UFC renews Fox Sports broadcast deal for 3 more years

Singapore

AMERICAN mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has renewed its broadcast deal with Fox Sports Asia for another three years.

The agreement will see Fox air more than 40 live events in 15 countries to over 55 million people, including this Saturday's show in Singapore at the Indoor Stadium.

Singapore is one of the 15 territories in the deal with Fox, alongside the likes of China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia.

Apart from the live events, Fox will also feature UFC magazine programming and archived events. Fox also has the exclusive rights to air UFC's reality MMA development series, The Ultimate Fighter.

Fox has been the UFC's broadcast partner for the last five years. The last renewal was 18 months, and UFC's senior vice-president (international and content) Joe Carr said that the new three-year deal presents a "longer runway" for both sides to plan more strategically.

"The opportunity to have our premier content available to over 55 million viewers will continue to foster the growth of the UFC brand and the sport of MMA across the region," he said.

Mr Carr added that Fox Sports' extensive reach and marketing muscle will help to "further entrench UFC as the leading MMA promotion in Asia" and engage with fans across South-east Asia.

Speaking to The Business Times in an interview on Thursday at Marina Bay Sands, Mr Carr said that the new three-year deal presents more opportunities to expand UFC's presence in Asia.

"For instance, do we make Singapore an annual stop on our live events calendar, or should we start looking at markets like Bangkok? There are a lot of discussions going on about how we can amplify this relationship (with Fox Sports Asia) and do more."

UFC will stage its second show in Singapore before an expected full house of about 10,000 people on Saturday at the Indoor Stadium, marking its return to the Lion City more than three years after staging its inaugural event here.

The upcoming show, named "UFC Fight Night Singapore", has a total of 12 matches on the card, headlined by a main event between American star and former women's bantamweight champion Holly Holm against Brazil's Bethe Correia.

Mr Carr told BT that more than S$1 million worth of tickets have already been sold as at Thursday morning, describing the response as having "exceeded expectations" given that this is UFC's first show in Asia in 18 months.

"The brand in Singapore is still very young, and the events will only get stronger and better over time. It's a successful first step for us. We are excited to be back, and Singapore is an important market for us," he said.

Some of the other major fights include Belgian Tarec Saffiedine's clash with Rafael dos Anjos of Brazil. Saffedine will be a familiar face to local MMA fans as he was victorious in the main event at UFC's first Singapore event in January 2014.

Apart from Saturday's show, MMA fans will get the opportunity to catch the UFC stars at the ceremonial weigh-in at the MasterCard Theatres at MBS on Friday at 6pm. The event is open to the public with no admission fee.