TKO Group Holdings says UFC Freedom 250 at the White House resulted in an approximate $30 million loss after the company absorbed significantly higher-than-normal production costs for the event.
The event, held on the White House lawn in June, reportedly cost nearly $60 million to stage. Speaking during TKO’s earnings call on Monday, chief financial officer Andrew Schleimer said the company offset some of those costs through sponsorship agreements but generated no live event revenue because tickets were not sold.
“With regards to UFC Freedom 250, we incurred significantly higher than normal costs, which we partially offset with sold-out global partnerships inventory,” said Schleimer, according to TKO’s earnings call, as noted by BroBible. “As a reminder, we did not sell tickets and therefore did not record any live events revenue.”
Schleimer added: “Given the event’s profile, which as anticipated, resulted in an approximate $30 million loss, our margins at UFC as well as on a consolidated basis were meaningfully impacted.” Despite the financial loss, TKO executives said they considered the event a success because of its commercial and promotional impact.
“This event was a roaring success for our company, the UFC brand and the sport of mixed martial arts,” said TKO chief executive Ari Emanuel, according to the earnings call. TKO president and chief operating officer Mark Shapiro added: “Beyond the audience numbers, the event generated more than $1 billion in earned media value. [It’s] the kind of exposure only a handful of events in the world can command.” Shapiro said the event also strengthened the company’s commercial partnerships. “It also deepened our commercial relationships, adding 25 new marketing partners to our roster, many signing multiyear or multi-event deals,” he said.
