Paramount+ to take over UFC's main numbered events in Canada from 2027
Paramount and UFC are expanding their media partnership to Canada, continuing a major shift in how the most important events of the world's largest MMA organization are distributed. According to TKO Group Holdings' announcement of June 4, 2026, Paramount+ will become the exclusive platform for the main cards of UFC numbered events in Canada starting in 2027. The agreement has been concluded for six years and covers 13 of UFC's biggest events per year, namely events that were traditionally sold through the pay-per-view model. For Paramount+ subscribers in Canada, this means that the main fights of those events will be available as part of the subscription, without a separate purchase of an individual broadcast. With this move, Canada is gradually joining the model that Paramount and UFC have already begun building in the United States, Latin America and Australia, but with an important difference: the Canadian agreement, according to the currently published terms, covers the main cards of numbered events, not the entire UFC program.
Six-year agreement and the end of extra payment for main cards
According to TKO's official announcement, the agreement between Paramount and UFC for Canada begins in 2027 and will be valid for the next six years. At the center of the deal are UFC Numbered Events, that is, numbered events that mostly include title fights, the promotion's biggest names and the most commercial matches on the calendar. For decades, these events were the foundation of UFC's pay-per-view business model, in which viewers, in addition to a cable or streaming subscription, had to pay separately for access to the main card. In Canada, that structure for main cards will change from 2027, because TKO states that all 13 major annual events will be available to Paramount+ subscribers without an additional fee. It is important, however, to distinguish the absence of an additional pay-per-view payment from the price of the subscription itself: users will still need a valid Paramount+ subscription, and the final commercial details, including possible programming packages and the schedule of the first broadcasts, will be announced later.
Dana White, UFC president and CEO, said in TKO's announcement that subscribers in Canada will receive every main card of UFC numbered events live and without any additional payment beyond the subscription from 2027. White also emphasized that Paramount, in his assessment, understands the power of UFC and that the new model will make it easier for viewers in Canada to follow the biggest fights. Rodrigo Mazón, head of Paramount+ direct-to-consumer distribution for Latin America and Canada, stated that UFC is one of the most dynamic live sports rights in the world and that expanding the partnership to Canada matches the platform's strategy focused on premium sports content and globally relevant entertainment. TKO additionally announced that details about the first UFC events to be broadcast in Canada on Paramount+ will be presented later in 2026. This confirmed the direction of the change, but not all operational details that will matter to viewers before the start of the new period have been announced.
Canada joins after the United States, Latin America and Australia
The Canadian expansion is not an isolated move, but part of a broader strategy by Paramount and UFC. Paramount and TKO announced in August 2025 a seven-year agreement for the U.S. market under which Paramount becomes the exclusive home of all UFC events in the United States from 2026. According to that announcement, the U.S. deal includes 13 numbered events and 30 UFC Fight Night events per year on Paramount+, with the possibility that selected major events are shown simultaneously on CBS. Paramount emphasized at the time that UFC and its partners were moving away from the existing pay-per-view model so that premium events would be available to subscribers without an additional fee. That U.S. agreement, worth 7.7 billion dollars over seven years, represented one of the biggest changes in the distribution of UFC content since the organization's global growth during the 2000s.
In October 2025, Paramount and UFC expanded their cooperation to other international markets as well. According to TKO's announcement at the time, Paramount+ secured UFC media rights for Latin America, including Brazil, and for Australia starting in 2026. In Latin America, the package includes all 13 numbered events and 30 UFC Fight Night events per year, while the Australian package includes all 30 Fight Night events and preliminary fights for numbered events. The Canadian agreement announced on June 4, 2026 therefore confirms that Paramount is trying to gradually expand UFC rights where market and contractual conditions are available for it. At the same time, it shows that the scope of rights can differ from country to country, which is especially important for viewers who often assume that the same platform offers the same sports package in every country.
What this means for the current Canadian broadcast model
In Canada, UFC is currently not available on Paramount+ as it is in the United States. Paramount+ states in its official customer support that UFC is not currently available for streaming on Paramount+ in Canada, which is in line with existing regional rights. Before the new announcement, Canadian distribution was tied to UFC's agreements with Sportsnet and TVA Sports, which took effect in 2024. According to Rogers' announcement from November 2023, Sportsnet became the exclusive English-language broadcast partner in Canada for UFC Fight Night events and preliminary fights of pay-per-view events, while TVA Sports covers the French-Canadian audience. Sportsnet+ states that a subscription provides access to Fight Night events, preliminary fights of pay-per-view events and additional UFC programming, while UFC pay-per-view events are available through a separate purchase.
For that reason, the new deal for 2027 should be read as an announcement of change for the main cards of numbered events, not as the immediate cancellation of all existing Canadian arrangements. Until the start of the new agreement, the Canadian market remains tied to existing distribution methods, unless UFC, Paramount or the current rights holders announce otherwise. In the new announcement, TKO did not state that the Canadian package includes Fight Night events, preliminary fights or the entire UFC archive, but explicitly refers to the main cards of numbered events. That is an important detail because the U.S. and Latin American packages mention a broader annual schedule, while for Canada a narrower, but the most commercial, part of the UFC offering is listed. For viewers, the key questions in the coming months will therefore be the schedule of the first events, availability on different Paramount+ packages, the language of the broadcast and the status of additional programming around the fights.
