bet365 has been named the Official Sports Betting Partner of UFC across the United States and Canada under a multiyear agreement, announced on March 5, 2026. The deal replaces DraftKings, which had held the UFC betting rights since 2021 under a reported $350m, five-year arrangement.
Broadcast and Digital Integration
Under the terms of the partnership, bet365 will have an integrated presence at every UFC event for the duration of the agreement. Broadcast integrations include on-screen betting tickers, fighter odds, introductory odds, and same-game parlay features across UFC’s television and streaming output. The sportsbook will also appear across UFC’s digital and social channels, which currently reach approximately 330 million followers.
The partnership becomes visible to audiences for the first time at UFC 326: Holloway vs. Oliveira 2 on March 7 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The event also marks CBS’s first primetime UFC broadcast, with Paramount+ carrying the remainder of the card. Paramount took over UFC’s US broadcast rights from ESPN at the start of 2026.
North America Expansion Play
bet365 operates in 16 US states, including Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Missouri, and holds a US headquarters in Denver. The UFC deal represents a significant step in the operator’s broader North American push. Prior to this agreement, bet365 had secured partnerships with nine US professional teams across MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, and WNBA, as well as a deal with the UEFA Champions League.
Trip Stoddard, Head of Development at bet365, framed the partnership in terms of the operator’s global growth ambitions.
“This partnership with UFC marks a defining moment for bet365 as we accelerate our growth globally and deepen our commitment to sports where live action and fan engagement are inseparable. UFC’s always-on event calendar and highly engaged global fanbase create a powerful environment for real-time betting, and our industry-leading product depth uniquely positions us to elevate how fans experience every fight.”
Nicholas Smith, Senior Vice President of Global Partnerships at TKO, the UFC’s parent company, confirmed the partnership fits into the promotion’s current broadcast transition.
“bet365 brings scale, credibility, and innovation to the sports betting space, and we’re thrilled to continue to develop this long-term partnership at such a momentous time for UFC. bet365 is a natural fit for UFC because they understand fight fans and how they engage with the sport in real time.”
MMA’s In-Play Betting Footprint
UFC runs 43 live events per year, a schedule that places it among the most actively wagered sports globally. The fight-by-fight structure of MMA cards drives continuous in-play market activity, making the property attractive for operators focused on live betting volume. UFC’s estimated global audience stands at 700 million fans across all platforms.
The promotion maintains additional betting-adjacent partnerships, including a deal with prediction market platform Polymarket and a sponsorship with Ladbrokes, the Entain-owned British operator. The UFC also faced scrutiny at UFC 324 in Las Vegas earlier in 2026, when CEO Dana White confirmed a lightweight bout between Alexander Hernandez and Michael Johnson was pulled from the card due to suspicious betting activity.
Financial terms of the bet365 deal were not disclosed. For context on the market value of such arrangements, DraftKings’ 2021 UFC agreement was reported at the time to be worth in the region of $350m across five years. The scale of the new deal has not been confirmed by either party.
bet365’s North American strategy now spans team-level partnerships, a major league sports betting deal, and the UFC’s global fighting calendar, giving the operator year-round broadcast presence in the US market as state-by-state licensing continues to develop. For further context on the operator’s European positioning, see our coverage of the Relax Gaming and Bet365 Italian market launch, and on broader North American trends, our BetMGM Q3 performance report provides useful market context. The UFC’s broadcast transition to Paramount also intersects with wider sports media consolidation tracked in coverage of FanDuel’s NBA on Amazon Prime partnership.
Source: UFC / TKO Group Holdings
