Ari Emanuel, TKO Group‘s executive chairman and CEO, called the UFC Freedom 250 event at the White House “a roaring success.” But the company said it lost $30 million on the elaborately staged extravaganza, held June 14 on the grounds of the White House to coincide with President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday.
“TKO’s unique ability to deliver one-on-one live events and experiences was front and center in the second quarter. Nothing illustrates this better than UFC Freedom 250 held in June,” Emanuel said on the company’s Q2 2026 earnings call. “This event was a roaring success for our company, the UFC brand and the sport of mixed martial arts, exposure, earned media, audience expansion and a weekend-long fan experience.”
However, later on the call, TKO CFO Andrew Schleimer acknowledged that with UFC Freedom 250, “we incurred significantly higher-than-normal costs, which we partially offset with sold out global partnerships inventory. As a reminder, we did not sell tickets and therefore did not record any live events revenue. Given the event’s financial profile, which as anticipated, resulted in approximately $30 million loss, our margins at UFC as well as on a consolidated basis, were meaningfully impacted.”
