WASHINGTON — The never-before-seen cage match on the White House lawn wasn’t cheap — with lingering uncertainty about who would pay for elements of the extravagant celebration of the 250-year-old Declaration of Independence, which coincided with President Trump’s 80th birthday.
Now that fight night is done, the UFC is paying $700,000 to fix the White House lawn — as part of roughly $60 million budgeted for the Sunday event, including to build the soaring “Claw” arena used for Sunday night’s Freedom 250 fights.
A DC government spokesperson told ESPN that the cost of extra policing on streets around the White House would approach $12 million — or about $38 per tax-paying resident of the capital, though city officials said it would come out of a federal fund for special events.
The cost of overtime for federal law enforcement agents and members of the National Guard was not immediately clear, nor was the mechanism for UFC to reimburse the federal fund.
The White House told the sports news network that the “UFC is funding and paying for this entire event. There are no taxpayer dollars being used outside of what would be applied towards employees normal duties and responsibilities.”
“Any public UFC Freedom 250 cost information can be derived from public interviews conducted by Dana and other UFC/TKO executives. The [White House] has not been involved in any cost negotiations or sponsorship discussions,” the White House said.
The spectacular series of mixed martial arts clashes — culminating in Justin Gaethje’s underdog win in the final match against a badly bloodied Ilia Topuria — featured the 14 contestants using the Eisenhower Executive Office Building as a locker room and the White House itself as a backdrop for walk-outs.
The financial murkiness encompasses the use of the military for the event.
After the National Anthem was performed, a 12-jet Blue Angels flyover roared above the White House before 8:30 p.m. Much later at night, there was an after-11:30 p.m. B-1 bomber flyover that shook buildings across downtown DC. A Marine Corps band performed throughout.
The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment on the costs to the military or whether they would be reimbursed.
About half of the overall cost of the event — or about $30 million — was covered through sponsorships with companies such as Budweiser, Polymarket and the maker of Monster Energy, according to UFC parent company TKO Holdings.
Mark Shapiro, president and chief operating officer of TKO, told The Hollywood Reporter ahead of the match that the staggering anticipated loss was worth it.
“This is an investment for the long term. This is about earned media,” he said.
“We see this once-in-a-lifetime stage as a strategic investment to drive subscriber acquisition at Paramount+, massive audience sampling for the UFC overall and Super Bowl-like earned media across the globe.”
