Warner Bros. recently rejected a lucrative offer to buy the company from Paramount in favor of going with Netflix instead, and new information reveals how the UFC’s broadcasting rights might have had a role to play in that.

A new letter from Warner Bros. board of directors suggests that part of their decision to turn down the offer was that they had concerns Paramount Skydance had overpaid for sport broadcasting deals.

It’s worth noting they don’t specifically mention the UFC, but nonetheless it suggests that they may have baulked at the $7.7 billion that was spent securing the rights to have the UFC air exclusively on the Paramount+ subscription service in the United States over the next seven years.

“In the short period since the completion of the Paramount/Skydance transaction, PSKY has signed above-market, multi-year programming and sports licensing deals, both domestic and international. Despite limited visibility into their long-term performance, PSKY will begin to bear significant fixed financial costs related to these agreements going forward,” part of Warner Bros. directors letter filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission reads. “This, together with potentially higher costs associated with NFL rights given the league’s right to renegotiate early, could create further headwinds to PSKY’s financial profile.”

The UFC’s money-spinning deal with Paramount+ was seen as a huge win for the company given that it more than doubled their existing deal with ESPN.

The deal has also been welcomed with open arms by UFC fans in the U.S. given that it marks the end of the pay-per-view model in the region, with all the events now airing for the price of a single, affordable monthly subscription fee to Paramount+.