• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, Today

With the UFC abandoning TV's long-time model of pay per view, we wonder where the old-school TV transactional business stands now.

While it might be good for small and targeted sports -- which know their place -- others see it as a limitation to growth.

Under its new $7.7 billion deal with Paramount Skydance, the UFC is shifting its business model to more open, accessible TV airings.

Instead of the $79.99 pay-per-view model for special high-profile events under ESPN+, where it is currently airing, it now shifts the business exclusively to streamer Paramount+ for broader access.

The new cost for UFC events will be included at a significantly lower price point via $12.99 ad-free or $7.99 ad-supported streaming option plans that include live events.

In addition, some of those selective “marquee” UFC fights will also run on CBS Television Network, probably on Saturday night.

And the UFC looks to benefit from retaining two minutes of advertising per hour in the deal on the channels where the fights will air, as well as in-arena advertising.

Considering the high demand for viewers when it comes to all things live -- especially sports -- one can see that while the UFC has been successful for some time, it seeks more visibility.

But can it climb into ranks of high demand for say, NASCAR, Major League Baseball, or the NBA? The goal seems to be to find ways to expose the fight group to a bigger audience of sports hungry viewers.

No doubt the high $7.7 billion price tag will mean some heavy promotion of UFC on all Paramount channels -- during NFL games on CBS, Paramount+ and elsewhere.

With growing streaming platforms to have staying power with audiences, the older price PPV models do not seem to be working.

Instead, streaming platform owners will try to keep those viewers around for a longer period than just one evening -- a la what Paramount+ seems to be doing.

One recent PPV estimate from Market.us says the U.S. live streaming PPV market looks to see an increase by around fourfold over the next ten years or so -- to a $5.5 billion business, from a business of $1.3 billion in 2023. But that doesn’t seem to be enough for UFC.

The report says: “The ability to charge viewers for access to exclusive or live events, especially niche [emphasis added] content, has become a significant revenue-generating opportunity for content creators and event organizers.”

Niche content probably isn’t something listed in UFC's business growth plan, and not for any TV-streaming-hungry entertainment or sports TV programmer.