Overview
- Speaking at the Morgan Stanley TMT conference, TKO President Mark Shapiro said last year’s adjusted EBITDA margin was 33.5% and midpoint guidance is roughly 39.6%, which he said already factors in higher pay for UFC fighters and WWE talent.
- Dana White’s move to raise UFC post-fight performance bonuses from $50,000 to $100,000 took effect in January alongside a new $25,000 finish bonus, which Shapiro highlighted as the immediate change.
- Shapiro said additional increases will come and emphasized they are accounted for within TKO’s margin guidance, without providing a timetable or detailing which contracts will change.
- The comments follow the UFC’s seven-year, $7.7 billion shift from ESPN to Paramount that retires traditional pay-per-views and significantly lifts media-rights revenue.
- Fighter skepticism persists, with some athletes reporting no meaningful base-pay gains so far and criticism intensifying after reports of Zuffa Boxing’s $15 million deal for Conor Benn drew public pushback from Sean O’Malley and Michael Page.