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UFC President Dana White recently revealed how his promotion managed to sign a television deal with the ‘worldwide leader’, ESPN.
White and the UFC have wrapped up the calendar year after recent events at UFC 282 and UFC Vegas 66. It was another profitable 12 months for the promotion as the UFC returned to holding events in more markets as the COVID-19 pandemic lightens in severity.
White and his staff has seen the UFC grow from an unknown, mediocre product in the early 2000s, to one of the major players in sports. Some UFC events have brought audiences bigger than some of the top NFL and soccer games.
One of the biggest moments in White’s tenure as UFC president was when the UFC signed a television deal with ESPN. This came as their previous deal, with Fox Sports, came to a close.
White and the UFC were praised for their move to ESPN, although some of the circumstances surrounding the agreement were allegedly a matter of luck.
Dana White: John Skipper’s Cocaine Problem Led To ESPN Deal
During a recent interview with Grant Cardone, White revealed that the ESPN/UFC collaboration was a product of impeccable timing.
“John Skipper ran ESPN. Now, I think he runs DAZN,” White said. “Runs ESPN, beloved, looks like the squarest dude on the planet. Older guy. Hates UFC. Big soccer guy, for whatever reason, people like different things…ESPN’s at the top of their game. They’re killing it in revenue, they’re getting five bucks per subscriber… our FOX deal is up and we’re probably not gonna do another deal with FOX…John Skipper’s never, ever gonna take the UFC. So, we’re in a real tough place.
“John Skipper’s cocaine dealer is about to rat him out. So he has to tell Disney, ‘My cocaine dealer is gonna come out’ or whatever, so he has to step down from ESPN, right at the time we’re trying to make a TV deal,” White continued. “Who do they make president? Jimmy Pitaro, who ran Yahoo! Sports for years. I’ve known him a long time. He’s a great dude…
“So we ended up doing the ESPN deal when our deal was up. You want to talk about timing?”
John Skipper is the executive chairman of DAZN Group, which hosts boxing and other events. He stepped down as president of ESPN not long after he re-signed a new contract, citing issues with substance abuse.
Skipper confirmed the cocaine extortion attempt in an interview with Sports Illustrated, adding relevance to White’s claims.
Skipper has found success with DAZN and recently announced that he’s in a better place health-wise following his substance issues. As for White, he’ll likely continue to shake his head when thinking about how the biggest broadcasting rights deal in the history of the company came to be.
Please provide transcription credit with a link to this article if you use any of these quotes.
UFC President Dana White recently revealed how his promotion managed to sign a television deal with the ‘worldwide leader’, ESPN.
White and the UFC have wrapped up the calendar year after recent events at UFC 282 and UFC Vegas 66. It was another profitable 12 months for the promotion as the UFC returned to holding events in more markets as the COVID-19 pandemic lightens in severity.
White and his staff has seen the UFC grow from an unknown, mediocre product in the early 2000s, to one of the major players in sports. Some UFC events have brought audiences bigger than some of the top NFL and soccer games.
One of the biggest moments in White’s tenure as UFC president was when the UFC signed a television deal with ESPN. This came as their previous deal, with Fox Sports, came to a close.
White and the UFC were praised for their move to ESPN, although some of the circumstances surrounding the agreement were allegedly a matter of luck.
Dana White: John Skipper’s Cocaine Problem Led To ESPN Deal
During a recent interview with Grant Cardone, White revealed that the ESPN/UFC collaboration was a product of impeccable timing.
“John Skipper ran ESPN. Now, I think he runs DAZN,” White said. “Runs ESPN, beloved, looks like the squarest dude on the planet. Older guy. Hates UFC. Big soccer guy, for whatever reason, people like different things…ESPN’s at the top of their game. They’re killing it in revenue, they’re getting five bucks per subscriber… our FOX deal is up and we’re probably not gonna do another deal with FOX…John Skipper’s never, ever gonna take the UFC. So, we’re in a real tough place.
“John Skipper’s cocaine dealer is about to rat him out. So he has to tell Disney, ‘My cocaine dealer is gonna come out’ or whatever, so he has to step down from ESPN, right at the time we’re trying to make a TV deal,” White continued. “Who do they make president? Jimmy Pitaro, who ran Yahoo! Sports for years. I’ve known him a long time. He’s a great dude…
“So we ended up doing the ESPN deal when our deal was up. You want to talk about timing?”
John Skipper is the executive chairman of DAZN Group, which hosts boxing and other events. He stepped down as president of ESPN not long after he re-signed a new contract, citing issues with substance abuse.
Skipper confirmed the cocaine extortion attempt in an interview with Sports Illustrated, adding relevance to White’s claims.
Skipper has found success with DAZN and recently announced that he’s in a better place health-wise following his substance issues. As for White, he’ll likely continue to shake his head when thinking about how the biggest broadcasting rights deal in the history of the company came to be.
