Dana White says the cost of the UFC’s Sphere event is nothing compared to what the price tag on the White House card will be.
The UFC plans to host the biggest event in company history on the South Lawn of the White House in June, featuring the sport’s biggest stars and numerous championship fights. Figuring out logistics has not been easy for the UFC boss.
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“There’s a laundry list of challenges,” White told TNT Fight Sports. “First of all, the South Lawn slopes like this (down). Let’s start there. There’s only a certain amount of people you can get in. Secret Service, I’ve been to the White House a million times, and I get a lot of leeway at the White House. Everybody knows I’m not there to hurt anybody.
“So, when we bring in 4,500 people that night, plus all the production staff and everybody that has to be a part of the event, this is going to be – there’s two things. What the Sphere cost is like chump change that you throw on your ashtray compared to what this is going to cost, No. 1. No. 2, logistically pulling this off is insane.”
Noche UFC, which was held at the Sphere in September 2024, won two Sports Emmy awards and cost over $20 million dollars, according to White. He expects far more challenges when putting together the White House event.
“Our normal lighting rig, anywhere we go in the world, the normal lighting rig, I want nothing to do with that,” White said. “I don’t want to see it. We have screens; I don’t want to see screens. The only thing I want to see is the White House. And then when the fight goes the other way, the Washington Monument. That’s it. Those are the only two things I want to see. I don’t want to see a screen, a lighting grid, any of that stuff. So we had to build a special (rig), which is still being built.
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“Craig Borsari, my head of production, he has these renderings – this is how detailed we are on this stuff. He has a rendering of the actual trees that are on the South Lawn. Everything is is laid out. We’ll know where the sun is. When the video plays, it’ll show us where the sun is every thirty minutes. The list goes on and on. The team that we have, leading up to the White House, we’ll know the weather weeks in advance. … It makes the Sphere look like finger painting.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Dana White: UFC White House cost will trump Sphere by a lot
