Eleven Sports Grabs UFC Rights In UK
September 28, 2018
Eleven Sports has secured the rights to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in the UK and Ireland.
Starting next year, the multi-year deal gives the international broadcaster coverage of all 42 live UFC events in 2019, along with more than 150 hours of original and archive programming.
Eleven takes over the rights following BT Sport’s five-year relationship with UFC.
UFC Fight Nights will be shown live on Eleven Sports, and Eleven will have the option to make some events available in partnership with other broadcast platforms.
Fight Nights that are shown live on Eleven Sports will also be available on demand in full after the event.
Danny Menken, Group Managing Director, Eleven Sports, a featured speaker at the 2018 iSportconnect Broadcast Masterclass, commented: “UFC has become a massive brand which has built a hugely dedicated and engaged following over 25 years, making it a perfect fit for our fan centric strategy. We are a big supporter of combat sports across our global markets and the fresh and innovative approach that we have taken with our properties has been very successful. We are looking forward to creating the same added value for the legions of MMA fans in the UK and Ireland.”
UFC’s Senior Vice President of International and Content, David Shaw, commented: “We have worked very successfully with Eleven Sports in Belgium and Luxembourg and we are looking forward to extending our partnership here in the UK and Ireland. The UK and Ireland are amongst UFC’s strongest markets globally and with Eleven Sports making a significant impact here, it made perfect sense to partner with them to showcase our thrilling product to our loyal and passionate fans.”