Eleven Sports is to become the UK home of UFC in the UK and Ireland.
Starting in January 2019, Eleven Sports will hold the rights to all 42 live UFC events in 2019, as well as over 150 hours of UFC original and archive programming in a multi-year agreement.
“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,” said Danny Menken, Group Managing Director, Eleven Sports. “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 Fight Nights will be screened live on Eleven Sports that will also hold the on demand rights. The contract also allows Eleven Sports to sublease some of the rights to other broadcasters.
“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,” said David Shaw, UFC Senior Vice President, International and Content. “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.”
Eleven Sports has already secured UK rights to La Liga (Spain), Serie A (Italy), Eredivisie (Netherlands), Chinese Super League (from 2019) and Allsvenskan (Sweden).
