UFC fans brace for latest ESPN+ price hike

You can’t buy a UFC pay-per-view (PPV) without a subscription to ESPN+.

As of this writing, the current price for a UFC PPV is $74.99, which requires a $6.99 monthly subscription to ESPN+. According to Bloomberg, that cost will increase by 43 percent for a total of $9.99 per month beginning Aug. 23, 2022. In addition, the ESPN+ annual package will jump from $69.99 to $99.99.

If you want to beat the price hike, be sure to sign up here prior to the cutoff date.

The digital network has been “gaining momentum,” according to the report, showing a subscriber increase of 62 percent over the last 12 months, but “it’s still not making money” despite 22.3 million subscriptions. This marks the second time this year that UFC fans have been hit with a new price tag.

The next ESPN+ PPV offering is UFC 277: “Pena vs. Nunes 2” on July 30, 2022, in Dallas, Texas.

“The buzzword has completely shifted from subscriber growth to profitability,” said Geetha Ranganathan, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. “They’re even willing to risk a little bit of churn if they can boost their ARPU (average revenue per user) number.”

The good news? The ESPN+, Disney+ and Hulu bundle will remain at $13.99 per month.

For now.