The "sports bubble" is bound to pop some day, right?
I can't believe how aggressively the valuations of sports teams, leagues, and media rights deals are skyrocketing, all while legal viewer counts seem to be shrinking.
I hope the worst people in the world get caught holding the bag.
The biggest mistake everyone is making in analyzing this Paramount/UFC deal is looking at it as a fully legitimate transaction on a business level.
This was a political transaction. This was a transaction to buy permission for later business moves.
Larry Ellison is one of the world's richest men. You can't analyze this Paramount deal on regular terms. If we swapped his name out with, let's say, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, how different would the reaction and framing be?
UFC is a repeat offender when it comes to being overvalued. I mean, when I first saw the news about the Paramount deal, I thought to myself that they fell in the same trap as ESPN and FOX before them, sign a very high media rights deal with the UFC, but then not renewing after realizing they massively overpaid.
I just listened to Jason's audio review on the Paramount/UFC deal.
I like Jason but I think he's missing the larger, simpler and distilled picture here.
We cover fight sport in 2025 at The MMA Draw as pure politics because that's exactly what it is. Pure politics and venture capital culture.
These are not people who are primarily fight fans first and foremost. That's now how they view the world.
I'm amazed at how many smart people want to assign or project their own rationale on this deal. Just listen to the parties involved. Mark Shapiro admitted this deal was formulated in the last 48 hours.
Why would Larry Ellison overpay intensely for this? Because he can. The guy spent $8 billion to buy Paramount. He spent $8 billion to buy UFC. He spent $1.5 billion on Ari Emanuel's clients, South Park.
I feel like there's so much noise and misdirection about how to read this story that I might have to write a separate article about it. You can never be cynical enough and you can never fully understand the psychology of the world's richest people. Ari Emanuel does and that's why he's one of the world's most powerful and influential power brokers.
(On a side note, I've tried to call and reach out to Jason all of 2025 but have failed to make a connection. It was interesting talking with him throughout 2024.)
Thanks for you reply, Zach. And I think you have a point in regards to this deal because I've been thinking about this deal, being an accountant myself, it doesn't make financial sense.
It’s not Ari’s power in Hollywood that waned it’s the power of Hollywood itself. Ari shifted to sports for a reason and it was just a sideline until he nearly lost everything in 2020 and the UFC saved his empire.
Now he’s more of a political actor and as Zach says he defenestrated former Dreamworks boss Jeffrey Katzenberg last year when he called for Biden to drop out of the presidential race at a charity banquet in Hwood. Katzenberg, the co-chair of Biden for President, stormed out in a huff,but the end result was Ari Emanuel becoming the most influential Democrat political bundler in Hwood.
The "sports bubble" is bound to pop some day, right?
I can't believe how aggressively the valuations of sports teams, leagues, and media rights deals are skyrocketing, all while legal viewer counts seem to be shrinking.
I hope the worst people in the world get caught holding the bag.
The biggest mistake everyone is making in analyzing this Paramount/UFC deal is looking at it as a fully legitimate transaction on a business level.
This was a political transaction. This was a transaction to buy permission for later business moves.
Larry Ellison is one of the world's richest men. You can't analyze this Paramount deal on regular terms. If we swapped his name out with, let's say, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, how different would the reaction and framing be?
UFC is a repeat offender when it comes to being overvalued. I mean, when I first saw the news about the Paramount deal, I thought to myself that they fell in the same trap as ESPN and FOX before them, sign a very high media rights deal with the UFC, but then not renewing after realizing they massively overpaid.
This Paramount/UFC transaction is a pure Ari Emanuel move.
Pure Ari Emanuel is different than any animal you've ever encountered.
He is The Chicago Way on supermax politically. Everything must be viewed through this lens.
Once you do this, then you can understand why our track record at The MMA Draw in 2025 has been really good.
Ari always finds a new world leader or billionaire to befriend when the ones old get tired or want to exit out.
Nice Article, guys. You should listen to Jason (MMAI) take on the deal.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/136236088
I just listened to Jason's audio review on the Paramount/UFC deal.
I like Jason but I think he's missing the larger, simpler and distilled picture here.
We cover fight sport in 2025 at The MMA Draw as pure politics because that's exactly what it is. Pure politics and venture capital culture.
These are not people who are primarily fight fans first and foremost. That's now how they view the world.
I'm amazed at how many smart people want to assign or project their own rationale on this deal. Just listen to the parties involved. Mark Shapiro admitted this deal was formulated in the last 48 hours.
Why would Larry Ellison overpay intensely for this? Because he can. The guy spent $8 billion to buy Paramount. He spent $8 billion to buy UFC. He spent $1.5 billion on Ari Emanuel's clients, South Park.
I feel like there's so much noise and misdirection about how to read this story that I might have to write a separate article about it. You can never be cynical enough and you can never fully understand the psychology of the world's richest people. Ari Emanuel does and that's why he's one of the world's most powerful and influential power brokers.
(On a side note, I've tried to call and reach out to Jason all of 2025 but have failed to make a connection. It was interesting talking with him throughout 2024.)
Thanks for you reply, Zach. And I think you have a point in regards to this deal because I've been thinking about this deal, being an accountant myself, it doesn't make financial sense.
Where else do you go? Powerslap;)
Come on guys, Ari’s power in Hollywood has been on the wane for years. Keep up
It's waning so much that he sidelined Jeffrey Katzenberg's fundraising for President Biden.
It’s not Ari’s power in Hollywood that waned it’s the power of Hollywood itself. Ari shifted to sports for a reason and it was just a sideline until he nearly lost everything in 2020 and the UFC saved his empire.
Now he’s more of a political actor and as Zach says he defenestrated former Dreamworks boss Jeffrey Katzenberg last year when he called for Biden to drop out of the presidential race at a charity banquet in Hwood. Katzenberg, the co-chair of Biden for President, stormed out in a huff,but the end result was Ari Emanuel becoming the most influential Democrat political bundler in Hwood.
Isn't that why he's running to sports? He wasn't a billionaire just being a Hollywood mogul; it took acquiring the UFC and WWE to do that.