American mixed martial arts (MMA) league The Professional Fighters League (PFL) and UK-founded global sports and entertainment platform DAZN have agreed a joint venture to create PFL Europe.
Launching in 2023, PFL Europe will be the first regional league ever from a global provider of MMA.
The competition will feature the top emerging European MMA fighters and will be broadcast during prime local hours with all events staged in Europe.
PFL Europe will aim to build on the PFL brand and global infrastructure to become the ‘the leading MMA organisation in Europe.’
PFL and DAZN also announced a multi-year media rights agreement to bring all PFL global events exclusively to DAZN in select major international markets, with a focus on Europe and including the United Kingdom, Ireland and Spain.
“PFL Europe is the beginning of the Champions League of MMA“
PETER MURRAY, PFL
In addition, DAZN has become a partner to the new PFL PPV Super Fight Division and will promote and distribute the events in international territories outside of the United States and Canada.
Peter Murray, CEO of PFL, said, “PFL Europe is the beginning of the Champions League of MMA from PFL. We are excited to have DAZN as our strategic media rights distribution partner in Europe for all of fight franchises – PFL Global League, PFL Challenger Series, PFL Europe, and PFL PPV Super Fight Division.”
Shay Segev, DAZN Group CEO, added, “DAZN is fast becoming the preferred partner for rights holders for the simple reason that we can provide a truly global solution, access to fanbases across the world. We have a strong track record investing in and accelerating the growth of sports.
“We are also more agile and innovative than traditional broadcasters and, like the PFL, we want to stay relevant to today’s consumer. With DAZN, fans can either watch in the traditional linear way or enjoy a more immersive and interactive entertainment experience with greater gamification and bolt-on products and services.”
PFL is the only MMA league with a ‘sports-season’ format, where international fighters compete in a regular season, playoffs and championship. The four competitors in each division who earn the most points in the regular season advance to the win-or-go-home playoffs, followed by the biggest night in MMA – the PFL World Championship – with each winner going home with the $1m (£890,000) prize.
DAZN sports broadcasting rights continues to grow. It currently holds the domestic broadcasting rights for top professional football leagues in its main markets – Italy’s Serie A, Spain’s La Liga and Germany’s Bundesliga and Japan’s J League – as well as global boxing rights through its partnership with Matchroom, Golden Boy, Anthony Joshua, and Misfits Boxing.
