ESPN Reportedly Raising UFC PPV Prices In 2021

UFC fans will have to ante up to legally watch pay-per-view events in 2021.

Variety is reporting that as of January 8, ESPN will be raising the price of UFC PPVs from $64.99 to $69.99. In addition, the annual ESPN+ price for new subscribers will see a hike from $49.99 to $59.99. This will be the second price hike for UFC PPVs since the ESPN deal went into effect back in 2018.

As of December, ESPN+ has garnered 11.5 million subscribers. One million of those subscribers have come thanks to Conor McGregor’s UFC 246 headlining bout against Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone, at least that’s what Disney CEO Bob Iger said earlier this year (via Eric Fisher).

And Iger says the current number for ESPN+ is actually 7.6 million (the 6.6 million was at the end of the quarter), as another bump has come in largely thanks to the McGregor fight.

— Eric Fisher (@EricFisherSBG) February 4, 2020

“The ESPN+ subscriber number is up by 3 million since November, no doubt aided in part by the discounted Disney bundle offering this plus Disney+ and Hulu. And Iger says the current number for ESPN+ is actually 7.6 million (the 6.6 million was at the end of the quarter), as another bump has come in largely thanks to the McGregor fight.”

The first UFC PPV that’ll be a part of this new price hike will be UFC 257 on January 23. That event will be headlined by a rematch between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier. It’ll be the first UFC PPV of 2021.