TKO Group Holdings, the parent company of the UFC, has launched a new boxing promotion with ambitious plans for the future. The first event is set to debut in September in Las Vegas, featuring a highly anticipated “superfight” between Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford.
UFC CEO Dana White is announced as the promoter for this initial event, with WWE President Nick Khan also involved in the newly formed boxing league. This venture receives financial backing from Saudi Arabia and Turki Alalshikh, Chairman of the General Entertainment Authority there. While some details were previously shared, the league`s full schedule, commencing with the September 12th card, reveals extensive future plans.
During a quarterly financial call with investors, TKO President and Chief Operating Officer Mark Shapiro stated, “We anticipate the boxing organization will host an average of 12 events, or cards, annually over the next five years.” He added that they are still finalizing the plan and are “working hand in hand with our friends from Saudi.”
In addition to the planned average of 12 yearly events, the new Saudi-backed boxing league is also strategizing for several major “superfight” events each year, similar to the upcoming Canelo vs. Crawford bout in September.
Shapiro explained, “Separately from those [regular cards], we aim to organize between one and four superfights per year; we`ll see how that develops.” He confirmed the September Canelo/Crawford matchup is considered one of these. He noted that the undercard bouts for these major events would likely be broadcast by the league`s future television or media partner.
Currently, the new TKO boxing league does not have a broadcast partner, but these details are expected to be ironed out before the actual launch in September.
Shapiro was quick to reiterate that while TKO is managing operations, the company assumes no financial liability for the boxing promotion, as Saudi Arabia is providing all the funding.
Furthermore, the regular 12 annual fight cards will be kept distinct from the “superfights” that could potentially involve some of the biggest names in the sport.
“Those are two separate businesses,” Shapiro revealed. “The Saudis are funding these superfight cards. We will collaborate with them on media rights deals, global partnerships, and ticketing, receiving a commission. We will also handle the production.”
He continued, “We may look to potentially promote all of them with Dana White and Nick Khan largely driving that. But then separately, we will have our boxing organization, our [promotion] with them, where we are conducting, as I mentioned, 12 cards a year on average, securing a separate media rights fee, selling global partnerships for those cards, and of course, promoting and producing those cards on whatever media platform we choose to partner with. That summarizes the structure of this boxing venture.”
Thus far, the new promotion has been unofficially referred to as TKO Boxing. However, Shapiro promised that this will not be the official name used once the promotion officially launches later this year. He provided no details on the new name but confirmed it is in development.
“I should mention it`s not going to be called TKO boxing,” Shapiro stated. “That seems like just a temporary placeholder. We will be unveiling the name for our business fairly soon. But it definitively will not be TKO boxing.”
