Dana White-led UFC reportedly seeking $1 billion/year from next media rights deal with Netflix and Amazon among prospective buyers

Dana White and the UFC top brass are eager for an even greater media rights deal for the promotion. In fact, according to a Bloomberg report, the UFC is aiming for an agreement in excess of $1 billion per year, which would be more than twice what the promotion pockets from its current ESPN deal.

And with the UFC's ESPN deal set to end this year, other streaming platforms are being considered should ESPN fail to meet their demands in the exclusive negotiating window, which ends in mid-April. Among the partners being considered by the UFC are Amazon, Netflix, Warner Bros. Discovery, and even YouTube.

Netflix, in particular, is no stranger to streaming combat sports. The highly controversial boxing match between Jake Paul and heavyweight great Mike Tyson was streamed exclusively on Netflix. Unfortunately, the event was plagued by various issues that affected the viewer experience.

Random drops in quality, abrupt ends to the stream, and forced logouts were among the complaints raised by those who had subscribed to Netflix to watch the Paul-Tyson card. Nevertheless, Netflix executives have labeled the event as a learning experience from which their company will grow.

Given its reach and brand recognition, the UFC CEO will likely strongly consider Netflix if the promotion does not renew its contract with ESPN, which has had several streaming issues related to the UFC throughout the years. On the YouTube front, livestreaming events is commonplace.

In fact, some minor boxing events use YouTube as a main live-streaming platform, experiencing very few issues. So, if stability is sought-after, perhaps White and Co. will look to Google.

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Dana White has even more reasons to consider Netflix

Besides Netflix having previously live-streamed Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson, there are other factors for Dana White and the UFC to look at Netflix as a potential platform. Netflix recently became the exclusive streaming platform for WWE Raw, with WWE being under the same TKO corporate umbrella as the UFC.

So, it stands to reason that Netflix is a strong option for the UFC's media rights. However, there's still a distinct possibility that the promotion will renew its agreement with ESPN if its demands are met.