The UFC formally debuts on Paramount+ in January 2026 and with that costs for the streaming service are about to extend.
On Monday as a part of a letter despatched to traders, Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison revealed plans for a value hike coming within the first quarter of 2026, though the precise quantity has not been disclosed but. Paramount+ at the moment prices $7.99 per thirty days or $59.99 per yr for the important plan with adverts or $12.99 per thirty days or $119.99 per yr for the premium plan with no adverts exterior of stay tv choices.
“Our ongoing investments in Paramount+ are enhancing the worth we ship to shoppers,” Ellison mentioned within the letter. “To assist this continued funding, we plan to implement value will increase within the U.S. early within the first quarter of 2026, and we just lately introduced upcoming value changes in Canada and Australia.
“These adjustments will gas continued reinvestment within the consumer expertise and ship a fair stronger slate of programming for our clients within the yr forward and past.”
The UFC inked a large $7.7 billion deal over seven years to maneuver the corporate’s complete programming slate to Paramount beginning in 2026 after the present cope with ESPN expires. As a part of the brand new deal, all UFC occasions — together with the numbered pay-per-view occasions — are going to air solely on Paramount+ at no further price exterior of the value paid for a subscription.
“By eradicating the secondary pay-per-view paywall – traditionally a key barrier for UFC followers – we’re making these premium occasions accessible to each Paramount+ subscriber at no further price,” Ellison mentioned. “We’re excited to ship this distinctive worth with the price of an annual subscription to Paramount+ being lower than only one UFC pay-per-view occasion beneath prior distribution.
“We’re assured that higher accessibility will result in vital incremental subscriber progress and higher engagement throughout our platform, creating long-term worth for each us and the UFC.”
Throughout an earnings funding name, Paramount executives additionally highlighted the UFC working as a yr spherical sport with no off season, which makes it a really enticing sports activities property to forestall churn with subscribers.
It was famous in the course of the name that after the Masters golf event concluded and the NFL season began that Paramount+ skilled a lack of subscribers. The hope is that the UFC retains subscribers on board for the complete yr as a result of there isn’t any down time for the promotion on a month to month foundation.
Along with the UFC deal, Paramount additionally added Zuffa Boxing to its lineup beginning in 2026 as the brand new promotion headed up by UFC CEO Dana White and WWE president Nick Khan — with funding offered by Saudi Arabia — prepares for a large number of occasions every year.
“We couldn’t be extra enthusiastic about our partnership with TKO, Dana White and UFC and look, I’d additionally loop into that Zuffa Boxing,” Ellison mentioned in the course of the name. “These two offers clearly makes Paramount+ actually the house for fight sports activities. Clearly in the US and we even have rights in Latin America and Australia. If you additionally take a look at the UFC, it’s the largest sport that’s not mainly break up off throughout a number of platforms. It truly is a unicorn sports activities property. We expect it’s going to drive an incredible quantity of worth by way of each subscriber progress and engagement throughout Paramount+ in addition to CBS the place there will likely be some facet of the UFC that additionally lives on CBS.
“Along with that, when you concentrate on UFC and the chance there, there’s 100 million followers within the U.S. alone. It’s grown 25 % since 2019 to at the moment and it’s been doing all of that behind a double paywall in its earlier residence. So from that standpoint, we expect once you get rid of the double paywall, it’s going to develop into rather more accessible and we expect that the expansion fee will enhance. Moreover to that, we expect we’re providing by our subscribers at Paramount+ actually vital worth in the truth that for roughly one pay-per-view, you mainly can entry all the UFC throughout Paramount+. From that standpoint, we expect it’s an amazing worth for shoppers.”
Ever since finishing a merger to take over Paramount and mix the corporate with Skydance, Ellison has repeatedly pointed as content material as king in the case of future funding.
Along with offers with the UFC and Zuffa Boxing on the sports activities facet, Paramount additionally inked huge offers with the creators behind South Park in addition to Matt and Ross Duffer, who created the hit Netflix sequence Stranger Issues.
“We have to clearly spend money on extra content material,” Ellison mentioned. “Having an asset just like the UFC goes to extend engagement on platform, it’s going to drive subscribers and we’re feeling extremely assured within the funding that we simply made.”