Please provide transcription credit with a link to this article if you use any of these quotes.
Click here to view the article.
White and the UFC have wrapped up the calendar year after recent events at UFC 282 and UFC Vegas 66. It was another profitable 12 months for the promotion as the UFC returned to holding events in more markets as the COVID-19 pandemic lightens in severity.
White and his staff has seen the UFC grow from an unknown, mediocre product in the early 2000s, to one of the major players in sports. Some UFC events have brought audiences bigger than some of the top NFL and soccer games.
One of the biggest moments in White’s tenure as UFC president was when the UFC signed a television deal with ESPN. This came as their previous deal, with Fox Sports, came to a close.
White and the UFC were praised for their move to ESPN, although some of the circumstances surrounding the agreement were allegedly a matter of luck.
Dana White: John Skipper’s Cocaine Problem Led To ESPN Deal
During a recent interview with Grant Cardone, White revealed that the ESPN/UFC collaboration was a product of impeccable timing.
“John Skipper ran ESPN. Now, I think he runs DAZN,” White said. “Runs ESPN, beloved, looks like the squarest dude on the planet. Older guy. Hates UFC. Big soccer guy, for whatever reason, people like different things…ESPN’s at the top of their game. They’re killing it in revenue, they’re getting five bucks per subscriber… our FOX deal is up and we’re probably not gonna do another deal with FOX…John Skipper’s never, ever gonna take the UFC. So, we’re in a real tough place.
“John Skipper’s cocaine dealer is about to rat him out. So he has to tell Disney, ‘My cocaine dealer is gonna come out’ or whatever, so he has to step down from ESPN, right at the time we’re trying to make a TV deal,” White continued. “Who do they make president? Jimmy Pitaro, who ran Yahoo! Sports for years. I’ve known him a long time. He’s a great dude…
“So we ended up doing the ESPN deal when our deal was up. You want to talk about timing?”
John Skipper is the executive chairman of DAZN Group, which hosts boxing and other events. He stepped down as president of ESPN not long after he re-signed a new contract, citing issues with substance abuse.
Skipper confirmed the cocaine extortion attempt in an interview with Sports Illustrated, adding relevance to White’s claims.
Skipper has found success with DAZN and recently announced that he’s in a better place health-wise following his substance issues. As for White, he’ll likely continue to shake his head when thinking about how the biggest broadcasting rights deal in the history of the company came to be.
Please provide transcription credit with a link to this article if you use any of these quotes.
UFC President Dana White recently revealed how his promotion managed to sign a television deal with the ‘worldwide leader’, ESPN.
White and the UFC have wrapped up the calendar year after recent events at UFC 282 and UFC Vegas 66. It was another profitable 12 months for the promotion as the UFC returned to holding events in more markets as the COVID-19 pandemic lightens in severity.
White and his staff has seen the UFC grow from an unknown, mediocre product in the early 2000s, to one of the major players in sports. Some UFC events have brought audiences bigger than some of the top NFL and soccer games.
One of the biggest moments in White’s tenure as UFC president was when the UFC signed a television deal with ESPN. This came as their previous deal, with Fox Sports, came to a close.
White and the UFC were praised for their move to ESPN, although some of the circumstances surrounding the agreement were allegedly a matter of luck.
Dana White: John Skipper’s Cocaine Problem Led To ESPN Deal
During a recent interview with Grant Cardone, White revealed that the ESPN/UFC collaboration was a product of impeccable timing.
“John Skipper ran ESPN. Now, I think he runs DAZN,” White said. “Runs ESPN, beloved, looks like the squarest dude on the planet. Older guy. Hates UFC. Big soccer guy, for whatever reason, people like different things…ESPN’s at the top of their game. They’re killing it in revenue, they’re getting five bucks per subscriber… our FOX deal is up and we’re probably not gonna do another deal with FOX…John Skipper’s never, ever gonna take the UFC. So, we’re in a real tough place.
“John Skipper’s cocaine dealer is about to rat him out. So he has to tell Disney, ‘My cocaine dealer is gonna come out’ or whatever, so he has to step down from ESPN, right at the time we’re trying to make a TV deal,” White continued. “Who do they make president? Jimmy Pitaro, who ran Yahoo! Sports for years. I’ve known him a long time. He’s a great dude…
“So we ended up doing the ESPN deal when our deal was up. You want to talk about timing?”
John Skipper is the executive chairman of DAZN Group, which hosts boxing and other events. He stepped down as president of ESPN not long after he re-signed a new contract, citing issues with substance abuse.
Skipper confirmed the cocaine extortion attempt in an interview with Sports Illustrated, adding relevance to White’s claims.
Skipper has found success with DAZN and recently announced that he’s in a better place health-wise following his substance issues. As for White, he’ll likely continue to shake his head when thinking about how the biggest broadcasting rights deal in the history of the company came to be.
Please provide transcription credit with a link to this article if you use any of these quotes.
Click here to view the article.
