“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 bad news for sports like volleyball.

The ESPN-NFL deal, valued at $2-3 billion, will undoubtedly be mutually beneficial. However, Leonard Armato believes it’s bad for multiple other sports, including volleyball. Last year, NCAA volleyball coverage brought ESPN a record-breaking 3.7 million combined views, but the CEO of Management Plus Enterprises believes ESPN’s priority will now shift.

“The NFL’s equity stake means ESPN will double down on football, from live games to endless analysis, leaving less distribution of live programming opportunities and media coverage for other sports,” Armato explained in his article for Forbes. While the NCAA’s broadcast deal with ESPN remains intact, it’s the reduction in overall exposure that could hurt volleyball and other sports that have recently gained traction.

“If ESPN is not covering the NFL, the coverage will shift to the other major sports where ESPN has already invested heavily through rights fees. These sports include the NBA, NHL, MLB, US Open Tennis, and college football, among others,” he continued. While record-breaking views and the NCAA deal may protect college volleyball to a degree, things look dire for the pro scene.

It could be even worse for Women’s Pro Volleyball

College volleyball has exploded in popularity since the historic 2023 match between the Nebraska Huskers and Omaha at Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, which set the women’s sports attendance record at 92,003 fans. However, that popularity has translated to a fledgling pro volleyball scene as well. After the PVF’s massive success in its inaugural season, LOVB also debuted to much fanfare.

Then came Major League Volleyball’s early January 2025 announcement as the supposed third pro volleyball league. Despite this growth, Shaquille O’Neal’s ‘Shaq’ brand founder explained that the fledgling scene can’t compete with professional football. “Women’s Pro Volleyball? It’s got no NFL connection,” wrote the Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) founder.

“So it’s pretty much left with few matches, lower-tier distribution, and relatively no reporting,” Armato added in his report. Thankfully, all hope is not lost for pro volleyball’s progress either. While the MLV looked to create its own league back in January, it recently announced a historic merger with the Pro Volleyball Federation.

The record-breaking deal saw NBA and MLS team owners alongside other investors raise $40 million to take the value of the merged MLV to a whopping $325 million. While announcing their merger, the MLV announced that this year’s inaugural PVF all-star match peaked at 445,000 on CBS. So, pro volleyball will look to capitalize on this momentum despite the challenging situation Leonard Armato wrote about.