MW The company behind the White House's UFC event says rivals 'would kill' for the opportunity. Critics say that's a problem.

By Victor Reklaitis

Government watchdogs are crying foul, while the Trump White House predicts 'one of the greatest and most historic sports events in history'

Construction takes place earlier this week for the upcoming UFC bouts on the South Lawn of the White House.

As work crews put up a temporary arena on the White House grounds for an Ultimate Fighting Club event next month tied to America's 250th anniversary, supporters and critics of the event are in agreement that its prime placement in front of an American icon is an unprecedented opportunity for a company.

An executive at the UFC's parent company, TKO Group Holdings (TKO), has said TKO is going to "fully capitalize on the stage that is the White House." Meanwhile, the head of a watchdog group accused President Donald Trump of turning "the people's house" into a branding vehicle.

Trump often has "blended the presidency and the White House with corporate interests, like when he showcased Teslas on the White House lawn, or introduced corporate sponsorship to the White House Easter Egg Roll event. However, this UFC event is unlike anything we've ever seen," said Donald Sherman, the head of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a left-leaning watchdog organization, in a statement.

Trump is acting "without transparency while benefiting the UFC, which has in the past supported his campaigns. So it is definitely problematic," said Jeff Hauser, executive director of the Revolving Door Project, which aims to track corporate political influence. Multiple watchdog groups have said there is a lack of transparency around the Freedom 250 organization that was set up by the Trump administration to help run activities for America's 250th anniversary, including the UFC event.

Much of the 250th events have been arranged through a National Park Foundation entity called Freedom 250, which is supposed to uplift the National Park Foundation, "but then it's engaging in a lot of functions, such as this UFC fight, that don't appear to have any kind of nexus to that actual purpose," said Tony Irish, senior counsel for a watchdog group called Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. PEER sued the Trump administration earlier this month in an effort to get what it describes as "key documents related to President Trump's controversial and secretive Freedom 250 initiative."

TKO has predicted that the June 14 event at the White House, dubbed "UFC Freedom 250," will provide a significant boost to its business, while stressing that the spectacle will amount to a big expense in the short run.

TKO expects to spend at least $60 million total on the event, with that cost offset by $30 million in revenue from corporate sponsors, said TKO's chief operating officer, Mark Shapiro, at a Morgan Stanley conference in March. Shapiro then made it clear that his company expects an overall benefit from the event, which is expected to feature seven fights on a day that is both Flag Day and Trump's 80th birthday.

"Whatever we lose - $30 million at this point - on the event, are we really losing? I mean other properties would kill to have the opportunity we're going to have, and we're grateful to the president for wanting to do that and putting us front-and-center in the birthday celebration, if you will. This is going to be enormous in terms of attention, in terms of earned media, in terms of our fans being happy," Shapiro told analysts and investors at the conference. Earned media refers to publicity that a company doesn't have to pay for, such as coverage by news outlets or social-media posts by fans.

Shapiro expressed enthusiasm about the number of people likely to watch the June 14 fights, but he also made an effort to say the company is not taking advantage of the U.S.

"You're going to have so many viewers - content viewers, entertainment viewers, sports viewers that are just surfing and tuning in to see what the spectacle is all about - so we are going to fully capitalize on the stage that is the White House, but we're not going to capitalize on America," the TKO COO said. "We will not profit from this event no matter what. We will not be making money on this event or exploiting at the birthday of our country in any way, shape or form."

"Other properties would kill to have the opportunity we're going to have ... This is going to be enormous in terms of attention."Mark Shapiro, COO of UFC parent company TKO Group Holdings, at a conference earlier this year

Wall Street analysts are expecting a boost to TKO from the UFC event at the White House. It'll be among the upcoming "incremental catalysts" for the publicly traded company, said Benchmark analyst Mike Hickey in a note earlier this month. That means a significant but not huge source of positive momentum for the stock.

TKO shares are up about 31% over the past 12 months, while the broad S&P 500 stock index SPX has gained around 28%. TKO began trading in September 2023, following the merger of the UFC's prior parent company with WWE, the wrestling company. It has a market value of about $39 billion.

Trump's history with the UFC

Trump and the UFC have a long history. He hosted UFC fights at his Trump Taj Mahal casino in New Jersey's Atlantic City in 2001, providing a lifeline to the business at a time when other venues didn't want to embrace such a bloody sport. UFC CEO Dana White introduced Trump at the 2024 GOP convention in Milwaukee, praising him as "the toughest, most resilient human being that I've ever met in my life." White donated nearly $1 million to a Trump fundraising committee during the 2024 presidential race, and he gave $1 million during the 2020 race to a political action committee that supported Trump.

The UFC fight will give the Republican president a chance to give out tickets "to people who might help him out financially," and that in turn "makes Trump more prone to carry water for the UFC's political agenda," such as its interest in gambling, said the Revolving Door Project's Hauser. White, the UFC CEO, asked Trump in a letter earlier this month to work on reversing a provision in last year's GOP megalaw that allows taxpayers to deduct only 90% of their gambling losses.

The temporary arena that has been under construction is slated to feature an octagonal cage for the fights at its center, and it's expected to fit about 4,000 guests. Around 1,100 free tickets will go to U.S. troops and their families and friends, and then the other 2,900 guests will be selected mostly by the Trump White House, but also by TKO, said Shapiro earlier this month at a J.P. Morgan conference.

About 85,000 UFC fans are expected to participate in UFC Freedom 250 at the Ellipse, a 52-acre park just south of the White House grounds. TKO is setting up screens for fans to watch the fights, as part of a free, two-day "fan fest" at the Ellipse.

There is also a June 12 press conference for the UFC spectacle that's slated to take place at the Lincoln Memorial. Sponsors so far for UFC Freedom 250 include Crypto.com, a cryptocurrency company, and Ram Trucks, a Stellantis $(STLA)$ business.

White House defends event, blasts critics

The UFC event "raises concerns that corporations continue to enjoy access to and influence over the White House if they support the president's political apparatus or vanity projects," said Sherman from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. "Trump is turning what is supposed to be 'the people's house' into yet another branding opportunity, this time for the UFC and its CEO, pro-Trump super PAC donor Dana White."

Democratic lawmakers have joined watchdog groups in criticizing the UFC event.

"It's just Donald Trump trying to remake our nation's capital and our culture and our daily lives in his image, and this is just not America," said Rep. Jared Huffman, a California Democrat, in an MS Now interview. "We don't have a king. We have a very diverse country. Not everybody loves UFC fights and wants to celebrate them at the White House."

Huffman blasted other Trump projects as well, such as a plan for a new triumphal arch near Arlington National Cemetery. "So all of these things - any one of them in isolation might seem fairly trivial, but the bigger picture is we've got a president who is off the rails - who thinks that the rules and the laws about our nation's capital and commemorative works just don't apply to him."

TKO didn't respond to a request for comment, while White House spokesman Davis Ingle defended the UFC event and slammed critics.

"This will be one of the greatest and most historic sports events in history, and President Trump hosting it at the White House is a testament to his vision to celebrate America's monumental 250th anniversary," Ingle told MarketWatch in an email. "Anyone who finds a problem with that clearly suffers from a severe and debilitating disease known as Trump Derangement Syndrome that has rotted their brains. No amount of whining by deranged liberal activist groups will change the fact this event will be a resounding success."

-Victor Reklaitis

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May 29, 2026 14:23 ET (18:23 GMT)

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