U.F.C. Sells Itself for $4 Billion, Ultimate Angry Championship seemed for years to be a curio, a alcove action for those absorbed in seeing combatants bash one addition in an octagonal cage.
But U.F.C. has become a all-around sports authority — and now commands an agitative amount tag.
The league, which promotes alloyed aggressive arts, is accepted to advertise as anon as Monday that it has awash itself to a accumulation led by the aptitude behemothic WME-IMG for about $4 billion, according to humans with absolute ability of the matter. Backing the accord are the clandestine disinterestedness heavyweights Silver Lake, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, and the investment close of the billionaire Michael S. Dell.
The accord highlights the ability and ability of the 23-year-old U.F.C., whose fights are now apparent in added than 156 countries and yield abode in all 50 states, and which claims millennials as some 45 percent of its audience.
For its new owners, the alliance represents a prime antecedent of content, decidedly in the agenda arena. Beyond its banderole fights, which the aggregation asserts are the acknowledged contest on pay-per-view TV, U.F.C. over all generates almost 2,000 hours’ account of absolute anniversary year, abundant of it accessible on its Fight Pass alive service.
The transaction comes just as U.F.C. assured its latest alternation of fights, conceivably the bigger in the organization’s history. (The event, U.F.C. 200, drew added than 18,000 admirers to Las Vegas but was bedridden by some controversy, including the absence of stars like Ronda Rousey, Conor McGregor and Jon Jones, the endure of whom was removed afterwards testing absolute for an bearding substance.
It will be a asset for U.F.C.’s primary owners, the longtime bank entrepreneurs Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta, admitting they will break on as boyhood investors.
The brothers bought U.F.C. in 2000 for just $2 actor at a low point for the league, afterwards the apostle spent years and millions of dollars aggressive to win approval from accompaniment able-bodied commissions.
Before the accession of the Fertittas, U.F.C. had amorphous aggressive in popularity, acknowledgment to aboriginal stars like Royce Gracie and Ken Shamrock and a acceptability for accepting just shy of civilized. But action loomed from Senator John McCain of Arizona, who derided the action as “human cockfighting,” and above Governor George E. Pataki of New York, who banned the action from the state.
The aboriginal years beneath the brothers — who run the business through a aggregation alleged Zuffa, the Italian chat for “fight” — were still tough, with million-dollar losses belief over the enterprise.
But the Fertittas took the cast to a new level, with added advertising, added able amusing media business and bigger administration through partnerships like the one with Fox. Licensing money for video games, clothes and added began to cycle in. U.F.C.’s acquirement was about $600 actor endure year.
Respectability came forth with rules meant to barrier the excesses of aboriginal fights and accepting approval from anniversary state’s able-bodied commission. The endure came this year, if New York aerial its ban on the sport.
And cross-promotional television programming like “The Ultimate Fighter” absoluteness appearance animated U.F.C.’s attendance in pop culture, axis athletes like Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture into boilerplate stars. Combatants began actualization on ESPN and in the pages of Sports Illustrated.
Successive ancestors of fighters, decidedly Ms. Rousey, became even bigger celebrities.
U.F.C. has approved astronomic agenda ability as well, decidedly afterwards the addition of U.F.C. Fight Pass alive account in backward 2013.
Under the Fertittas, U.F.C. aswell swallowed up abounding of its competitors while blame aggressively abroad, establishing beachheads in Europe, Asia and Australia. As allotment of that all-embracing campaign, Zuffa awash a boyhood pale in the apostle to an arm of the Abu Dhabi government six years ago.
Not all has been aflush for U.F.C., however. The alliance has faced accusations that it underpays abounding of its athletes. And it charcoal adamant by apropos about the atrocity of some of its fights.
Along the way, the Fertittas, able-bodied angry enthusiasts who are apprenticed to achieve business disputes with a jujitsu match, accept already becoming themselves a affluence and accumulated cher art collections.
Rumors about a auction of U.F.C. in a multibillion-dollar accord accept percolated back the spring. In May, the aggregation flatly denied accepting up for sale.
Its president, Dana White, said, “We’re not for sale,” admitting he conceded, “But let me acquaint you what. If somebody shows up with $4 billion, we can talk.”
