“I couldn’t be more excited to join forces with Dana, Ari, and Mark. Rarely do opportunities arise to partner on an exclusive basis with a global sports powerhouse like UFC,” said Chairman and CEO of Paramount, David Ellison, after securing a seven-year $7.7 billion broadcast deal with the UFC. But why bring that up here? That’s because until now, the UFC had a partnership with ESPN.

Yet, ESPN is losing sleep over what seems like a massive loss, since Paramount is willing to invest $1.1 billion each year in the UFC. Part of that is because of ESPN’s own blockbuster deal with the NFL. The currently “non-binding” deal will see ESPN acquire the NFL Network, NFL RedZone, and NFL fantasy football in exchange for handing over 10% of its stake to the NFL. Unfortunately, this deal could mean

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