TKO can afford to learn from Netflix & Turki Alalshikh
How will Zuffa Boxing exploit a historically inefficient boxing business model?
The cash is drying up for many independent players in the world of boxing.
Don’t believe me? Read this recent BBC article on “small hall” boxing and the UK boxing scene.
The one-two combination of Turki Alalshikh’s spending spree plus limited cash from major media outlets is quickly suffocating the club-level and mid-major boxing promoters on a global scale.
Which is a perfect scenario, ideally, for those who are already on top or who have the resources to buy their way right into the main event scene. Like Zuffa Boxing.
There was a round of mockery from online boxing fans regarding the names Dan Rafael reported of PBC-flavored Zuffa Boxing signings.
You can interpret that report in multiple ways. My interpretation is rather clear.
First, the Golden Oldies ESPN boxing crew from a generation ago is likely reuniting forces under the Zuffa Boxing orbit. Max Kellerman, Joe Tessitore, Teddy Atlas cameo appearances, and a cavalcade of former Nick Khan CAA clients.
Second, TKO is playing Zuffa Boxing very conservatively until certain milestones are reached. For the first half of 2026, it’s about building relationships and playing moneyball. Once Congress passes the Ali Revival Act, the second wave of Zuffa Boxing signings will commence.
While TKO is waiting to cement its regulatory path with UBOs, Zuffa Boxing is quietly waiting out the rest of the competition. Legacy promoters are facing a sluggish financial climate in 2026.
As Thomas Hauser recently wrote in The Guardian, the burn rate of boxing cash over the last decade has been grizzly.
“The investment firm of Waddell & Reed lost a reported $400m (£296.8) investing in Premier Boxing Champions (PBC). DAZN has lost a reported $7bn (£5.2bn) since its inception, a good chunk of that attributable to its boxing program. ESPN kept Top Rank afloat for eight years with a generous annual rights payment. But the network was unable to monetize boxing the way it hoped to and their agreement expired earlier this year. The Saudi Arabian General Entertainment Authority has poured an incalculable sum into a boxing program that has been swimming in red ink since its inception.
Most professional sports franchises in America are looked upon as community assets. There are times when boxing seems like an unwanted stepchild. Showtime followed HBO out of the boxing business. The sport’s major promoters in the United States are suffering. Mid-level promoters are falling by the wayside. There are questions as to how long PBC – once thought to be on the verge of “taking over” boxing – will survive. Top Rank is scrambling to put together deals with one or more platforms that will enable it to continue on a diminished basis.”
Most avenues for respectable media rights deals have disappeared. You can’t survive as a legacy promoter simply on time buys, barter ad-splits, FAST channels, or minimal guarantees heavily reliant on KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). TKO can play that game, but independent players are bravely running into a brick wall trying to survive under such a risky business model.
Compounding this economic challenge is the fact that alphabet-sanctioned champions are being offered guaranteed purses that appear to be significantly higher and disconnected from actual customer and sponsorship interest.
Take, for example, the upcoming WBC Super Lightweight title fight between champion Subriel Matias and challenger Dalton Smith, scheduled for January 10, 2026, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The purse bid was reportedly $1.9M. According to the Twitter account Boxing Tickets, the event has sold a little over 6,700 tickets at Barclays. The suggested PPV price is $55.
With shrinking media rights fees and dwindling PPV buy rates, legacy promoters are facing a crisis with talent contracts. What were once viewed as assets are now viewed as huge liabilities. Fighters under contract who aren’t fighting and generating revenue are suddenly expensive mortgages for promoters.
Top Rank still hasn’t announced a new media rights deal. As The MMA Draw reported last Summer, PBC couldn’t land a deal with ESPN. Golden Boy has a few dozen fighters under contract and is mostly a DAZN PPV play.
Every single month that legacy boxing promoters fail to land a new media rights deal, that economic pressure increases the pain on promoters to either: a) release boxers, b) loan them out to other promoters, or c) assign their contracts to someone else. The risk profile of having financial responsibility with a large roster of fighters is metastasizing.
A couple of higher-profile US-based fight buyers are closing up shop. Signing young boxing prospects to contracts and buying fights at club or mid-major boxing events has been a long-standing tradition. However, the Return On Investment is currently as speculative as day trading Zero-dated options. Without heavy-hitting media platforms financing big fights, getting into the boxing management game has a narrow pathway for success in 2026.
The landscape for DAZN in 2026 is a big question mark. With heavy influence from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, DAZN is quickly moving into a silo of either TKO-friendlies or neutrals. The only TKO-skeptical players likely to stick around on DAZN are Matchroom and Queensberry. They’re also partners in Turki Alalshikh’s orbit.
As the BBC’s ‘small hall’ boxing article pointed out, Turki’s spending spree has distorted — or exposed — the natural financial order of promotion in the United Kingdom. Daniel Kinahan’s impact notwithstanding.
For Zuffa Boxing, having the competition in the Saudi Silo is just fine. TKO has Paramount, Netflix, and reportedly other media players like Sky Sports ready to play ball.
Just because the conditions look favorable to TKO for an entry into boxing doesn’t mean that it’s a lock to make significant money, at least initially. The Kingdom spent a fortune this past weekend for their Night of the Samurai event with Monster Inoue and Junto Nakatani flying all the way from Japan to Riyadh to fight in front of a few thousand spectators. Turki expressed his desire to go to Japan for Golden Week 2026 when a prospective Inoue/Nakatani fight will likely take place at the Tokyo Dome.
In order for Zuffa Boxing to increase its boxing footprint, they need to isolate US legacy promoters and decrease fighter pay to recruit the same kind of Wall Street investment that UFC & WWE currently attract.
So what exactly is the game plan for TKO to dramatically compress boxing salaries?
The puzzle pieces are in front of everyone. Whether or not TKO can put it together, that’s another story. But their strategy is clearly unfolding.