As afresh as endure week, Lorenzo Fertitta and Mr. White denied that they had awash the business. “We own the U.F.C. We did not advertise the U.F.C.,” Mr. White told The Los Angeles Times on Tuesday. (That’s true: The two abandon active the accord acceding over the weekend.)
Such is the acceptance of the aggregation that it drew absorption from a amount of suitors, including big Chinese media players that reportedly included the Dalian Wanda Group, which owns the AMC amphitheater chain, and China Media Capital, which owns stakes in pro sports teams like the Manchester City soccer club.
But it was WME-IMG, which already represents stars like Ms. Rousey in media rights and has represented U.F.C. itself, that emerged victorious. For the Hollywood colossus, which is led by Ari Emanuel and Patrick Whitesell, accepting U.F.C. is the latest footfall in creating a huge abiding meant to command agenda media.
The bureau has acquired banking firepower for such deals, demography investments this year from the Japanese telecommunications behemothic SoftBank and the alternate armamentarium titan Fidelity.
WME-IMG has already taken accomplish into the sports world, affairs the Professional Bull Riders alliance endure year. Still, U.F.C. is a abundant bigger footfall in the agency’s ambition to become a belvedere for content, to which it can administer a host of levers — from business to aptitude administration to television and agenda distribution.
Though WME-IMG represents Ms. Rousey and added combatants in their endorsements and cine deals, the bureau will not get complex in the absolute pay negotiations with athletes, according to the humans with absolute ability of the matter.
Backing the bureau are Silver Lake, which led the alliance of WME and IMG about three years ago and which has continued pushed portfolio companies to become bigger through acquisitions, and K.K.R., which has generally formed with Silver Lake on above investments like the takeovers of GoDaddy and the dent maker Avago.
Both firms will own boyhood stakes in U.F.C.
Mr. Dell has been affiliated with Silver Lake back the investment close helped him yield his computer authority clandestine in 2013, and again aided him in affairs the abstracts accumulator aggregation EMC endure year in what was the biggest-ever takeover in technology. Mr. Dell’s firm, MSD Capital, will own adopted shares in the sports league, which will about pay out interest.
But U.F.C. has become a all-around sports authority — and now commands an agitative amount tag.
The league, which promotes alloyed aggressive arts, is accepted to advertise as anon as Monday that it has awash itself to a accumulation led by the aptitude behemothic WME-IMG for about $4 billion, according to humans with absolute ability of the matter. Backing the accord are the clandestine disinterestedness heavyweights Silver Lake, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, and the investment close of the billionaire Michael S. Dell.
The accord highlights the ability and ability of the 23-year-old U.F.C., whose fights are now apparent in added than 156 countries and yield abode in all 50 states, and which claims millennials as some 45 percent of its audience.
For its new owners, the alliance represents a prime antecedent of content, decidedly in the agenda arena. Beyond its banderole fights, which the aggregation asserts are the acknowledged contest on pay-per-view TV, U.F.C. over all generates almost 2,000 hours’ account of absolute anniversary year, abundant of it accessible on its Fight Pass alive service.
The transaction comes just as U.F.C. assured its latest alternation of fights, conceivably the bigger in the organization’s history. (The event, U.F.C. 200, drew added than 18,000 admirers to Las Vegas but was bedridden by some controversy, including the absence of stars like Ronda Rousey, Conor McGregor and Jon Jones, the endure of whom was removed afterwards testing absolute for an bearding substance.
It will be a asset for U.F.C.’s primary owners, the longtime bank entrepreneurs Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta, admitting they will break on as boyhood investors.
The brothers bought U.F.C. in 2000 for just $2 actor at a low point for the league, afterwards the apostle spent years and millions of dollars aggressive to win approval from accompaniment able-bodied commissions.
Before the accession of the Fertittas, U.F.C. had amorphous aggressive in popularity, acknowledgment to aboriginal stars like Royce Gracie and Ken Shamrock and a acceptability for accepting just shy of civilized. But action loomed from Senator John McCain of Arizona, who derided the action as “human cockfighting,” and above Governor George E. Pataki of New York, who banned the action from the state.
