TKO Group Holdings, the parent company of UFC and WWE, is close to sealing a deal with the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund to launch a new boxing league in 2025.
TKO President and Chief Operating Officer Mark Shapiro announced the news, revealing that the company is currently in talks with Saudi Arabia to fund a boxing league. The venture will be run by the UFC and WWE, but Saudi Arabia will largely make the financial investments. TKO expects to close the deal soon, as talks have intensified over the past couple of days.
“Everybody knows we’re in talks with the Saudis, but to give you a little more detail, I will tell you that we are close to an agreement with them on the creation of a boxing league. TKO would be the producer, the promoter, and responsible for all day-to-day operations of the venture, for which we would receive a fee of $10 million or more,” Shapiro said during the call. “Again, we’re not putting any money in, we’re not investing any capital, and we’re not on the hook for any costs.”
“Additionally, we would have some earn-in equity over time, specifically over a five-year period, but it would be dependent on us achieving certain milestones, including exceeding board-approved annual budgets over that five-year period.”
“We’ve just sent a delegation to London to meet with the Saudi delegation, led by Andrew Schleimer, our [Chief Financial Officer], Nick Khan, who runs WWE, and Lawrence Epstein, who runs UFC,” Shapiro said. “They had a full-day meeting earlier this week, and we’re getting awfully close. When we have something official, we’ll announce it.”
Partnering with Saudi Arabia is a strategic move for TKO as it broadens its horizons and establishes its presence in another combat sport. The Saudis are known for making major fights happen. The head of the General Entertainment Authority, Turki Al-Sheikh, has hosted many big fights under their banner, including the Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk battle, and plans to make many more happen. Shapiro also revealed that the company might unveil a pair of mega-cards later this year.
“I think I’ve given you at least a framework of what the deal would be,” Shapiro explained. “It’s its own league, and we’d have consistent fights throughout the year. On top of that, as part of the partnership, we would be the promoter, producer, and event operator for four large-scale superfights, as I call them, that would air—probably two this year and two in 2026.”
“Those may or may not fall into the boxing league itself; they may just be one-offs. But we would be paid a fee to act as the promoter, producer, and event operator.”
The president emphasized that, although they are entering the boxing business, TKO has not forgotten its primary focus, which is UFC and WWE. He stated that UFC and WWE will continue to operate, and the new boxing league will be a separate entity with regular boxing events scheduled throughout the year.
“Our primary focus, I don’t want to lose sight of this, is continuing to drive value for our core business. And our core business—even with the addition of Endeavor assets like IMG, On Location, and PBR—make no mistake about it, our core business is UFC and WWE,” Shapiro said. “We’re focused on the integration of IMG, On Location, and PBR, both as standalone businesses and also to help power and fuel our two main assets, UFC and WWE. When it comes to other opportunities, we intend to be selective, disciplined, and thoughtful. We will consider other opportunities to create long-term value for our shareholders as they present themselves, but they must be value-accretive.”
“When you look at boxing, it checks all those boxes. It’s a thoughtful move, and it’s the right strategic place for us to be. We have experts like Nick Khan and Dana White, among others, who can drive that business. We can be selective in terms of how we participate, and whatever we do, we will not take on risk. It will definitely be value-accretive.”
Shapiro also addressed questions regarding TKO’s plans concerning the Muhammad Ali Act. The Muhammad Ali Act is federal legislation governing professional boxing in the United States, intended to protect the welfare of boxers. However, Ari Emanuel previously suggested that the Ali Act might be doing more harm than good, hinting at potential changes to the law under the new Trump administration.
“Look, the Ali Act has flaws,” Shapiro said. “We believe it’s possible to improve the current system to facilitate more opportunities for boxers and to help grow the sport of boxing in America. That’s where we’re at. We’re not actively pushing, drafting legislation, or lobbying legislators. That’s ultimately for someone else. Whether it stays or goes, we think the opportunity for boxing is extraordinary for us, in particular.”
