TKO Group Holdings has revealed that UFC Freedom 250 resulted in a $30 million loss.
MMA’s first event at the White House is believed to have cost around $60 million to put together.
Tickets were not sold for the event, making it impossible to recoup all of the money invested in UFC Freedom 250.
LATEST NEWS: Bruce Buffer’s UFC White House mic used to introduce Gaethje, Pereira and more sells for 5 figures
UFC owners provide earnings update
On Monday, chief financial officer Andrew Schleimer spoke during a TKO earnings call.
It was revealed that the company managed to offset some of UFC Freedom 250’s costs through sponsorship agreements, but
“With regards to UFC Freedom 250, we incurred significantly higher than normal costs, which we partially offset with sold-out global partnerships inventory,” Schleimer said.
“As a reminder, we did not sell tickets and therefore did not record any live events revenue.”
“Given the event’s profile, which as anticipated, resulted in an approximate $30 million loss, our margins at UFC as well as on a consolidated basis were meaningfully impacted.”
TKO chief executive Ari Emanuel added: “This event was a roaring success for our company, the UFC brand and the sport of mixed martial arts.
UFC Freedom 250 delivered 34 million global viewers, and peaked at 17 million in the United States.
Will the UFC ever return to the White House?
Dana White insisted that the UFC will never put on another event at the White House during a post-fight press conference.
“I can’t afford it,” the UFC CEO said.
“I’ll never do the Sphere again, and we’ll never do this again.”
White and President Donald Trump will work on a fight for the troops in 2027, but it won’t be as extravagant as the event on June 14.
“The president can make a lot of things happen,” he added.
“So, we’re talking about doing it next year. He wanted to do it this year, and I said, ‘Sir, I need a year to recover financially from the White House fight, so give me a year.’”
2026-08-04 16:00:00
