UFC’s explosive growth is outpacing the WWE’s stagnant third quarter performance.
WWE generated $399.3 million in revenue during the third quarter of 2026 compared with $402.1 million during the same period last year.
On the other hand, UFC generated $519.2 million in revenue in the third quarter of 2026 compared with $325.2 million during the same period in 2025.
UFC generated $119.9 million more revenue than WWE this quarter.
The good news for WWE is that they are becoming more efficient at generating profits, their making more money while spending less on operating expenses.
Breaking things down, WWE’s live-event and hospitality revenue dropped from $82.5 million to $57.7 million in the third quarter. That’s a decline of approximately 30%. This can be attributed to fewer main-roster Premium Live Events compared with the third quarter of 2025 and lower ticket sales for SummerSlam.
WWE’s media rights continues to be the profit driver generating $255.8 million this quarter compared with $248.9 million last year. That’s an increase of $6.9 million. What is interesting to note is for the first nine months of 2026 media revenue increased from $779.4 million to $897.2 million. That’s an increase of approximately 15%. WWE’s media rights agreements are a reliable and growing revenue stream for TKO.
Sponsorship and marketing revenue increased approximately 28% while consumer products and licensing revenue increased approximately 13%.
UFC’s revenue though increased 60% compared with WWE’s decline. UFC is currently the stronger growth engine for TKO. UFC’s revenue rose from $325.2 million to $519.2 million. Their EBITDA, a way of measuring how much money a company makes from operating its business before accounting for certain financial expenses, increased 72%, from $165.6 million to $285.3 million. Their profit margin rose from 51% to 55%.
Mark Shapiro, TKO’s President and COO, said: “Our business is durable and our fundamentals are solid, with the vast majority of our existing revenues locked in for the next five to seven years…We see substantial runway ahead.”
TKO expects continued growth, stronger profitability and more revenue from its existing media deals, live events and sponsorships.
