TKO Group Holdings
Public sports-and-entertainment company (NYSE: TKO) formed September 12, 2023 by Endeavor's combination of UFC and WWE at a $21.4 billion enterprise value. It now also owns IMG, On Location, and PBR, and in 2025 signed landmark media-rights deals with Paramount ($1.1B/yr) and ESPN ($325M/yr).
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- Country
- United States
- Identity
- TKO Group Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: TKO) is a premium sports and entertainment company owning UFC, WWE, IMG, On Location, and PBR. Its properties reach 1 billion households across 210 countries and territories and organize more than 500 live events a year.
- Formation
- Formed on September 12, 2023, when Endeavor Group Holdings closed its combination of Zuffa (the UFC's parent) with WWE; trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker "TKO" began the same day.
- Deal value
- Enterprise values at close: UFC $12.1 billion, WWE $9.3 billion — $21.4 billion combined. Endeavor took a 51% controlling interest; existing WWE shareholders kept 49%.
- Launch leadership
- Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel as TKO CEO, Vince McMahon as executive chairman, Mark Shapiro in a dual executive role, Dana White as UFC CEO, and Nick Khan as WWE president; an 11-member board, six appointed by Endeavor and five by WWE.
- McMahon exit
- Vince McMahon resigned as executive chairman on January 26, 2024, one day after former WWE employee Janel Grant filed a federal lawsuit in Connecticut accusing him of serious sexual misconduct. McMahon denied wrongdoing and left "out of respect" for WWE and TKO.
- Acquired Businesses
- On February 28, 2025, TKO closed its $3.25 billion equity acquisition from Endeavor of the IMG, On Location, and Professional Bull Riders (PBR) businesses. It now reports three segments — UFC, WWE, IMG — plus Corporate and Other (PBR, boxing management and promotional fees, unallocated corporate costs).
- Paramount-UFC deal
- On August 11, 2025, TKO and Paramount announced a seven-year U.S. media rights agreement beginning in 2026 at an average annual value of $1.1 billion, ending the U.S. pay-per-view model — all 13 numbered events and 30 Fight Nights on Paramount+, with select cards simulcast on CBS.
- ESPN-WWE deal
- On August 6, 2025, TKO and ESPN announced a five-year agreement bringing WWE's premium live events in the U.S. to ESPN's new direct-to-consumer offering, begun in September 2025 at an average annual value of $325 million.
- Q3 2025
- Revenue $1.120 billion (UFC $325.2M, WWE $402.1M, IMG $336.7M, Corporate and Other $63.3M); net income $106.8 million; adjusted EBITDA $360.2 million. TKO raised full-year 2025 guidance to revenue of $4.69-$4.72 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $1.57-$1.58 billion.
Two arenas, one holding company
TKO Group Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: TKO) is the premium sports-and-entertainment company Endeavor built by combining the UFC and WWE — the world’s premier mixed martial arts organization and the global leader in sports entertainment (Endeavor). The deal closed on September 12, 2023, and TKO shares began trading on the New York Stock Exchange the same day (Endeavor).
At launch the combined enterprise was valued at $21.4 billion — $12.1 billion for the UFC, $9.3 billion for WWE. Endeavor took a 51% controlling interest and existing WWE shareholders kept 49%. The leadership stacked up as expected: Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel as TKO CEO, Vince McMahon as executive chairman, Mark Shapiro in a dual executive role, Dana White as UFC CEO, and Nick Khan as WWE president, over an 11-member board — six appointed by Endeavor, five by WWE (Associated Press).
The McMahon exit
Four months after the close, the company lost its most famous figure. On January 26, 2024, Vince McMahon resigned as TKO executive chairman — one day after former WWE employee Janel Grant filed a federal lawsuit in Connecticut accusing him and former executive John Laurinaitis of serious sexual misconduct, including allegations that McMahon forced Grant into a sexual relationship to keep a job and offered her to a star wrestler for sex (Associated Press). McMahon denied the allegations — calling the suit “replete with lies, obscene made-up instances that never occurred” — and said he was leaving “out of respect” for WWE and TKO (Associated Press). McMahon had bought the company that became WWE from his father in 1982 (Associated Press).
Beyond UFC and WWE
Leading write-ups of TKO tend to stop at the 2023 merger, but the company’s current shape is bigger. On February 28, 2025, TKO closed its $3.25 billion all-equity acquisition from Endeavor of the IMG, On Location, and Professional Bull Riders (PBR) businesses, with Endeavor receiving roughly 26.54 million TKO operating-company units plus an equal number of Class B shares (TKO). The company now reports three operating segments — UFC, WWE, and IMG (IMG plus On Location) — alongside “Corporate and Other,” which carries PBR, boxing management and promotional fees, and unallocated corporate costs (TKO).
Its own description of scale: one billion households across 210 countries and territories, more than 500 live events a year, and more than three million fans attending (TKO).
The 2025 media-rights flywheel
August 2025 was TKO’s loudest month. On August 11, TKO and Paramount — the Skydance-owned studio — announced a seven-year U.S. media-rights agreement for UFC events beginning in 2026, at an average annual value of $1.1 billion ($7.7 billion total), weighted toward the back end of the term (TKO). It ends the U.S. pay-per-view model: all 13 numbered events and 30 Fight Nights move to Paramount+, with select cards simulcast on CBS (BusinessWorld).
