SponsorUnited data shows WWE added new brands at a significantly higher rate than UFC in 2025, as Raw's move to Netflix opened new inventory, new audiences and new opportunities for marketers.

For brand marketers evaluating the commercial value of combat sports and sports entertainment, sponsor growth tells only part of the story. The more revealing question may be: how quickly is the sponsor roster changing?

In 2025, WWE saw a significantly higher rate of new sponsors than UFC. According to new SponsorUnited data in our latest report, 67.3% of WWE's brand partners were new entrants, compared with 47.4% for UFC. That means more than two-thirds of WWE's 2025 sponsor roster represented brands that had not been active with WWE the prior season. UFC, by comparison, saw just under half of its sponsors enter the property for the first time.

The timing is notable. WWE's flagship weekly program, Raw, moved from linear television to Netflix in January 2025, marking a major distribution change for one of the most recognizable properties in sports entertainment. Netflix subsequently said it had sold out its Raw title-sponsorship inventory, with brands including Snickers, Minute Maid, Cricket Wireless, and Wingstop coming on board.

The SponsorUnited data does not prove that the Netflix move caused WWE's higher new sponsor entrants. But the two developments happened at the same time—and together they point to a meaningful shift in the commercial environment around WWE.

Two-thirds of WWE's 2025 sponsors were new

The clearest signal is the new-entrant rate. SponsorUnited's analysis found 35 net-new WWE brands in 2025, compared with 46 for UFC. Across the two properties, there were 75 distinct net-new brands, with some brands appearing across both properties. The combined TKO portfolio included 136 unique brands, producing a 55.1% overall new-entrant rate.

The property-level comparison is where the difference becomes particularly interesting:

• WWE: 67.3% new-entrant rate
• UFC: 47.4% new-entrant rate
• TKO combined: 55.1%

In other words, WWE was bringing a substantial number of new brands into the ecosystem.

The shift is happening within a sizable sponsorship market. UFC and WWE combined for an estimated $474 million in sponsorship revenue across 136 deals in 2025—$314 million from UFC and $160 million from WWE. WWE’s 67.3% new-entrant rate shows just how much new brand activity was flowing into the smaller of the two properties.

For marketers, that distinction matters. A property that consistently attracts new advertisers can signal expanding commercial demand, new categories entering the space and opportunities to build partnerships without necessarily competing for the same long-standing inventory.

The Netflix effect created more than a new distribution channel

Raw's move to Netflix represented a fundamental change in how WWE's flagship weekly program was distributed. WWE announced the long-term Netflix partnership in January 2024, with Raw moving to the platform beginning in January 2025.

Within its first few months, Netflix was already selling out Raw's title-sponsorship inventory. Netflix specifically highlighted Snickers as presenting sponsor, along with Minute Maid, Cricket Wireless, Wingstop and other advertisers, while also pointing to custom integrations such as TurboTax's March 2025 episode takeover.

That is an important distinction for marketers: the opportunity wasn't simply a new place to put a logo.

The Netflix transition created a new commercial environment around Raw, combining WWE's established fan base with Netflix's global distribution, new advertising infrastructure and the ability to build custom integrations around the program.

WWE also continued to expand the types of assets available to brands. Real American Beer, for example, launched a multi-year WWE partnership in January 2025 that included branding on the ring mat corners during every episode of Raw. Later in the year, Slim Jim expanded its existing relationship to become the center-ring sponsor of Raw, along with branding on folding tables across WWE programming.

For brands, that creates a much broader partnership canvas than traditional broadcast advertising alone. The sponsor roster wasn't just getting bigger. It was getting more diverse.

SponsorUnited's data also shows how much of the two properties' sponsor bases are distinct. Across UFC and WWE, 118 brands were unique to one property, while just 18 brands were active across both.

That means the overlap between the two properties remains relatively limited, even though they sit under the same TKO umbrella.

For marketers, that creates an interesting strategic choice. UFC can provide access to a highly differentiated combat-sports audience, while WWE offers a broader sports-entertainment platform built around weekly programming, personalities, storylines and live events. The relatively low level of overlap suggests that brands don't necessarily have to choose between the two properties—or assume that activating with one automatically gives them the other.

Instead, the properties can serve different objectives within a broader sponsorship portfolio.

The biggest spenders show where the market is concentrating

The SponsorUnited report's estimated sponsorship-value rankings provide another lens into the market. At the combined WWE/UFC level, DraftKings and VeChain ranked first and second by estimated sponsorship spend, followed by Monster Energy, AB InBev, and Crypto.com. Prime Hydration, Slim Jim, Cricket Wireless, Riyadh Season and Xfinity rounded out the top 10.

The list also illustrates how differently brands are using the two properties.

DraftKings and VeChain were active across both WWE and UFC, while Monster Energy, AB InBev, and Crypto.com were among the largest brands concentrated on UFC. Slim Jim, Cricket Wireless and Xfinity appeared among WWE's leading estimated spenders.

That mix reinforces an important point for marketers: Sponsorship value isn't only about audience size. It's also about how a brand can use the specific assets, audience, and cultural environment of a property.

New doesn't always mean completely new

There is also an important nuance in the SponsorUnited data: not every apparent change in a sponsor's status represents a brand entering the broader TKO ecosystem for the first time.

For example, DoorDash was a genuine new-in-2025 cross-property relationship. True Classic, meanwhile, was announced in March 2025 as an "Official Basics Wear Partner" of WWE, but SponsorUnited's analysis classifies that as an upgrade in status from an existing 2024 UFC relationship rather than a completely new brand entering the TKO portfolio.

That distinction matters when marketers evaluate sponsorship growth.

A rising new-entrant rate can reflect several different dynamics: brands entering a property for the first time, existing sponsors expanding across properties, partnerships moving into larger packages or brands taking advantage of newly available inventory.

The underlying commercial signal is still meaningful—but understanding why the roster is changing is just as important as measuring how much it changes.

What this means for brand marketers

WWE's 2025 new sponsor entrants suggest that the market around the property was in a period of active commercial expansion. The combination of 67.3% new entrants, a Netflix distribution shift and sold-out Raw title inventory points to a property attracting significant interest from brands at the same moment its media environment was changing.

For marketers, that creates both opportunity and urgency. First, new inventory can create new entry points. The Netflix transition demonstrated how a major media change can create sponsorship opportunities that didn't exist in the same form before. Second, the WWE-UFC comparison shows why property-level analysis matters. Even within the same corporate portfolio, sponsor behavior can look very different. UFC's 47.4% new-entrant rate suggests a more established sponsor base, while WWE's 67.3% rate points to substantially more roster movement. Third, marketers should look beyond the headline sponsor count. Understanding which brands are new, which are expanding, which are renewing and which are moving across properties provides a much clearer picture of where demand is actually coming from.

And finally, the most valuable opportunity may be in the space created by change. When a property undergoes a major distribution or commercial transformation, the brands that enter early can have access to new inventory, new integrations and potentially less crowded competitive territory.

WWE's 2025 new sponsor entrants are therefore more than a statistic about how many brands came and went. It is a signal of a sponsorship market being reshaped in real time.

For brand marketers, that's the part worth watching.

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