When the Fertitta brothers, Frank and Lorenzo, bought the UFC from Bob Meyrowitz, it cost them $2 million. They gave a small share of the company to Dana White, and when they sold the company to Endeavour for $4 billion, it was the most expensive transaction for a sports entity.
Zuffa, the parent entity of UFC under the Fertittas, grew the sport of MMA with the UFC. They faced several hurdles, particularly from the legal side. Nonetheless, with the entry of Endeavour, UFC grew even bigger. However, it very well could not, evidenced by Dana White’s recent revelation.
Rejecting $1 Billion CBS Sports Offer
Speaking on One Nation with Brian Kilmeade on Fox News, the UFC head honcho revealed behind the scenes the deals he rejected before Endeavour bought them. The UFC CEO has always been critical of entities, mainly in boxing, for their televised production.
In the interview, White recounted an instance when the UFC signed a deal with HBO. However, before the deal took off, White had arguments with the HBO officials, and eventually, the deal was. Interestingly, Ari Emanuel, who would later buy the UFC, helped them out of the agreement.
Interestingly, before Endeavour, whose CEO is Ari Emanuel, bought the UFC for $4 billion. CBS Sports had offered $1 billion to buy the UFC. The Fertittas were interested in selling the company, but it didn’t work out. Dana White revealed why it was so in the interview.
“So CBS tried to come in and make us an offer to buy us at one point, right? And I was in Hawaii on vacation. And ironically, I’m usually late to everything. I was on the call early and the Showtime guys were on the call early because they — I didn’t know they were going to be on. I thought we were talking to [former chairman and CEO of CBS Corporation] Les Moonves,” Dana White said.
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“So by the time Les Moonves and Lorenzo got on the phone, me and Showtime were fighting, going at it, literally, ‘Eff you, eff you,’ back and forth. And those guys got on and heard us going back and forth, and the call, literally, that was the end of it. “So Lorenzo calls me right back immediately and goes, ‘I guess we’re not doing a deal with CBS.’ I said, ‘Yeah, sorry.’”, White added.
The UFC head honcho revealed he had always hated Showtime, the CBS subsidiary television network. White also stated that a deal with either HBO or CBS would’ve negatively impacted the UFC’s growth, so he was happy it didn’t happen.
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