Paramount Inks $100M Annual Deal for Dana White’s Zuffa Boxing

Paramount has locked in a five-year broadcast agreement with Zuffa Boxing that will see the media giant pay around $100 million per year to air the upstart combat sports promotion, according to recent reports. The deal, which began in January 2026, makes Paramount+ the exclusive streaming home for Zuffa Boxing across the United States, Canada, and Latin America.

The arrangement calls for 12 to 13 fight cards annually during the initial rollout, with plans to expand programming in subsequent years. Select events may also be simulcast on CBS and other Paramount-owned platforms, giving the promotion access to linear broadcast audiences. The agreement runs through 2030 and represents a significant financial commitment to an unproven entity that had not hosted a single event when the deal was announced in September 2025.

For its role as managing partner, TKO receives a $10 million annual fee to handle day-to-day operations and promotional oversight. TKO president Mark Shapiro characterized the arrangement as “low risk” during an investor earnings call, noting that the company has “no funding obligation” beyond operational management. The structure allows TKO to collect management fees while the Saudi partners provide the capital backing for fighter purses and event production.

The $100 million annual payment from Paramount works out to roughly $7.7 million per event based on the 12-card schedule. This figure stands in stark contrast to Paramount’s separate deal with UFC, which averages $1.1 billion per year for more than 40 events. The disparity highlights both the speculative nature of the Zuffa investment and the faith Paramount has placed in White’s ability to replicate his UFC success in boxing.

Zuffa Boxing held its inaugural event on January 23, 2026, at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas, featuring Irish middleweight Callum Walsh in the main event against Carlos Ocampo. The debut card featured eight bouts and was followed the next evening by UFC 324, creating a back-to-back combat sports weekend for Paramount. Initial reviews of the first show were mixed, with critics noting competitive mismatches and low-key production values compared to established boxing promotions.

The promotion scored its first major signing on January 16 when it secured IBF cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia, widely regarded as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in boxing. Opetaia’s deal allows him to compete on both Zuffa cards and Saudi-backed Riyadh Season events while pursuing unification bouts with other sanctioning bodies. The Australian champion is scheduled to make his Zuffa debut on March 8 in Las Vegas, defending his lineal, RING, and IBF titles.

White has stated that Zuffa Boxing will apply the UFC’s centralized promotional model to boxing, featuring regular matchmaking that pits fighters against each other based on rankings rather than the fragmented approach common in the sport. The promotion aims to streamline boxing’s current structure of 17 weight classes and move away from the traditional four-belt championship system operated by major sanctioning bodies.

The deal marks Paramount’s return to boxing after shuttering its Showtime Sports division at the end of 2023. Showtime had broadcast boxing for 37 years before Paramount Global eliminated the network’s sports programming as part of a corporate restructuring that preceded the company’s acquisition by Skydance. The Zuffa arrangement positions Paramount+ as what executives call “the home for combat sports,” combining UFC and boxing content under a single subscription platform priced at $12.99 monthly for ad-free service.