10 Reasons Conor McGregor Vs. Floyd Mayweather Is More Likely Than You Think
2. WME-IMG Have A Lot Of Debt To Pay Off
WME-IMG paid a lot of money when they purchased the UFC in 2016. $4.2 billion dollars is the top end of the deal. They also borrowed a lot of money to make the sale happen, over $2 billion dollars. That will result in $117 million a year being owed... just in interest alone! After the fact, the sale of the promotion even generated a warning from the Federal Reserve Bank over the risks created by Goldman Sachs from the debt deals they made for the sale.
Ouch.
In short, WME-IMG needs to make a lot of money, especially in the short term. They're doing that by downsizing staff - easily 100 UFC employees have been given the axe since the acquisition, including notables like Chuck Liddell, Matt Huges, and play-by-play man Mike Goldberg. Pretty much all of UFC Canada was axed. The office overseeing its Asian operation was re-organized. The head of UFC Fight Pass has left, as has legendary matchmaker Joe Silva and PR exec Dave Shoeller.
They're also cutting events, but looking to charge TV networks more for the events they do host in the coming years.
Despite all of that, the UFC will live and die by PPV, for the foreseeable future. Ergo, they need to put on big cards every year. McGregor vs. Mayweather is the biggest they can do, so they'll be willing to negotiate.