TKO Group Holdings — parent company to UFC and WWE — are diving into the deep end when it comes to the sport of boxing.
A joint venture funded by Saudi Arabia, with TKO executives such as Dana White and Nick Khan running the show, is expected to launch in early 2026, but the first real test for the partnership comes Sept. 13 with the boxing match between Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford. While plans to get involved in boxing are still relatively new to the company, TKO executives already consider the new promotion a “fourth major sports asset” in addition to UFC, WWE and Professional Bull Riders.
“We think boxing’s an attractive growth opportunity for TKO,” TKO president and chief operating officer Mark Shapiro said during a quarterly financial call with investors. “We believe we will deliver significant long term value for our shareholders and as I mentioned, this unequivocally will be a fourth tentpole sports asset for TKO. We are going all in here. Nothing like two gladiators going toe-to-toe since the beginning of time, it never gets old. That’s why boxing has the staying power that it has. Interest is multi-generational, both in the U.S. and internationally.
“We’re excited about our new [joint venture], formally titled Zuffa Boxing, which we launched with Saudi based Sela and announced in early March. This is low risk and TKO receives a roughly $10 million fee for serving as the managing partner and providing day-to-day operational management oversight. That’s all margin for us. TKO has no funding obligation.”
The new boxing venture fully launches in 2026 with the expectation that a TV deal is already in place before the first punches are thrown.
Shapiro said there has been massive interest from networks and streaming services interested in airing the new Zuffa Boxing events with hopes that a deal gets locked down soon.
“We’ve had significant interest from several domestic linear and [direct-to-consumer] platforms with regards to the media rights for our Zuffa Boxing promotion that will launch in the first quarter of next year,” Shapiro said. “We are in the home stretch of those negotiations and believe will have something to announce soon.”
Beyond the actual Zuffa Boxing events kicking off next year, Shapiro also doubled down on plans for a “superfight” series that centers around bigger marquee events like the upcoming Canelo-Crawford fight happening at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
That card is being broadcast on Netflix at no additional cost for subscribers and is expected to draw a massive live audience. Everything boxing related for TKO earns the company more money because Saudi Arabia is ultimately funding the entire venture.
“We will look to deliver two to three super fights per year, similar to the Canelo-Crawford fight that Saudis of course, Nick Khan and Dana White have helped us put together for September in Las Vegas,” Shapiro revealed. “Again, no risk to us on that deal.
“We get a fee to promote it, each one of these super fights. We get a fee to negotiate the media rights for each fight, which IMG does so another region we’re strong and proud of. We brought IMG into the fold of our flywheel. We get a fee for OnLocation to sell hospitality packages and we will put Zuffa Boxing fighters on the undercard of each of these super fights. We expect to net on average another $10 million for every super fight we manage and promote.”
In addition to Zuffa Boxing officially launching in 2026, TKO has been involved in pushing through legislation in Congress that would allow the new promotion to operate in similar fashion as the UFC.
The Muhammad Ali American Boxing Revival Act was recently introduced in Congress with provisions for the inclusion of “unified boxing organizations,” which is where Zuffa Boxing would exist if the bill passes through and ends up on the desk of President Donald Trump to sign into law.
“The Muhammad Ali American Boxing Revival Act was recently introduced in Congress,” UFC chief operating officer Lawrence Epstein said on the call. “It has bipartisan support via our co-sponsors Brian Jack of Georgia and Congressman Sharice Davids of Kansas. Sharice is actually a former MMA athlete. I want to be very clear that this new legislation does not intend to change anything in the existing Muhammad Ali Boxing Act. Every single word will remain exactly the same.
“What we are proposing is adding some additional language to this legislation that will allow for what I’ll call UFC-style unified organizations for the promotion of boxing events. This is going to provide more choice for athletes in the boxing space. We are very optimistic that this legislation will move relatively quickly, first through the House of Representatives and then of course the Senate and become law. We’re hopeful in the relatively near future.”
If the new law passes before the end of the year, that effectively paves the way for Zuffa Boxing to launch with UFC-style promotion when the organization officially kicks off in 2026.
