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Dana White recently reflected on the UFC's past TV rights deal with Fox and revealed how Vince McMahon was the reason their NBC deal fell through. He noted that the promotion was in advanced negotiations with the network, and the former WWE chairman used his power to halt their plans.
The UFC famously signed a seven-year broadcast rights deal with Fox in 2011, which at the time was significant for the sport as a whole. The deal saw the promotion expand into major network television and continue to grow before selling to Endeavor for $4 billion.
Before joining hands with Fox, White had an agreement with NBC that would see the MMA leader move to the network and 'The Ultimate Fighter' airing on USA Network.
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During his latest appearance on What's Your Story with Steph McMahon, White revealed that McMahon used a clause in his WWE media rights deal to block the UFC from proceeding with their NBC deal. He mentioned that the former WWE chairman was against it because it was competition and resulted in the UFC pursuing Fox instead:
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"We're about to sign the deal and do all the stuff and [NBC executives were] like, 'We can't believe this, we didn't know this, we just found out. [McMahon] has the right to determine whether another combat sport can come onto USA'... We fly out, go to [WWE] offices, we go meet with your father... We lay it out to him... He's like, 'I don't want you on the network'... So that blew up the whole NBC deal... So then we fly out to L.A. and we do the Fox deal."
Check out the full episode featuring Dana White's comments below (19:39):
Dana White reveals his dream for UFC distribution
During the aforementioned appearance, Dana White also revealed his dream for UFC distribution in the ever-evolving media landscape.
White mentioned that having one outlet stream a UFC event, similar to what WWE has for their distribution with Netflix and Peacock:
"This was my dream when we bought the UFC, where we would put on a fight and the world would be able to watch it at the same time and same channel. We used to have to go out and cut a million different television deals like you guys did [with WWE] worldwide. So I'm excited about that." [48:45]
Check out a clip of Dana White hinting at a potential shift away from pay-per-view below:
