UFC, Formula 1 and WWE Could Be Acquisition Targets for Streaming Giants
By Alex Sherman
In 2016, before Ultimate Fighting Championship sold for $4 billion to the company that would become Endeavor Group, the mixed martial arts league was nearly scooped up by Disney for a little bit more.
Disney and UFC had negotiated broad terms of a deal in which the entertainment giant would acquire the combat sports company for about $4.3 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.
Disney, which owns the majority of sports broadcast network ESPN, has toyed with the idea of buying sports leagues for years, one of the people said. Then-Disney CEO Bob Iger was the model executive for brilliant intellectual property acquisitions, buying Pixar, Lucasfilm and Marvel.
Ultimately, Iger nixed the UFC deal. He felt the bloody and violent UFC brand didn’t mesh with family friendly Disney, said the people, who asked not to be named because the negotiations were private. A Disney spokesperson didn’t immediately comment.
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