The UFC is Finally a Public Company After its IPO on Thursday Morning
The UFC is officially a public company after it had its IPO on Thursday morning. The IPO is listed under the umbrella company Endeavor Group Holdings ($EDR). This IPO comes on the heels of Endeavor announced its plans to purchase 100% stake in the UFC. Endeavor is also the owner of Miss Universe and the Professional Bull Riders.
The announcement of the IPO came Thursday morning. Dana White, president of the UFC, as well as Ari Emanuel and Patrick Whitesell, executives for Endeavor Holdings Group were present at the NYSE to launch the stock. The stock opened at a mere $25 Thursday morning, and now sits at $30.81.
What does this mean for the UFC? Well, this basically just means that the UFC will have even more money to put on huge promotions and stellar fights. It also means possible increases in pay for fighters in the sport. For years, Dana White has come under fire for his payment of the fighters in the UFC. With this IPO, the potential for higher pay increases tenfold.
Maybe this IPO will convince Dana White to pay Jon Jones. I speak for all fans when I say I need to see the mega-fight between Jones and Francis Ngannou for the heavyweight championship.
Early reports have said that the promotion raised over $500 million on day one of the stock’s availability, which means that the UFC is only getting richer. This coming after the UFC broke the record for the largest sale of a sport’s league in US history back in 2016.
You have to think this level of success is tied to the huge names that have helped grow the brand over the last 5 years. Names like Conor McGregor, Francis Ngannou, Jon Jones, and Kamaru Usman all come to mind.
For now, the IPO has proved to be a huge success. And I can only assume it will continue making the UFC more and more money as the days go by. This IPO, in addition to the huge fights already scheduled for this year, makes it easy to get excited about the UFC. Expect a hugely successful 2021 for the UFC.
