknowledged that last year [[link removed]].

The NBA is once again turning to the trio of James, Steph Curry, and Kevin Durant to carry its 2025 Christmas Day slate—despite criticisms of the league’s inability to market its young stars. But there are a few interesting wrinkles in the Christmas lineup that show it’s trying to spotlight its newcomers.

NBA’s Christmas Day schedule, per ESPN’s Shams Charania [[link removed]]:

Cavaliers at Knicks Spurs at Thunder Rockets at Lakers Mavericks at Warriors Timberwolves at Nuggets

While the exact times of the games aren’t finalized, Charania’s report indicates that Dallas vs. Golden State will likely take the 8 p.m. ET primetime slot. Last year, that went to Lakers vs. Warriors, which drew nearly 8 million viewers and was the most-watched regular-season game in five years.

The Warriors are an obvious choice—the playoffs showed how Curry has continued to be a draw—but slotting in the Mavericks is a massive bet on 2025 No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg. The 18-year-old has the potential to be one of the league’s next faces, but he has also yet to play a single NBA regular-season game.

His Summer League debut [[link removed]] in July did draw significant fanfare, and was the fourth most-watched Summer League game ever on ESPN networks behind other big-name debuts like Victor Wembanyama and Zion Williamson.

The NBA rarely gambles on a young player on Christmas Day prime-time—especially against one of its guaranteed viewership draws, the Warriors. The closest comparison in recent memory may be when the league pitted Ja Morant and the Grizzlies against Golden State in 2022—though the two teams battled in the playoffs in the prior year.

The 2025 NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is also scheduled to play in his first Christmas Day game as the Thunder will host the Spurs and Wembanyama, another potential future face of the league.

Gilgeous-Alexander said last year he was “disappointed” the Thunder weren’t part of the 2024 Christmas slate, despite securing the No. 1 seed in the West in 2023.

All five Christmas games will be played on ABC for the second year in a row, which helped last year’s Christmas slate draw 87% more viewers than Christmas 2023 [[link removed]], which aired only two of its five games on ABC. The other three were on ESPN.

The NFL has played multiple games on Christmas Day since 2022, and it will play three games in 2025— and beyond [[link removed]]—after just two last year.

Opening Night on NBC

ESPN also reported on the NBA’s two opening-night games, which will feature the three aforementioned aging stars and the defending champion Thunder: The Rockets will play in Oklahoma City while the Warriors face the Lakers.

The games will also be the first on NBC since 2002. The network reclaimed NBA broadcasting rights last year as part of an 11-year, $77 billion media deal [[link removed]].

FRONT OFFICE SPORTS TODAY TKO President Mark Shapiro Explains UFC's $7.7B Deal

FOS illustration

UFC is headed to Paramount behind a seven-year deal worth $7.7 billion. Mark Shapiro, president of UFC holdings company TKO, joins Front Office Sports Today to explain the factors that went into the decision and what comes next for UFC and combat sports as a whole as the pay-per-view model dies out.

Plus, we hear from Saints special teamer J.T. Gray on what he believes is the NFL’s most unsung position, the new kickoff rule, and Saints players’ expectations for a season that has zero games on national TV.

Also, FOS deals reporter Ben Horney tells Baker Machado and Renee Washington the ESPN-NFL deal could violate antitrust laws.

Watch the full episode here [[link removed]].

STATUS REPORT Two Up, Two Down

Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images

A’Ja Wilson ⬆ The Las Vegas Aces star became the first player in WNBA history to post a 30-point, 20-rebound game, finishing with 32 points and matching her career high on the boards in a 94–86 win over the Connecticut Sun on Sunday night. Averaging 21.8 points and 9.2 rebounds per game this season, the three-time league MVP played in her seventh All-Star Game in July. On Sunday, Wilson helped the Aces come back from an early double-digit deficit to secure their sixth win in seven games.

Caitlin Clark ⬆ The Indiana Fever star’s 2024 Panini Immaculate Logowoman rookie card [[link removed]]—a one-of-a-kind autographed jersey patch—sold for $317,200 at auction, resulting in the third-highest sale for any of her cards at public auction. On July 24, another Clark rookie card sold for $660,000 at a Fanatics Collect auction, setting the record for the most expensive card across women’s sports. Though limited to 13 games this season due to injury, Clark is still averaging 16.5 points and 8.8 assists.

Eagles offensive line ⬇ Left guard Landon Dickerson was helped off the field and carted inside after suffering a right meniscus injury [[link removed]] during Sunday’s practice. The team is still working to determine the injury’s severity. Dickerson signed a four-year, $84 million extension with Philadelphia in 2024 that made him the highest-paid guard in NFL history.

Quinn Ewers ⬇ The Dolphins rookie quarterback went 5-for-18 and fumbled twice in his preseason debut against the Bears on Sunday. Ewers, selected in the seventh round, signed a rookie deal that pays roughly $1 million annually. It was reported that a program offered Ewers $6 million [[link removed]] to transfer from Texas to play out his final year of eligibility.

Conversation Starters Kobe Bryant’s family joined the Dodgers’ 8/8 tribute night as fans lined up to secure a commemorative bobblehead. Take a look [[link removed]]. The Texas Longhorns just unveiled their new football locker room. Check it out [[link removed]]. Joe and Clara Wu Tsai have built one of the most diverse sports portfolios there is [[link removed]]: from the Brooklyn Nets and New York Liberty to the Miami Dolphins and LAFC. Editors’ Picks Justin Rose Pockets $3.6 Million, Becomes Oldest Tour Winner Since 2021 [[link removed]]by Andrew Goodrich [[link removed]]Rose secured a Tour Championship spot for the first time since 2019. Crystal Palace Loses Final Europa League Appeal After Ownership Snafu [[link removed]]by Ben Horney [[link removed]]The U.K. soccer club ran afoul of UEFA’s multi-club ownership rules. ‘Time Is a Flat Circle’: How NFL QB Power Has Ebbed and Flowed [[link removed]]by Ryan Glasspiegel [[link removed]]Many QBs are firmly in the managerial class. Advertise [[link removed]] Awards [[link removed]] Learning [[link removed]] Events [[link removed]] Video [[link removed]] Shows [[link removed]] Written by Eric Fisher [[link removed]], Colin Salao [[link removed]] Edited by Or Moyal [[link removed]], Catherine Chen [[link removed]]

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