You didn’t think he was going away quietly, did you?
The man who settled his high-profile investigation with the Securities & Exchange Commission after getting exiled from the kingdom he built?
Ari Emanuel has extinguished many friends and foes but professional wrestling is a different animal altogether and future conditions may precipitate a return for one Vince Kennedy McMahon.
This week’s edition of The MMA Draw Podcast on Substack takes a deep look into the politics of the TKO Board of Directors. Their upcoming July 2025 election and mega-election in 2026 for new Board members will give us quite a bit of insight about how WME Group & Silver Lake intend to navigate a tumultuous geopolitical situation in fight sport.
What's at stake in the UFC's next media rights deal?
How TKO obtains a new media rights deal for UFC will expose the strength — or weakness — of the UFC’s brand of fight content. It will also determine the future parameters for new investment for those trying to compete with UFC in the fight business.
This week’s podcast is divided into two main sections. Our free podcast portion is a deeper dive into the pros and cons of UFC’s current media rights negotiations, in particular what Netflix wants and is looking for in any new content deal. Everyone wants to talk about money but we’re focusing more on creative and marketing control. What is the tradeoff going to be for TKO if they deepen ties with Netflix?
And what clues has Netflix obtained about TKO business given their current relationship and data mining experiment with WWE?
We analyze a scenario in which Netflix would grab some creative control of UFC affairs, not the other way around as some might believe.
Our paid podcast portion this week is an intense look at the current political battles with the TKO Board of Directors. The ongoing knife-fighting and brewing politics are creating some very interesting conditions for an eventual civil war involving a couple of Vince McMahon’s wrestling “children.” With Endeavor having 7 board seats and WWE having 6 board seats, what kind of politicking is happening behind the scenes for the 2026 Board seat (s)elections?
One thing is for certain: the ghost of Vince McMahon is looming larger, especially with TKO’s increasing ties with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia via TKO Boxing. Given recent press articles discussing Turki Alalshikh’s background, the importance of Mr. McMahon as a potential peacemaker between some very powerful businessmen with large egos is increasing in viability. Who’s going to win out in the upcoming financial and political leverage game?
Also for paid subscribers, we have an extensive look at TKO’s battle plan to suck up as much taxpayer cash as possible for future fight events. We have financial and legal explanations behind why so many municipalities are dishing out the dollars and how Hollywood’s recent cries of poverty is playing into changing American politics for buying big time sporting events.
You can check out The MMA Draw Podcast on Substack via the following feeds:
We are working tirelessly behind the scenes to develop brand new content that we hope to unveil in Q2 of 2025. Between our long-form articles, original podcasts, and big fight picks & predictions, The MMA Draw on Substack is quickly establishing a name in a very noisy landscape as a place to go to find out how on Earth combat sports became a crazy marriage of politics, Wall Street, Big Media, and Hollywood. Our paid subscribers are ahead of the curve when it comes to developing stories in the industry. Don’t be left out!
Nate Wilcox is Editor-in-Chief of The MMA Draw. He founded BloodyElbow.com in 2007 and sold it in 2024. Zach Arnold is a lead opinion writer for The MMA Draw on Substack. His archives can be read at FightOpinion.com.
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