Business of Sport: Silver Lake is behind new combat sport behemoth

(Image: Getty)

Fri, 07 Apr 2023

Israel Adesanya’s bid to regain his Ultimate Fighting Championship world middleweight crown against his Brazilian nemesis Alex Pereira this Sunday in Miami would normally be the biggest news in the combat sports world, but it has been drowned out by one of the biggest commercial plays in years.The news this week that prominent American company Endeavor Holdings had acquired Vince McMahon’s World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), in a deal valuing it at US$9.3 billion (NZ$14.7b), sets the stage for a massive play by the company.Endeavor...

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