Why moving away from the pay-per-view model matters for UFC
Pay-per-view was long one of the most recognizable elements of UFC's business. Numbered events, especially those with title fights and the biggest stars, were traditionally charged separately and served as the commercial peak of the UFC calendar. The transition to a subscription model changes the relationship between the promotion, distributor and audience because the emphasis shifts from the individual purchase of an event to the long-term value of the platform. For Paramount+, this means strong content that can drive subscriptions, user retention and the habit of following the sport throughout the year. For UFC, it means potentially wider reach, more predictable revenue from media rights and less dependence on the sales of individual events.
Paramount and TKO in their U.S. announcement from 2025 explicitly linked the abandonment of the pay-per-view model with greater accessibility and easier discovery of UFC content. That argument is now being transferred to Canada as well, at least for the main cards of the biggest events. According to TKO's new announcement, UFC on Paramount+ in the United States and Latin America has already achieved more than 10 million households that watched UFC programming and more than 100 million hours watched. TKO claims this produced viewership more than 15 times higher than the average pay-per-view event in the previous two years. Since these are data published by the company itself, they should be viewed as a corporate performance report on the new model, but they clearly show why Paramount and UFC are continuing to expand the partnership outside the United States.
Canada has a long UFC tradition and commercial weight
The Canadian market has a special place in UFC history. TKO states that since UFC 83 in 2008, UFC has held 37 major sporting events in 11 Canadian cities. Those events included a number of well-known names, among them Georges St-Pierre, Jon Jones, Jose Aldo, Valentina Shevchenko and Max Holloway. Canada was important not only as a broadcast market, but also as a host of major events and a source of sports stories connected with local fighters. Georges St-Pierre, one of the most famous MMA fighters of all time, was for years one of the key reasons for UFC's strong popularity in Canada.
That is precisely why the expansion of Paramount's UFC package to Canada has broader significance than the mere change of platform. It confirms that UFC and its media partners see the Canadian market as large enough and engaged enough to deserve a separate long-term arrangement. According to TKO's corporate description, UFC produces more than 40 live events per year, distributes programming in more than 210 countries and territories, and cites a global base of more than 700 million fans. In that global framework, Canada is one of the more developed and historically important MMA markets. The new distribution on Paramount+ could further reduce the barrier to watching the main events, especially for audiences who until now had to assess the value of each separate pay-per-view purchase.
Streaming platforms are pursuing live sports rights ever more aggressively
The agreement between Paramount and UFC fits into a broader trend in which streaming platforms are trying to secure live sports rights as content that is not consumed in the same way as films and series. Sport has the advantage of live broadcasting, a regular schedule and strong audience loyalty, which can help platforms reduce subscription cancellations. In its U.S. announcement from 2025, Paramount emphasized that live sports are one of the foundations of its broader strategy, because they drive engagement, subscriber growth and long-term loyalty. In that context, UFC is especially attractive because it offers an annual event schedule, an international fan base and content that is easy to promote through previews, press conferences, weigh-ins and supporting shows.
For UFC, on the other hand, the move to larger streaming and media agreements reduces the risks associated with fluctuations in individual pay-per-view sales. The traditional model depended strongly on how commercially attractive a particular main event was, how available the stars were and what the competition in the sports calendar looked like. In the subscription model, the emphasis shifts to the overall value of the portfolio, not just to one night. That does not mean the importance of big stars and title fights disappears, but that they are used to build a broader platform and a longer-term relationship with the audience. The Canadian agreement is therefore both a media and business signal: UFC's biggest events are becoming content with which streaming platforms compete in the market, not just events that are sold separately by the night.
Questions still open before the start of 2027
Although the basic framework of the Canadian agreement is known, several important questions remain open. TKO announced that details of the first UFC events on Paramount+ in Canada will be known later in 2026, so for now it is not known exactly which event will open the new period. It has not been announced whether broadcasts in Canada will include special local studio shows, additional commentary languages or a different schedule of on-demand content. It has also not been confirmed whether some parts of UFC programming in Canada will continue to be shown through other rights holders after 2027. Since TKO explicitly cites the main cards of numbered events for Canada, and not the entire UFC schedule, viewers will have to follow additional announcements about Fight Night events, preliminary fights and supporting programming.
What is confirmed for now is that Paramount+ is taking over exclusive Canadian rights to the main cards of all UFC numbered events from 2027 for a six-year period. This moves the most important part of the UFC calendar in Canada into a subscription model, without separate pay-per-view payment for each main card. For Paramount, this is a continuation of investment in live sports rights and the international expansion of the UFC package, and for UFC an additional step toward a model that should make the biggest fights more accessible to a wider audience. The final effect will depend on the price and structure of the subscription, production quality, the availability of additional programming and how much the new viewing experience will differ from the current Canadian pay-per-view system.
Sources:
- TKO Group Holdings – official announcement on the expansion of the Paramount and UFC partnership to Canada from 2027 (link)
- Paramount – official announcement on the U.S. seven-year UFC media agreement and the shift from the pay-per-view model to Paramount+ (link)
- TKO Group Holdings – official announcement on the expansion of UFC rights to Latin America and Australia from 2026 (link)
- Rogers / Sportsnet – announcement on Canadian UFC rights for Sportsnet and TVA Sports from 2024 (link)
- Sportsnet+ – overview of available UFC content and separate PPV event purchases on the Canadian market (link)
- Paramount+ customer support – information on the current availability of UFC content on Paramount+ by region, including Canada (link)