The UFC’s potential reach looks set for a major increase in the near future after a plan to merge Paramount+ and HBO Max was revealed.
Paramount Skydance are currently in the process of acquiring Warner Bros in an earth-shaking $111 billion deal, which will include taking over HBO and the HBO Max subscription service, among many other assets.
And on Monday, Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison confirmed that if the merger is approved, then their intention is to bring Paramount+ together with HBO Max.
As things stand Paramount+ has 79 million subscribers, but that pales in comparison to the 131 million subscribers to HBO Max, so combining the two services would be a major win for the UFC, who began a seven-year, $7.7 billion broadcasting deal with Paramount in January.
“As we said, we do plan to put the two services together, which today gives us a little over 200 million direct to consumer subscribers,” David Ellison told investos on a call yesterday. “We think that really positions us to compete with the leaders in the space.
“At Paramount, by the middle of this year, we’ll have completed the consolidation of our three services under one unified stack, and you can see us taking a similar approach to this platform going forward. And we think the combined offering, and given the amount of content and what we can do from the tech side, really will put us in a position to be able to compete with the most scaled players in DTC.”
It’s worth noting that a not-insignificant portion of existing Paramount+ subscribers are likely to already be subscribed to HBO Max, so it’s not quite as simple as just adding the two bases together to get the UFC’s new reach, and even if it was, Netflix does still remain king with it’s 325 million subscribers.
Nevertheless, it’s clearly a major deal that reshapes the entire industry and is a big shot in the arm for the UFC and it’s parent company TKO.
“That’s only good for us,” TKO Group Holdings president and chief operating officer Mark Shapiro said regarding the merger. “That’s where it starts for me. Our house just got bigger.”
However, the one potential catch for UFC fans is that the cost of a Paramount+ subscription will almost certainly increase significantly once the merger with HBO Max takes place.
