Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

PFL Acquires Bellator from Paramount Global, Creating a New MMA Behemoth

20/11/2023

PFL Acquires Bellator from Paramount Global, Creating a New MMA Behemoth The deal follows Paramounts closing of Showtime Sports last month By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.

Monday, November 20, 2023 - 1:26 pm

Print This Story | Subscribe

Story Highlights

Professional Fighters League (PFL) has acquired Bellator from Paramount Global, instantly creating a new heavyweight MMA organization that rivals UFC. PFL will continue the Bellator brand, and Bellator will be the one-off event product from PFL. PFL, which received a substantial investment from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund earlier this year, will launch what it calls a reimagined Bellator product in 2024. Dubbed the Bellator International Champions Series , it will consist of eight fight events per year hosted major cities and featuring two co-main fights competing for championship belts.

No financial terms of the agreement were released, but Sportico reports that PFL acquired the promoter for less than $100 million.

Paramount is selling its stake in Bellator on the heels of announcing that it would shut down Showtime Sports and shift all sports programming under the CBS Sports umbrella at the end of 2023. Paramount has also decided to halt live boxing matches as part of the announcement.

Bellator becomes one of five live fight franchises of the Professional Fighters League: PFL League Season, PFL PPV Super Fights, PFL Challenger Series, PFL International Leagues, and Bellator. With all newly acquired Bellator fighters now part of the PFL platform and available to compete in PFL fight franchises, the promoter plans to produce a a year-round calendar of live fight content with 30 premium MMA events per year. Details of Bellator events, distribution, partnerships, and management will be announced at a later date.

PFL is now a global powerhouse in MMA, says Donn Davis, PFL Founder and Chairman. Our Bellator acquisition turbocharges PFL's mission to innovate the sport and become the industry co-leader.

The combined PFL and Bellator fighter rosters are second to none in MMA, says Peter Murray, PFL CEO. We can't wait to bring MMA fans what they have been asking for best vs best with the PFL Champions vs Bellator Champions Mega-Event.

MMA with 650 million global fans is the third largest fan-base of all sports worldwide. MMA is the sports growth business of this decade with its current $1.75 billion industry revenue projected to grow 10% annually to $4 billion by 2032.

Bellator has served fighters and fans worldwide for more than a decade, staging an astounding 301 major MMA fight events. Bellator has successfully identified and developed dozens of acclaimed MMA world champions. Bellator's current fighter roster has 46 fighters world-ranked in the top 25 of their weight-class per independent source Fight Matrix Rankings.

PFL is the only organization in MMA with the sports-season format, where individual fighters compete in a regular season, playoffs, and championship each year. The combined roster of PFL and Bellator boasts 30% of its fighters independently world-ranked in the top 25 of their respective weight-class, the same percentage as UFC. PFL has an expansive global vision for the sport and is building the Champions League of MMA with PFL Europe, PFL MENA, and more international leagues in development. PFL leads in technology and innovation, with its proprietary PFL SmartCage, powering fight analytics, real-time betting, AI scoring, and a next-generation viewing experience. PFL is primetime on ESPN/ESPN+ in the U.S. and is broadcast and streamed in 150 countries with 20 premium media distribution partners.

PFL has acquired an immense number of top fighters through the Bellator acquisition, and its combined fighter roster is now equal in stature to UFC. PFL and UFC both showcase rosters that are 30% comprised of fighters who are top 25 independently world-ranked in their weight-classes. In addition, PFL + Bellator now has the best roster of women's fighters in the world. All

PFL as a fighter-first and fan-focused organization plans to stage a landmark mega-event in 2024 - PFL Champions vs. Bellator Champions. The PFL Champions vs. Bellator Champions mega-event will feature the champions of each promotion in all seven weight-classes in a head-to-head epic fight experience.

