BURSTUltimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on Tuesday signed a multimillion dollar partnership deal with Meta, Facebook's parent company, with the goal of restructuring their fan experience to include artificial intelligence (AI).
UFC will use a wide range of their platforms including Meta AI, Meta Glasses, Meta Quest, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads to connect with patrons online and at in person events.
“Meta has the greatest minds in tech and they are going to take fan engagement to the next level. We’ve already started to work on some innovations with Meta around a new fighter rankings system that I’ll be sharing soon,” UFC President and CEO Dana White said in a release.
“The next few years will be an absolute game changer for fans of this sport,” he added.
White joined Meta’s Board of Directors in January where he will help oversee the company’s internal growth. The UFC CEO’s new role marks the first time he’s joined an outside board, underscoring the budding friendship with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
The Facebook founder lauded his formal collaboration with the aggrandized fighting league.
“I love this sport and I’m looking forward to working with the UFC to let fans experience it in new ways,” Zuckerberg said in a statement.
Meta’s Instagram Threads platform is set to feature exclusive UFC content alongside the company’s Octagon, blockchain ecosystem, in addition to extensive activations in all Pay-Per-Views and Fight Nights.
Additional elements of the partnership are forthcoming according to their Tuesday release. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Neither company immediately responded to The Hill’s request for comment on the value of the contract.