Ari Emanuel Claims That TKO Will Never Be for Sale: ‘There’s No Chance That’s Happening — Zero’

During a recent interview with The Town with Matt Belloni, TKO CEO Ari Emanuel spoke about WWE and its parent company. During the conversation, Belloni asked Emanuel about who the ideal buyer would be for TKO. Emanuel said it would be “TKO” itself and said that the sports entity, which includes UFC and TKO, would never be for sale.

Belloni initially asked Emanuel, “Who’s the ideal buyer for TKO?” Emanuel answered, “TKO.” Belloni spoke further, “Now, someday it’ll be for sale,” but Emanuel fired back, “No, it won’t.”

Belloni then asked, “You don’t think a big media company, Paramount? Comcast? Amazon?” Emanuel answered rapidly to all the options, “No [Paramount]. No. Not for sale [Comcast]. Never [Amazon].” Belloni questioned why that was the case, but Emanuel responded, “Why would it be?” Belloni: “You’re an agent. Everything’s for sale.”

Emanuel further explained why the sports entertainment entity will never be for sale, noting how he, Egon Durban, foresaw where sports and streamers were going, along with the value in owning the sports leagues. He explained: “Here’s the great thing. In 2016, we Egon Durban, Mark, myself, Patrick- saw where sports was going, saw where the streamers were going. At the time, people thought the value we were crazy to pay what we did when we bought IMG … we paid the two cheapest acquisitions of all time in the sports space, as my son Leo says to me, ‘Thursday is baby Friday, dad.’ With AI, probably Wednesday is going to be the baby Thursday; there’s going to be more free time than ever.”

Ari Emanuel continued on TKO, “People, if we grow at 3% GDP, we’re going to have more money than we’ve ever had with AI, in my opinion, and I agree with that — take out all the bad things that could happen. So, you’re sitting in a situation that there’s going to be more time for people to consume entertainment or social animals. Go out, go to sporting events, consume sports. Sports is the greatest reality show, right, of all time. Owning sports assets, now, people are trying to own teams. We own four leagues. It’s an incredible asset.”

He added, “The value is only going up and to the right, and so, Egon Durban, myself, I mean, there’s no chance that that’s happening. Zero.”

The TKO merger of WWE and UFC was completed in September 2023. Last month, TKO Group Holdings, LLC announced its second quarter 2026 financial results, with total revenue at $1.547 billion, marking an 18% increase in revenue.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit The Town with Matt Belloni, with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.