UFC’s latest revenue surge has given its parent company another reason to look for ways to expand the promotion’s reach. The promotion’s revenue grew 60% year-over-year to $519.2 million in the third quarter of 2026, driven by increases in media rights, production, and content revenue. Not bad considering its seven-year, $7.7 billion Paramount deal is just 10 months old. However, TKO Group Holdings, the parent company behind UFC and WWE, is already exploring ways to put UFC programming in front of even more viewers.

During an earnings call on Wednesday, TKO Group Holdings president and COO Mark Shapiro confirmed that active discussions are underway with Skydance to maximize UFC’s viewership across its newly expanded multi-platform portfolio, which includes HBO and TNT.

“We’re in conversation as we speak with Skydance about the best way to maximize audience across the Skydance platform,” Shapiro said during the call. “We will be maximizing HBO, TNT, Paramount+, CBS, all in the name of expanding eyeballs, expanding viewership, growing audience, and increasing engagement.”

Mark Shapiro has the leverage to push for it.

Paramount-Skydance tied all 43 live UFC events annually to Paramount+ when they signed their seven-year, $7.7 billion deal with TKO in August 2025, effectively doing away with the traditional pay-per-view model in the US.

But with its recent $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount-Skydance now has HBO, TNT, and TBS under its umbrella. This means all these broadcast and streaming platforms now sit under the same corporate roof as Paramount+ and CBS.

As such, with UFC’s popularity surging, TKO could push for an expansion of the promotion’s programming across platforms like HBO and TNT, potentially putting its content in front of an even wider audience. That could also bring greater opportunities for advertising and sponsorship revenue.

And Mark Shapiro is clearly looking to make that happen.

“Our business is durable, and our fundamentals are solid, with the vast majority of our existing revenues locked in for the next five to seven years,” Shapiro said in TKO’s third-quarter earnings release on November 4. “Macro trends are firmly in our favor, every facet of sports consumption is pointing north, and we see substantial runway ahead.”

Those comments came on the back of a successful quarter for TKO, with UFC playing a major role in its growth. In the third quarter of 2026, UFC revenue was up 60% to $519.2 million, while its adjusted EBITDA climbed 72% to $285.3 million. Across TKO, revenue increased 21% to $1.36 billion, and the company projected full-year revenue of $5.790 billion to $5.830 billion.

WWE, meanwhile, slipped 1% to $399.3 million on softer live-event and hospitality revenue, while IMG gained 16% to $391.3 million, helped by World Cup hospitality. That gap shows why the cage remains the headline act in TKO’s business.

With such strong numbers, Paramount-Skydance has plenty of reason to explore an expansion of UFC’s programming onto HBO and TNT. But Shapiro also mentioned another recognizable name from Skydance when explaining why he believes the two sides can make it work.

Mark Shapiro banks on ESPN history with Skydance Sports head to expand UFC’s broadcast

TKO’s robust quarterly earnings give it confidence heading into negotiations, but successful deals are also built on relationships. David Berson, the head of Skydance Sports, has previously worked with Shapiro at ESPN, giving the TKO executive a familiar face on the other side of the table. That shared history could help the two sides find the best way to expand UFC’s presence across their platforms.

“I used to work with David Berson, who’s the head of Skydance Sports, from our days at ESPN,” Shapiro said on the November 4 call. “He’s super creative.

“Fully aligned strategically with Skydance and, frankly, they made a huge investment in UFC and we want to see that we help them maximize their returns.”

This investment by Skydance needs to justify itself, and Dana White understands that well.

The UFC CEO told The Diary of a CEO host Steven Bartlett that he would seek a $10 billion deal for the promotion’s next media-rights contract after the Paramount agreement. He also did not rule out returning to the one-off pay-per-view model if another major star came along who could drive that kind of business.

The merger of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery has brought HBO Max and Paramount+ under the same corporate umbrella, opening up more opportunities to reach subscribers across multiple platforms. Whether that eventually means live UFC events on HBO or TNT, or simply more programming and content across those networks, remains to be seen. But with Shapiro looking to maximize the value of the partnership, the UFC could have even more room to grow in the coming days.