Showtime Sports executive vice-president and general manager, Stephen Espinoza, has said the pay-television broadcaster is interested in acquiring US rights to the Ultimate Fighting Championship once the mixed martial arts promotion’s current deal with pay-television broadcaster Fox Sports expires.
The UFC is currently engaged in a seven-year deal with Fox which runs from 2012 to 2018. Espinoza said Showtime, a major broadcaster of combat sports, would be interested in being part of an arrangement whereby multiple networks hold rights.
“It would be silly not to,” Espinoza said, according to the MMA Fighting website. “We are not gonna support the organisation on our own shoulders. Not (like) the Fox deal.”
However, Espinoza said Showtime would seek clarity over the UFC’s future strategy for how it presents its events. The UFC currently places its showpiece events on pay-per-view, with the next on the Fox network and the tier below on the Fox Sports 1 channel and online streaming service UFC Fight Pass.
Espinoza said fans “have to understand why” fights are placed on certain platforms. “As long as you sort that out from a marketing perspective and messaging perspective, I think it could work,” he said.
Espinoza also played down any concern over his personal relationship with UFC president Dana White. The two clashed frequently in the build-up to the recent boxing fight between UFC superstar Conor McGregor and boxing legend Floyd Mayweather. Showtime was the broadcast partner for the event and the UFC was a co-promoter.
Showtime was also the broadcast partner of MMA promotion Strikeforce until it was acquired by the UFC in 2011. The end of the relationship is said to have resulted in tension between Showtime and the UFC, but Espinoza added: “Dana and I have disagreed on some things, but my relationships over there are strong. I like the guys. Virtually, almost all the team that was there in Strikeforce is still over there and I like dealing with them.
“I like them as people, I like them as individuals and I like them as business people. It’s not to say I don’t like Dana. He and I have had disagreements, which is fine. The NFL and I have disagreements sometimes. It happens.”