Even with the negative financials of the UFC Freedom 250 event in June, TKO Group Holdings still managed to grow income in Q2 2026.
TKO posted its second-quarter financial numbers for 2026 with pleasant increases in global sponsorships and other partnerships that helped to offset the nearly $30 million loss that the UFC Freedom 250 event represented on paper.
The numbers saw TKO revenue surge 18 per cent to $1.5 million for Q2 2026, beating Wall Street estimates. At the UFC, revenue jumped $120 million to $536 million, represented by increased media right fees represented by the January Paramount+ deal.
The staggering production costs combined with no ticket revenue meant that UFC Freedom 250 cost about $30 million to produce. But the increases elsewhere like media rights fees helped the company significantly absorb the loss.
“With regards to UFC Freedom 250, we incurred significantly higher than normal costs, which we partially offset with sold-out global partnerships inventory,” TKO chief financial officer Andrew Schleimer explained in the investor call. “As a reminder, we did not sell tickets and therefore did not record any live events revenue.”
“From UFC Freedom 250 to the FIFA World Cup, TKO continues to deliver on the biggest stages and this quarter reinforced our 2026 execution story,” TKO president and COO Mark Shapiro said, adding its move to raise full-year guidance reflects “both our performance to date and our confidence in TKO’s multi-year trajectory.”
Numbers from the WWE were positive as well, with revenue climbing $64.7 million to $621 million. The Los Angeles 2028 Olympics is is helping to create orders to the tune of $280 million for its On Location business, according to TKO.
That’s $280 million of future On Location revenue that won’t be on the books until the Olympics commence in 2028.
World Cup hospitality revenue for IMG also increased from $307 million to $354 million, generating quarterly profit of $78.6 million, up from $28 million.
TKO’s net income saw an increase of $31 million to $304 million, which includes a $98 million expense of legal fees and associated settlement costs for the WWE stockholder case.
TKO shares increased to $183.91 at closing Tuesday afternoon, a jump of 1.16 per cent.
30 mil for a promotional event that produced viral moments across all media for a business with a billion dollar content contract is nothing. What’s next a big story about the NFLs marketing budget?