Endeavor reported a profitable third quarter in 2021 with record numbers being produced by one of the company’s biggest assets in the UFC.
The now publicly traded company under Endeavor Group Holdings posted $1.4 billion in revenue for the quarter with a net income of $63.6 million, a huge swing from the pandemic-stricken 2020 where losses were at $21.8 million at this same time last year.
“We continue to capitalize on the elevated demand for premium content and live events coming out of the pandemic,” Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel said in a statement. “Given our unique positioning within the sports and entertainment industry and our ability to leverage powerful secular content trends, we see no signs of this momentum waning through the end of the year.”
When it comes to the UFC, the world’s biggest MMA promotion once again helped bolster Endeavor’s bottom line with another robust quarter driven by live events and pay-per-view sales.
The UFC reported revenue of $288 million for the quarter, which is actually down from 2020, but the figure is primarily due to a $25 million contract termination fee paid to the UFC last year that obviously did not repeat a year later. The UFC also saw an increase in revenue during the third quarter of 2020 due to the event schedule being pushed back to later in the year because of the global pandemic.
Overall, Endeavor touted the revenue generated by the UFC as the “best nine-month, year-to-date period in UFC history.”
In addition to the success the UFC has enjoyed this year, Endeavor also saw an increase in representation revenue, which is where the company started as a top talent agency across film, television, music. books and other markets.
As of Sept. 30, Endeavor had cash on hand of $1.029 billion, up from the previous quarter where the company had $869.9 million in cash on hand. When 2021 closes, Endeavor expects to see revenue to reach “between $4.89 and $4.95 billion.”