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Paramount CEO David Ellison said the company’s addition of UFC bouts to Paramount+ at no extra charge to subscribers largely justifies the price hikes set to take effect on the service in early 2026. “We think we’re offering subscribers to Paramount+ really significant value,” he said during an earnings call Monday with Wall Street analysts. For the price of “approximately one pay-per-view [event], you basically can access all of the UFC across Paramount+. So, from that standpoint, we think it’s a great value for consumers.” Days after the close of the Paramount-Skydance merger last August, Paramount paid $7.7 billion for a 7-year rights deal for the UFC. It later added Zuffa Boxing. Ellison said the combination makes Paramount+ “the home for combat sports.” In the current UFC deal with ESPN, which will expire at the end of this year, fights can only be accessed via subscription service ESPN+. Along with the monthly subscription price for the service, individual pay-per-view events cost $79.99. The setup has effectively created a “double pay wall,” Ellison said, though viewership has still managed to climb 25% since 2019. When the barriers are lifted, he added, the mixed-martial-arts circuit is “going to become much more accessible and we think that growth rate will increase.” In the company’s third-quarter earnings letter, Paramount said price hikes on Paramount+ are set for Canada and Australia, in order to support “continued investment” in the service. The U.S. will follow in early 2026, though the timing and amount of the increase were not specified in the letter or during the call. “Our ongoing investments in Paramount+ are enhancing the value we deliver to consumers,” Ellison wrote in the letter. Higher prices “will fuel continued reinvestment in the user experience and deliver an even stronger slate of programming for our customers in the year ahead and beyond.” Ellison described the UFC as a “unicorn sports property” because it is not spread across multiple platforms, as is the case for top-tier leagues like the NFL or NBA. Along with sports, the company has made significant talent commitments to the likes of Stranger Things creators the Duffer Brothers and South Park duo Trey Parker and Matt Stone. The company also has a “roadmap to obviously significantly improve the overall product,” Ellison added, with a more unified and smooth streaming operation as well as increased functionality on the Paramount+ app.
