Paramount, UFC agree to media rights deal; What does that mean for Pac-12?

Pac-12 announced five-year deal with CBS Sports, Paramount in June

Pac-12 | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Paramount+ is set to become a new hot spot for live sports. 

On Monday, Paramount+ and the UFC announced a seven-year, $7.7 billion media rights deal that will begin in 2026. Paramount+ will be the exclusive home for the UFC, ending the company’s traditional pay-per-view model.

The UFC deal comes weeks after the Pac-12 and CBS Sports (a division of the newly-formed Paramount Skydance Corporation) agreed to a five-year media rights deal for Pac-12 football and men’s basketball. Pac-12 games will air on CBS, CBS Sports Network and Paramount+ from 2026-2031. 

The UFC/Paramount+ agreement was put together in a short period of time. 

“It came together in 48 hours after it was multiple players for different configurations of our content, pay-per-views, Fight Nights,” TKO Group Holdings CEO Ari Emanuel told CNBC. TKO is the parent company to the UFC. 

“We have 13 pay-per-views, 30 Fight Nights and once (the Skydance merger) closed, they jumped in very quickly.”

While Paramount+ will be the exclusive home of the UFC, some events will also be simulcast on CBS. 

“We were always, of course, going to look at two parts of the strategy,” TKO president Mark Shapiro told CNBC. “One is monetization, maximizing the value of our rights. But the second, just as importantly, what is the right home and platform for the future growth of our brand and our business?

“In terms of the brand, it was important to us to have CBS play a big component in this. … We’re going old school here. Jimmy the Greek, Brent Musburger, CBS Sports, all that great history. They have the Masters, they have the Super Bowl and NFL, they have the Final Four. We like that.”

Pac-12 commissioner Teresa Gould echoed many of Shapiro’s sentiments after closing the deal with CBS Sports. 

Pac-12 commissioner Teresa Gould. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Gould valued the wide reach of CBS/Paramount+ and the company’s commitment to live sports. 

“Our goal with this process was to find transformational partnerships for the new Pac-12, and throughout our discussions and time together it became more and more clear that a partnership with CBS Sports would be just that,” Gould said in June. “I am thankful to the team at CBS Sports for seeing our vision and investing in our shared future as we build, launch and realize a new Pac-12 together.”

The base Paramount+ subscription costs $7.99 per month. The premium package with Showtime and limited advertisements is $12.99 per month. 

The Pac-12 has nine members signed up for the 2026-27 school year: current members Oregon State and Washington State, Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State of the Mountain West, Gonzaga of the West Coast Conference and Texas State of the Sun Belt.