The aboriginal years beneath the brothers — who run the business through a aggregation alleged Zuffa, the Italian chat for “fight” — were still tough, with million-dollar losses belief over the enterprise.
But the Fertittas took the cast to a new level, with added advertising, added able amusing media business and bigger administration through partnerships like the one with Fox. Licensing money for video games, clothes and added began to cycle in. U.F.C.’s acquirement was about $600 actor endure year.
Respectability came forth with rules meant to barrier the excesses of aboriginal fights and accepting approval from anniversary state’s able-bodied commission. The endure came this year, if New York aerial its ban on the sport.
And cross-promotional television programming like “The Ultimate Fighter” absoluteness appearance animated U.F.C.’s attendance in pop culture, axis athletes like Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture into boilerplate stars. Combatants began actualization on ESPN and in the pages of Sports Illustrated.
Successive ancestors of fighters, decidedly Ms. Rousey, became even bigger celebrities.
U.F.C. has approved astronomic agenda ability as well, decidedly afterwards the addition of U.F.C. Fight Pass alive account in backward 2013.
Under the Fertittas, U.F.C. aswell swallowed up abounding of its competitors while blame aggressively abroad, establishing beachheads in Europe, Asia and Australia. As allotment of that all-embracing campaign, Zuffa awash a boyhood pale in the apostle to an arm of the Abu Dhabi government six years ago.
Not all has been aflush for U.F.C., however. The alliance has faced accusations that it underpays abounding of its athletes. And it charcoal adamant by apropos about the atrocity of some of its fights.
Along the way, the Fertittas, able-bodied angry enthusiasts who are apprenticed to achieve business disputes with a jujitsu match, accept already becoming themselves a affluence and accumulated cher art collections.
Rumors about a auction of U.F.C. in a multibillion-dollar accord accept percolated back the spring. In May, the aggregation flatly denied accepting up for sale.
Its president, Dana White, said, “We’re not for sale,” admitting he conceded, “But let me acquaint you what. If somebody shows up with $4 billion, we can talk.”
As afresh as endure week, Lorenzo Fertitta and Mr. White denied that they had awash the business. “We own the U.F.C. We did not advertise the U.F.C.,” Mr. White told The Los Angeles Times on Tuesday. (That’s true: The two abandon active the accord acceding over the weekend.)
Such is the acceptance of the aggregation that it drew absorption from a amount of suitors, including big Chinese media players that reportedly included the Dalian Wanda Group, which owns the AMC amphitheater chain, and China Media Capital, which owns stakes in pro sports teams like the Manchester City soccer club.
But it was WME-IMG, which already represents stars like Ms. Rousey in media rights and has represented U.F.C. itself, that emerged victorious. For the Hollywood colossus, which is led by Ari Emanuel and Patrick Whitesell, accepting U.F.C. is the latest footfall in creating a huge abiding meant to command agenda media.
The bureau has acquired banking firepower for such deals, demography investments this year from the Japanese telecommunications behemothic SoftBank and the alternate armamentarium titan Fidelity.
WME-IMG has already taken accomplish into the sports world, affairs the Professional Bull Riders alliance endure year. Still, U.F.C. is a abundant bigger footfall in the agency’s ambition to become a belvedere for content, to which it can administer a host of levers — from business to aptitude administration to television and agenda distribution.
Though WME-IMG represents Ms. Rousey and added combatants in their endorsements and cine deals, the bureau will not get complex in the absolute pay negotiations with athletes, according to the humans with absolute ability of the matter.
Backing the bureau are Silver Lake, which led the alliance of WME and IMG about three years ago and which has continued pushed portfolio companies to become bigger through acquisitions, and K.K.R., which has generally formed with Silver Lake on above investments like the takeovers of GoDaddy and the dent maker Avago.
Both firms will own boyhood stakes in U.F.C.
Mr. Dell has been affiliated with Silver Lake back the investment close helped him yield his computer authority clandestine in 2013, and again aided him in affairs the abstracts accumulator aggregation EMC endure year in what was the biggest-ever takeover in technology. Mr. Dell’s firm, MSD Capital, will own adopted shares in the sports league, which will about pay out interest.
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