The White House UFC Match will Probably Lose $30 Million and Be Full of Bugs

Last week, the Pentagon announced its plan to fill the bleachers at the White House’s UFC fight with the hottest troops Uncle Sam could get his hands on. But it’s not all good news. The UFC and parent company TKO Holdings are girding themselves for a $30 million loss for the event, which will likely be full of gnats, flies, bats, and all sorts of creepy crawlies not even on the Trump administration’s payroll. 

This is per a new article published in The Hollywood Reporter this morning, which attempts to gin up some enthusiasm for the event, going into detail about the design of the new arena (dubbed “The Claw”) and Paramount’s discovery that people who enjoy watching UFC also watch South Park. (“I think Landman is the greatest show ever in the history of television,” says UFC CEO Dana White, seemingly basically unprompted.) The idea for the match on the White House lawn came from Donald Trump himself, just weeks after his second election, which the UFC, obviously, jumped on despite the cost. “I want to be clear about something: We will not profit from the White House event independently. We will not be making money on America’s 250th anniversary,” says TKO CEO Ari Shapiro, as if to say that the lack of profit is a moral stance. “This is an investment for the long term. This is about earned media,” he continues, with the event described as obtaining “Super Bowl-level” earned media. Adds White, “Losing money is never fun. I did that for quite a few years in the early days, but you have to jump on an opportunity like this, no matter what it costs you.” 

Whether the gambit pays off for them or not, it’ll cost more than money—it’ll cost comfort. “The three big problems, as far as I am seeing right now, are rain, lightning, and a ton of bugs,” says White later about the outdoor event, which was apparently a concern for even Joe Rogan. White attended an outdoor dinner at the White House Rose Garden last month that was swarmed with black gnats. “I’m talking clusters of them,” says White. “As soon as I left the White House, I called my head of production Craig [Borsari], and said the black fly experience that I just had is brutal. So imagine this massive powerful claw, and the lights that are going to come with it, you’re going to have gnats, moths, maybe bats. I don’t know what the hell’s going to show up, but you know these are all the things that you have to think of leading up to this thing.” At least they’re thinking about it. 

Keep scrolling for more great stories.