UFC owner emerges as cage-fight heavyweight

TKO group

12/06/2026 18:01

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist.  The opinions expressed are her own.
By Jennifer  Saba

    NEW YORK, June 12 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Nothing sums up America’s political psyche better than a brawl inside a steel cage. President Donald Trump is hosting the grim spectacle, run by the Ultimate Fighting Championship, on the South Lawn of the White House this Sunday, to celebrate the country’s 250th year of independence. Thunderstorms forecast for 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue add an apt flourish for an embattled administration. Right now, though, bare-knuckle entertainment outfit TKO TKO.N seems set to be a winner.
The $40 billion company that owns the UFC is teaming up with Trump to present a series of fights featuring mixed-martial-arts athletes duking it out in an octagon metal structure known as “the Claw.” The event is expected to draw 4,000 in-person spectators alongside the Trump family, government officials and perhaps celebrities like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
Questions of propriety in the choice of venue aside, the president is following the trends. Live sports are now the center of the entertainment universe, the last thing capable of convincing Americans to sit down and pay attention at the same time. Team franchises are rocketing in value, rights to broadcast matches grow ever-more expensive — and yet, among it all, TKO stands out.
The media firm, which also owns Trump-approved World Wrestling Entertainment, was once part of Hollywood conglomerate Endeavor. It spun out in 2023 and has been on a tear ever since.
Helmed by super-agent Ari Emanuel, TKO locked in broadcast rights for seven years with David Ellison’s Paramount PSKY.O in a deal worth $7 billion. Morgan Stanley reckons that 80% of TKO’s revenue — estimated to be $1.9 billion this year – is under contract.
The company is exceptionally profitable, with EBITDA margins in 2026 expected to approach 40%, according to Visible Alpha. That’s double the forecast for Walt Disney DIS.N, the owner of sports giant ESPN. Little wonder, then, that TKO’s enterprise trades at 20 times expected profit, judging by LSEG data, while the Magic Kingdom is worth just 10 times.
Everything comes together harmoniously. Ellison is set to control more eyeballs and media heft through the $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery WBD.O, a boon for TKO’s reach. Ties to the Trump administration can be useful at a time when regulators are shockingly apt to wade into various disputes. There’s just one slight hitch: the president. Only 35% of the country approves of his job performance, according to Reuters, as inflation rises and economic concerns mount. Emanuel would be wise to remember that politics, too, is a blood sport.
Follow Jennifer Saba on Bluesky and LinkedIn.
     
CONTEXT NEWS
President Donald Trump is hosting an Ultimate Fighting Championship cage match on the South Lawn of the White House on June 14. The event is to celebrate the United States' 250th anniversary of independence and the president’s 80th birthday.
UFC is owned by TKO Group.

(Editing by Jonathan Guilford; Production by Pranav Kiran)
((For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can click on SABA/jennifer.saba@thomsonreuters.com))