Cage Warriors and Channel 4 join forces

Cage Warriors sign a TV deal with Channel 4

Cage Warriors Fighting Championship can today confirm that it has signed a terrestrial TV deal with British broadcaster Channel 4.

The initial agreement, which begins with CWFC 70 in Dublin on August 16, covers all remaining CWFC events in 2014, bringing Europe’s leading MMA promotion to a terrestrial audience in the UK for the very first time.

Cage Warriors’ live UK broadcast deal with Premier Sports will remain in place simultaneously, with Channel 4 set to air an hour-long midweek highlights show following every CWFC event. Each programme will also be available online via 4oD, Channel 4’s free video-on-demand service on Channel4.com.

Hosting as many as 14 events per year, Cage Warriors Fighting Championship has become the dominant European MMA promotion and a hotbed of the most prolific MMA talent in Europe and beyond, producing some of the biggest names in the sport, such as Michael Bisping, Dan Hardy and Conor McGregor. Channel 4’s viewers will be treated to top international stars competing for world titles on a global stage.

Commenting on a significant deal for mixed martial arts in the UK, Cage Warriors Fighting Championship CEO Graham Boylan said:

“We’re delighted to have joined forces with a broadcaster of Channel 4’s stature and flair."

“They like to have fun and so do we. This is a really positive development for Cage Warriors, and for the growth of MMA in general in this part of the world, and I’m sure it will mark the beginning of a good relationship between CWFC and Channel 4.”

Jamie Aitchison of Channel 4 added:

“We’re thrilled to be broadcasting an exciting and growing sport and look forward to working with Cage Warriors across the upcoming events.”

UFC extends agreement with BT Sport to broadcast EMEA & Asia fight nights

BT Sport agrees deal to show UFC London live plus more fight night shows

The first event this will include will be UFC Fight Night London: Gustafsson vs Manuwa on the 8th March at O2 Arena, London.

The UFC has announced an agreement with BT Sport to broadcast its six EMEA Fight Nights live, in addition to delayed broadcasts of the Asia Fight Nights. The agreement is an extension to the current contract, which already sees the channel broadcast the UFC’s global events, and will now offer more live UFC content on TV.

The deal will begin with UFC Fight Night London: Gustafsson vs Manuwa on 8th March live from London’s O2 Arena. The EMEA and ASIA Fight Nights are a collection of events throughout some the major cities in Europe and Asia as the UFC begins to significantly increase its presence in the regions through locally driven prime time content. The new access will give subscribers live prime time viewing access, including every bout on the fight card and behind the scenes footage, along with our weekly Beyond The Octagon programming.

Garry Cook, Executive Vice President and Managing Director of UFC EMEA, said:

“We are delighted to be working with BT Sport on our exciting new EMEA and Asia Fight Nights. They have been a fantastic partner of the UFC here in the UK and this will only strengthen our relationship.

“British fans want to see more and more of the UFC during prime time TV and this extended agreement will allow them to watch every single fight, and much more, throughout the EMEA and Asia Fight Nights.”

Simon Green, Head of BT Sport said:

“UFC is one of the fastest growing sports in the world and we’re very happy to be adding these new FIGHT NIGHTS to our UFC content.  We know that UFC fans in the UK will be delighted to hear this news.”

UFC Fight Night London: Gustafsson vs Manuwa starts at 5.30 p.m. GMT at the O2 Arena. For further details on the event and the full fight card, please visit http://uk.ufc.com/event/ufc-london#/fight.
For more information about UFC, its events and programming, please visit http://uk.ufc.com.

Kingdom MMA reaction:

This is of course huge news for the UK fans who have been asking questions regarding TV coverage of the UFC London event for a long time now. I always thought that a deal would be agreed for this event, as it was with the Singapore event to show it on BT Sport. However to have agreed a deal for all EMEA events to be shown live is more than I expected as I expected the non UK events to be a Fight Pass only event.

The fact the Asia cards will be shown on tape delay isn't a problem either, lets face it. No TV provider would allow UFC to be shown live at 11am anyway and I quite enjoyed watching the Singapore card in the evening. If you want to watch it live then the option to watch on Fight Pass will still be available anyway.

From the wording of the press release it may even include showing the prelims as well for all of these events as it says "this extended agreement will allow them to watch every single fight". If this is the case then it is brilliant news and a massive step to help promote the up and coming British talent on the UFC London card such as Brad Scott and Luke Barnatt who's fights never disappoint and more fans will now have the opportunity to see these warriors fight.

CWFC to broadcast free-to-air in Scandinavia with Viasat

CWFC to broadcast free-to-air in Scandinavia with Viasat

Cage Warriors Fighting Championship today announced that it has penned an exciting new agreement with Nordic broadcaster Viasat.

The deal will see all Cage Warriors events in 2014 carried by Viasat’s free-to-air networks in Denmark, Sweden and Norway, including live transmission of the promotion’s four events in Scandinavia.

Cage Warriors will make its first move into the region this spring, with details of the venue and date to be announced early next week.

Cage Warriors CEO Graham Boylan had the following to say:

“As I’ve said in the past, we have big plans for the growth of Cage Warriors in the Nordic region and this is another major step towards that,”

“We’re extremely pleased to be partnering with a broadcaster of Viasat’s stature, and I’m looking forward to working together with them in 2014 and beyond.”

Eighteen events are planned for the Cage Warriors schedule this year, beginning with CWFC 64 in London, England, on Saturday, February 15.

Nordic fighters feature prominently on the Cage Warriors roster, with several stars from across the region currently signed exclusively to the promotion, including Nicolas Dalby, Jack Hermansson and Mohsen Bahari.

CWFC events will be broadcast free of charge through Viasat’s platforms in Denmark, Sweden and Norway, details of which will be confirmed at a later date.

Graham Boylan also tweeted on Friday that Cage Warriors "will be on UK terrestrial TV" with Cage Warriors "just finishing the finer details with the new partner" As soon as the details emerge about that deal we will let you all know.