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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has been sold for $4 billion [marketplace.org] to William Morris Endeavor and International Management Group, along with other owners, including Michael Dell's investment firm MSD Capital. The deal represents one of the biggest sales in sports history [washingtonpost.com]:

UFC has been around for 23 years, and in 2001 the current owners bought it for just $2 million.

Kenneth Shropshire, a professor at the Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania who studies the business of sports, said that's "a lot of money...that was my first reaction." But he said the sale to a group of investors led by talent agency WME-IMG makes sense. "It fits with the discussion that's been going on for awhile about content is king," he said.

Investors are betting on mixed martial arts becoming really popular content. Shropshire said that right now the biggest money in sports is in producing live broadcast events — think NFL.

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