The Professional Fighters League (PFL), a renowned US-based mixed martial arts (MMA) series, has recently announced a significant media rights deal with Sub-Saharan African pay-TV broadcaster SuperSport. The agreement covers the PFL season and action from Bellator, a former rival MMA promotion that PFL took over last year.
SuperSport began its coverage of the 2024 PFL Europe season opening event over the weekend, where Cedric Doumbe took on Baissangour Chamsoudinov at the Accor Arena in Paris. With this partnership, all PFL programming, including live coverage of PFL PPV Super Fights, PFL Europe, and newly announced PFL MENA, will be available across SuperSport channels in the region.
James Frewin, senior vice president of international for PFL, states, “Sub-Saharan Africa represents a priority market for the Professional Fighters League as we continue our rapid global expansion. We’re thrilled to partner with SuperSport, so viewers across the region can watch premium PFL and Bellator MMA content all year round on SuperSport.”
PFL has been expanding its reach and securing international broadcast deals in regions such as Globo in Brazil, U-Next in Japan, DirecTV in Latin America, and Nova in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Additionally, in January, the league agreed to a tie-up with streaming service DAZN in France.
PFL is broadcasted by major sports network ESPN and its ESPN+ streaming service in its home US market. With over 20 media distribution partners, the league broadcasts and streams in 150 countries worldwide.
Moreover, PFL is set to launch its third international league, PFL Africa, in 2025 through an exclusive global strategic partnership with MMA star Francis Ngannou, who will be an equity owner and chairman of PFL Africa.