This week, IMG Media – a division of IMG Worldwide, the global sports, fashion and media company – announced it has signed a three year agreement to globally represent and distribute all media rights for the Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) events put on by World Series of Fighting (WSOF).
Plans are in place to expand the number of WSOF events to 8-10 for 2014/15 and for the shows to be staged internationally in venues such as Vancouver, Brazil, the UK, and Eastern Europe. To date, all WSOF events have been hosted in the US – in Las Vegas, Ontario, and Atlantic City – with upcoming events to be hosted in Miami, Chicago and Houston.
According to details contained in a press release shared with MGW, NBC – which has shown the first five WSOF events live on NBC Sports Network in primetime – has a multi-year deal for exclusive coverage in the U.S.
“MMA continues to be a highly sought after and highly-rated sport with very attractive male demographics,” says Hillary Mandel, IMG Media’s SVP and Head of Media North America. “Even though WSOF is less than a year old, it has been exceptionally well-received and has attracted top quality fighters, both experienced and up and coming.”
“We see great potential for ‘blue chip’ fight programming and the value of distributing a series with high-level production values that has a strong foundation through its management, broadcast partners and investors,” she added.
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