David Senra · May 10Dana White: The Man Behind the UFC
It passed on The Ultimate Fighter until the UFC covered production, leaving Spike only airtime with no downside. The renewal was a napkin deal in an alley, and TV rights started at $35M.
Tips
- Dana White paid for The Ultimate Fighter himself so Spike TV had no risk and he kept ownership▶ 11:23After the Bonnar vs. Griffin finale Spike executives agreed to a renewal on a napkin, and the UFC owned 100% of everything it had funded.
- Dana White and the Fertittas put in a last $10M on The Ultimate Fighter▶ 11:48The finale crowd stomped and chanted for one more round, Forrest Griffin became a pay-per-view star, and the show led to a renewal.
- Dana White tunes out critics who said the UFC peaked at every TV deal▶ 46:40The deals grew from $35 million at Spike to $100 million at Fox, $3 billion at ESPN and $7.7 billion over seven years at Paramount.