Citi and LionTree served as financial advisors to PFL and Sidley Austin LLP served as legal counsel to PFL.
LINK: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2023/11/20/pfl-acquires-bellator-from-para...
See more stories from svg

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

02/05/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Search, Faster Editing, and an AI-Ready Foundation for Modern Media

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

01/05/2026

NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to Integrate Dolby's Full Suite of Premium Picture and Sound Innovations

January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...

16/04/2026

NAB 2026: Appear Announces X5 General Availability, XM Management Tool, and SIx300 Module

Appear ASA (OSE: APR) will announce three additions to its X Platform at NAB Sho...

16/04/2026

CentralCast Deploys Harmonic XOS Media Processor for Public Broadcasting

Harmonic has announced that CentralCast, a centralized master control facility for U.S. public media, has deployed Harmonic's XOS Advanced Media Processor t...

16/04/2026

NAB 2026: Encompass Digital Media Integrates Interra Systems BATON into Cloud-Based Altitude Flow Platform

Interra Systems has announced that Encompass Digital Media has integrated its BA...

16/04/2026

NAB 2026: Grass Valley to Showcase Expanded Media Infrastructure Capabilities

Grass Valley will demonstrate its Media Infrastructure capabilities at NAB Show 2026 (Booth C2408, Central Hall), bringing routing, signal processing, and orche...

16/04/2026

Verizon Readies Robust Network Infrastructure Plans for FIFA World Cup 2026

As preparations ramp up for the FIFA World Cup 2026, Verizon has outlined a sweeping connectivity and infrastructure initiative that will underpin broadcast ope...

16/04/2026

Advanced Image Robotics Joins 2026 MLS Innovation Lab

Advanced Image Robotics (AIR) has announced its selection for the 2026 MLS Innovation Lab. AIR will work with MLS clubs, players, and executives on automated vi...

16/04/2026

NAB 2026: JWX Acquires True Anthem, Adding AI-Powered Social Publishing to Publisher Platform

JWX has announced the acquisition of True Anthem, an AI-powered social publishin...

16/04/2026

Jomboy Media and Fubo Launch 24/7 Creator-Led Channel

Jomboy Media and FuboTV Inc. have launched the Jomboy Media Channel, a 24/7 channel available to FuboTV base plan subscribers. The channel, timed to the start o...

16/04/2026

NAB 2026: Wave Central and EVS Announce SMPTE ST 2110 Interoperability Validation

Wave Central, a Domo Broadcast Company (Booth C2820), and EVS Broadcast Equipmen...

16/04/2026

Tata Communications and Formula 1 Release Race Before the Race, First Film in New Content Series

Tata Communications and Formula 1 have released Race Before the Race, the firs...

16/04/2026

NAB 2026: DPA Microphones N-Series Firmware Update Adds Duplex Gap and Guard Band Access for North American Users

DPA Microphones has released a firmware update for its N-Series Digital Wireless...

16/04/2026

NAB 2026: See Sony's Live Stage Presentations at NAB Show 2026

Sony's Live Stage at NAB Show 2026 is the place to hear directly from the content creators, end users, and technology experts who are pushing boundaries in ...

16/04/2026

Perfect Game and Youth Prospects Announce Broadcast Rights and Content Partnership

Perfect Game and Youth Prospects have announced a partnership covering broadcast...

16/04/2026

National Collegiate Rugby Partners with All Womens Sports Network for 2026 National 7s Championships

National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) has announced a media rights partnership with Al...

16/04/2026

NAB 2026: Audio-Technica Introduces BP350ST-UB and BP350ST-UL Mid-Side Stereo Broadcast Microphones

Audio-Technica has announced two new mid-side (MS) stereo broadcast microphones:...

16/04/2026

NAB 2026: PSSI Global Services Acquires Beagle Networks

PSSI Global Services has announced the acquisition of Beagle Networks, a provider of IT infrastructure and onsite technical support for media and enterprise cus...

16/04/2026

NAB 2026: Blackmagic Design Releases Blackmagic Camera for iOS 3.3

Blackmagic Design has released Blackmagic Camera for iOS 3.3, a free update available now from the Apple App Store. The update will be demonstrated at NAB Show ...

