The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is increasingly prioritizing site fees as a critical factor when determining potential host cities, states, or countries for its events. Azerbaijan is one of the latest examples of a location willing to provide significant financial backing to secure a fight card.
Essentially, a site fee is a payment made by a local government or tourism body to the UFC to bring an event to their area. The promotion recently negotiated a lucrative agreement to begin hosting events in Saudi Arabia, building on previous long-term partnerships with cities like Abu Dhabi.
While the exact amount paid by Baku, Azerbaijan, for their first UFC event wasn`t publicly disclosed, Mark Shapiro, President and Chief Operating Officer of TKO Group Holdings (the parent company of UFC and WWE), indicated that the nation bordering Georgia incurred substantial costs to host the June 21 event.
“We’re looking under every stone,” Shapiro commented on the pursuit of site fees during the JP Morgan Global Technology, Media and Communications Conference. He highlighted substantial deals, including WWE`s Royal Rumble in Indianapolis and SummerSlam in New Jersey ($7 million), multiple future UFC events in Perth, Australia, and confirmed receiving “multi-millions” from Baku, Azerbaijan. He emphasized these are significant arrangements, distinct from minor local shows.
This strategy discussion followed comments about a recent weekend in Kansas City, Missouri, where UFC, WWE, and Professional Bull Riders (all owned by TKO) held events concurrently, a concept dubbed the “TKO takeover.”
Since the TKO merger formed by combining UFC and WWE, executives like Shapiro have discussed the potential benefits of staging multiple events in the same city simultaneously, aiming to make the proposition even more appealing for local governments to pay premium site fees.
While Shapiro suggested the Kansas City multi-event weekend could potentially serve as a “template,” he stressed that financial return remains the ultimate driver.
“We’ll keep looking into that and pursuing [more events like those in Kansas City] but make no mistake about it, we are driven by the financial return,” Shapiro stated. He acknowledged benefits like positive media attention and the suitability of the venue and fanbase, but reiterated that site fees and related in-kind services were the “priority driver,” even though the combined events felt like “one plus one did equal five.”
Shapiro also referenced WWE`s recent two-night WrestleMania 41 event held in Las Vegas, which reportedly came with a significant fee. However, he argued the city received a strong return on its investment, citing an ongoing economic impact study.
Regarding site fees specifically, Shapiro pointed to WrestleMania 41: “We had a meaningful site fee and in kind from Las Vegas… and that study is showing we drove $320 million to the city of Las Vegas for WrestleMania 41.”
Site fees have become such a critical revenue stream for both UFC and WWE that Shapiro mentioned a dedicated team focuses solely on this aspect of the business. This indicates that potentially surprising locations, like Azerbaijan, securing major events is a direct result of this strategic focus on governments willing to “pay to play.”
He explained the structure: “We’ve got an entire team dedicated, not just on the government relations side… But boots on the ground in these different cities to uncover who wants to pay to play.”
