UFC Defends Ad-Heavy Paramount+ Debut

UFC’s first event on Paramount+ saw an average of nearly five million tune in throughout the main card. Those fans witnessed some action-packed fights, including the main event between Paddy Pimblett and Justin Gaethje, but they could not escape advertisements for TurboTax, Scream 7, and more. 

UFC CEO Dana White came to the defense of Paramount in his post-fight press conference, citing cheaper prices as a reason why fans should be understanding of the major uptick in ads.

“It’s $8.99,” White said. “These guys have got to make some money, too,” he said of Paramount. He did note that “it’s a work in progress,” but that ultimately Paramount paid for the product and can decide how many ads they want in the broadcast. 

Fans can access all UFC events for $8.99 a month or $90 a year on Paramount+, which varies drastically from the $79.99 pay-per-view price for each numbered event on ESPN. MMA analysts and fans were still frustrated with how full commercial breaks replaced certain fighter walkouts and audio from split-screen ads played when fans were used to listening to corner work. 

Ariel Helwani, host of The Ariel Helwani Show, said on Monday that he felt UFC 324 was a “great night for Paramount+”, but he echoed the sentiment that the ads took away from the broadcast.

“They have to recognize that they are going to upset a lot of fans because these are important parts of the fight game,” Helwani said. “The walkouts are very important. In between rounds, very important. You can’t treat it like a regular broadcast.”

The next UFC event on Paramount+ will take place Jan. 31, as Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes headline UFC 325 in Melbourne, Australia.

Paramount and UFC did not respond to requests for comment.