ESPN, ESPN+ and the Professional Fighters League (PFL) have signed a multi-year agreement making the sports networks the official United States home of the PFL.
What’s happening:
- The Professional Fighters League (PFL) has reached a multi-year deal making ESPN and ESPN+ the home of the PFL in the United States, and with TSN making it the exclusive home of PFL in Canada.
- PFL is the first organization ever to present MMA (mixed martial arts) through a regular season, playoffs and championship format.
- All ten PFL events will air live across ESPN2, ESPN+ with up to three hours of exclusive action live on ESPN+ and up to two exclusive hours live on ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes.
- TSN holds similar rights and will exclusively air all PFL events in Canada.
- The rights include the regular season, playoffs and championship event.
- Six five-hour PFL Regular Season events will take place primarily on Thursday nights from May to August.
- Three PFL Playoff events will take place in October, with coverage also carried across ESPN+, ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes.
- PFL Playoff events will feature the top eight fighters in each of the competition’s six weight classes attempting to fight—and win—twice in the same night to advance to the PFL Championship.
- The season culminates with the PFL 2019 Championship on New Year’s Eve with world title fights in every weight class live exclusively on ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes.
- Winners of each title bout will be crowned PFL World Champion in their weight class and earn $1 million.
- In addition to the live events, ESPN platforms will bring fans pre- and post-event coverage and additional exclusive PFL content, including:
- An inside look at the league through a Road to the Playoffs
- Road to the Championship
- PFL Best of Season
- The agreement starts with the telecast of the 2018 PFL Season Review and 2019 Roster Selection Show this spring.
- Specific details about scheduling and surround programming will be announced in the coming weeks.
- Fans can look forward to some firsts this PFL season, including the debut of MMA’s first-ever 155-pound women’s division which will feature two-time American Olympic Gold Medalist Kayla Harrison, as well as SmartCage and Cagenomics, proprietary PFL features that deliver real-time data and analytics to bring fans “inside the cage.”
What they’re saying:
- Burke Magnus, ESPN Executive Vice President, Programming and Scheduling: “We are pleased to add the PFL to our combat sports roster. This unique and innovative competition structure provides MMA fans with a great option to see some of the best fights and content in the sport. ESPN is the home of combat sports, and we look forward to delivering thrilling live PFL events and powerful storytelling to fans, across all platforms.”
- Donn Davis, Co-Founder and Chairman, Professional Fighters League: “The PFL was created to offer the 300 million global MMA fans the sport-season format that other major sports like the NFL and NBA have, which is the transparency and meritocracy of a regular season, playoffs and championship. Fans can now follow the stories, and business partners can engage in the journeys, of the PFL fighters throughout the season. This agreement to bring PFL to ESPN and ESPN+ further validates our unique and innovative product and will accelerate the PFL’s growth.”
- Peter Murray, CEO, Professional Fighters League: “We are thrilled to bring the PFL to ESPN, the undisputed leader in sports. ESPN is a ground-breaking pioneer that has fundamentally changed the way we consume sports, and we at the PFL are reimagining MMA for fans and fighters. We are also the first in MMA to introduce a 155-pound women’s division and we are the first to provide equal payout to our crowned champions across all divisions.”