Five days earlier, on August 6, TKO and ESPN had announced a five-year agreement bringing WWE’s premium live events in the U.S. to ESPN’s new direct-to-consumer offering, beginning in September 2025 at an average annual value of $325 million (TKO). CEO Ariel Emanuel’s Q3 comment tied the arc together: “Having secured landmark multiyear media rights deals for UFC, WWE, and Zuffa Boxing, our conviction in TKO has never been stronger” (TKO). TKO discloses little else about Zuffa Boxing beyond the management and promotional fees it books in Corporate and Other (TKO).
For the third quarter of 2025 TKO reported $1.120 billion in revenue — $325.2 million from UFC, $402.1 million from WWE, $336.7 million from IMG, $63.3 million from Corporate and Other — with $106.8 million in net income and $360.2 million in adjusted EBITDA. It raised full-year 2025 guidance to $4.69–$4.72 billion in revenue and $1.57–$1.58 billion in adjusted EBITDA (TKO).
What this profile does not claim
This profile does not treat the 2023 merger as TKO’s current shape — the $3.25 billion IMG, On Location, and PBR acquisition in February 2025 expanded it into three reporting segments plus Corporate and Other. It does not state Endeavor’s current ownership percentage after that acquisition, which was not verified in a full-read source. It does not claim the WWE-Netflix Raw deal’s terms, seen only in a search snippet. And it does not present the Janel Grant allegations as adjudicated — they are allegations in a federal lawsuit McMahon denies; the profile covers only his resignation and its timing.
Timeline
- 2023
- Endeavor closes the combination of UFC and WWE on September 12, forming TKO Group Holdings; NYSE trading under "TKO" begins the same day.
- 2024
- Vince McMahon resigns as TKO executive chairman on January 26, one day after the Janel Grant federal lawsuit accusing him of sexual misconduct.
- 2025
- TKO closes the $3.25 billion equity acquisition of IMG, On Location, and PBR from Endeavor on February 28.
- 2025
- Signs the five-year ESPN agreement for WWE premium live events on August 6 (average annual value $325 million, begun September 2025) and the seven-year Paramount agreement for UFC on August 11 (average annual value $1.1 billion, from 2026).
- 2025
- Q3 earnings (announced November 5): revenue $1.120 billion, adjusted EBITDA $360.2 million, and raised full-year guidance to $4.69-$4.72 billion in revenue.
What we could not verify
These claims came up in research and could not be confirmed. They are recorded here rather than published as fact or quietly dropped. If you hold a source that settles one, please tell us.
- The WWE-Netflix Raw deal (January 2024) was mentioned only in a search snippet, not a full-read source, and is not included.
- TKO discloses little about Zuffa Boxing beyond the boxing management and promotional fees booked in Corporate and Other; deal terms are not public in a full-read source, so the profile says no more.
- Ownership percentages after the 2025 acquisition (e.g., Endeavor's current stake) were not verified in a full-read source and are not stated.
Sources
5 sources (2 tier 1, 1 tier 3, 2 first-party), each opened and read against the claim it supports. Statements the subject makes about itself are marked as such and are not treated as independent evidence. See the source policy.
Built from sources fetched and read in full — Endeavor's own launch announcement (first-party) and the Associated Press (tier1) for the 2023 formation and the McMahon resignation, TKO's own Q3 2025 earnings release (first-party) for the acquired businesses, both 2025 media- rights deals, and the financials, plus a tier3 corroborating read on the Paramount deal's end of the PPV model.
- Supports: The $21.4B combined enterprise value ($12.1B UFC, $9.3B WWE), the 51%/49% split, the launch leadership (Emanuel, McMahon, Shapiro, White, Khan), the 11-member board split, and the April 3, 2023 announcement. Open original source
- Supports: McMahon's January 26, 2024 resignation as TKO executive chairman, the Janel Grant federal lawsuit and its allegations, his denial, the "out of respect" departure, and his 1982 purchase of the company from his father. Open original source
- Supports: The end of the U.S. pay-per-view model under the Paramount deal (all 13 numbered events and 30 Fight Nights on Paramount+, select cards simulcast on CBS). Corroborating color for the first-party deal figures. Open original source
- Supports: The September 12, 2023 close, the "brings together UFC... and WWE" description, the one-billion-fans / 180-countries / 350-plus-annual- live-events description at launch, and Emanuel's launch statement. Open original source
- Supports: The $3.25B IMG/On Location/PBR acquisition (closed Feb. 28, 2025, the equity consideration to Endeavor), the three-segment reporting (UFC/WWE/IMG plus Corporate and Other), the Paramount-UFC seven-year deal (Aug. 11, 2025, $1.1B average annual value, from 2026), the ESPN-WWE PLE deal (Aug. 6, 2025, $325M average annual value, begun September 2025), the Q3 2025 revenue/net income/adjusted EBITDA figures, the raised FY2025 guidance, Emanuel's "landmark multiyear media rights deals for UFC, WWE, and Zuffa Boxing" quote, the Zuffa Boxing mention, and the About-TKO description (1 billion households, 210 countries and territories, 500-plus events, three million-plus fans). Open original source
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