UFC president Dana White is currently enjoying success in mixed martial arts with the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s partnership with ESPN, but he has other goals he hopes to pursue in the future. In a recent interview, White shared his desire to one day own an NFL franchise saying he was “very interested.”
White also said he would like to join Frank and Lorenzo Ferttita, the former owners of the UFC and close friends of White, in the venture.
“He’ll be an incredible owner. The Fertitta’s own casinos, they’re incredible owners. They owned the UFC, they were incredible owners. They will be amazing NFL owners,” White told TMZ. “He is absolutely, positively going to be an NFL owner someday.
“I’m very interested (in partnering with them). I predict the Fertitta brothers will own an NFL team and me and the Fertitta brothers will be in business again someday.”
The Fertitta brothers bought the UFC for $2 million back in 2001 and were able to get a heavy return on their investment. Three years ago in 2016, the brothers sold the promotion to William Morris Endeavor for a whopping $4 billion. Dana White had a 9 percent stake in the company.
With the $4 million from the UFC sale and their success in the casino industry, the Fertittas could certainly come up with the money to buy a franchise if they end up going in that direction down the line.
Of course, a franchise would first need to be available for sale and there are currently no NFL teams on the market.
The last NFL team to hit the market was the Carolina Panthers in May of 2018 with David Tepper dropping $2.2 billion to purchase the team.