Trump-organized sporting events have lost $90M in 2026 alone
The quest to curry favor with President Trump means flushing a whole bunch of money down the toilet, that’s what both the UFC and Enhanced Games learned after reports emerged of how much money they wasted on events at the behest of the president and his family. UFC Freedom 250 at the White House this […]
In 2026, two major sporting events organized by President Donald Trump suffered significant financial losses. The UFC Freedom 250 event at the White House resulted in a $30 million loss for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), primarily due to high production costs for an invite-only audience, making it impossible to recoup ticket sales revenue.
UFC executives subsequently revised their 2026 Q2 profit margin to 52%, down from 59%, although the company touted the event as a success due to "Earned Media Value" valued at $1 billion. This figure is a made-up metric intended to justify the event's brand exposure and potential future earnings.
On a larger scale, the Enhanced Games, an event championed by Donald Trump Jr. and backed by a key investor, faced an even greater financial setback, losing $60 million. The games aimed to challenge the traditional Olympic Games by promoting performance-enhancing drugs, but failed to attract interest, with no records being broken.
Notably, the athlete who won the 50m backstroke was the only participant not using performance-enhancing substances. Following the disaster, shares in Enhanced Group plummeted 77%, falling from $7.89 in May to $1.64. The company's CEO acknowledges that this is only the beginning, but it remains uncertain how Enhanced Group can recover from such a loss while attempting to sell a product that no longer has public appeal.
Written by urgent.news from SB Nation's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
