UFC ranks 7th on ‘Forbes Fab 40: The World’s Most Valuable Sports Brands’

With the UFC being recently sold for a jaw-dropping $4 billion, it laid out the value of the biggest mixed martial arts promotion in the world and screamed it’s legitimacy of Dana White and the Fertitta’s goal of building one of the biggest sports in the world.

Forbes came out with their “Forbes Fab 40: The World’s Most Valuable Sports Brands” list on Monday and the UFC ranked high up on their list coming in at number 7.

The Forbes Fab 40 determines the values of the biggest brands in sports and “measures how much the name of each brand–all by itself–contributes to their value or earnings.”

There are four categories in the list, which include the sports business category, sports team brands, athlete brands, and sports event brands.

Mike Ozanian of Forbes explains the position the UFC is in on their list:

“The purchase of a brand can have a big impact its value. The UFC was acquired by WME/IMG this summer for $4 billion. By my count the price allocation of the deal valued the UFC’s brand at $2 billion–more than three times its value a year ago–based on the enterprise value premium paid for the mixed martial arts promotion. The UFC posted the biggest year–over-year increase among business brands. But if the UFC does not become bigger and more profitable–thererby [sic] justfifying its $4 billion price tag–its brand could fall sharply in value.”

Ranking at the top of the list was the Nike brand with a current brand value of $27 billion. ESPN came in at number 2 with a current brand value of $16.5 billion while Adidas came in at number 3 with a current brand value of $7 billion (check out the full Forbes Fab 40: The World’s Most Valuable Sports Brands list here).

Do you think the UFC will continue to raise their stock and climb higher on Forbes’ list in the coming years? Give us your thoughts in the comment section!