16/04/2026

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: 4Wall Entertainment's Dave Caulwell on Scaling Live Event Production for Sports

As live sports production continues to expand across linear, digital, and in-ven...

16/04/2026

ESPN Enters First HDR Postseason With REMCO Support in New Bristol-Based Control Rooms

Part of an infrastructure upgrade, the recently constructed spaces accommodate n...

16/04/2026

NBC Sports Tips Off First NBA Playoffs Campaign in 23 Years With Six-Truck Fleet, Interchangeable Production Model

NBC has added NEP's Supershooter 11, which only just came online in time for...

16/04/2026

Introducing a Smarter, Smoother Experience for Tablets

At Spotify, we want your experience to feel intuitive and personal across every moment of the day. Whether you're streaming your favorite playlist while you...

16/04/2026

Telsie T - SonicWorlds extended classic German Equaliser

Vintage broadcast experts release second plug-in Telsie T is the second plug-in to be released by SonicWorld, a German audio company who specialise in servi...

16/04/2026

Softube unveil Flow Studio

Compact unit offers hands-on plug-in control Softube have just announced the launch of their latest hardware unit, the Flow Studio. Housed in a compact desk...

16/04/2026

Fiedler Audio release Armada

Use any VST3 plug-in on immersive audio Fiedler Audio have just released a powerful new plug-in wrapper that brings full VST3 processing to Dolby Atmos and ...

16/04/2026

Nugen Audio update Halo Vision

Analysis plug-in gains enhanced frequency readouts Nugen Audio's real-time analysis plug-in has just received a significant update that introduces some ...

16/04/2026

GearExpo UK Announced

Recording & Music Technology Show Sound On Sound are pleased to announce a new recording and music technology exhibition taking place in London on Saturday ...

16/04/2026

SBS reveals all-star alumni team to celebrate 70 years of the Eurovision Song Contest

SBS reveals all-star alumni team to celebrate 70 years of the Eurovision Song Co...

16/04/2026

Reimagining Earth Measurement for the AI Era: L3Harris and Xoople Develop a New Spaceborne Capability

For decades, understanding the physical world from space has required a trade-of...

16/04/2026

Locality and Nielsen Announce Landmark Integration of Media Data Engine, Transforming Local TV Measurement

The integration accelerates demographic audience delivery across local markets a...

16/04/2026

Quickplay Deploys Gray Medias New Streaming Platform

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

16/04/2026

Spectrum TV App Launches On Google TV and Other Android TV Devices

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

16/04/2026

Telestream Enables Multi-Cloud Media Workflows with Oracl...

Telestream Cloud Services, including Vantage Cloud, UP, and SENTRY monitoring tools, are now optimized for OCI, powering flexible multi-cloud media orchestratio...

16/04/2026

Fox Corporation Names Amazon Web Services its Preferred A...

Fox Corporation (Nasdaq: FOXA, FOX; FOX or the Company ) today announced a strategic collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS), naming AWS as its preferre...

16/04/2026

Triveni Digital Introduces New StreamScope Analyzer to Br...

Triveni Digital, a trusted leader in ATSC 1.0 and 3.0 service delivery, data broadcasting, and quality assurance solutions, today announced an ISDB-Tb capabilit...

16/04/2026

Synamedia and SoFast team up to accelerate FAST and OTT

Synamedia and SoFast announce strategic go-to-market partnership to accelerate FAST, pay-TV, and VOD At the NAB Show 2026, Synamedia and SoFast are announcing ...

16/04/2026

Imagine Builds on a Decade of ST 2110 Leadership at 2026...

Showcases New, Open-Standard IP Solutions Across Its Portfolio, From Production to Playout Imagine Communications is marking a decade of leadership in ST 2110 ...

16/04/2026

Roku Marks 100M Milestone

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

16/04/2026

Sportway and Broadcast Solutions acquire Studio Automated...

Sportway Media Group, a world leading AI-automated sports production company and Broadcast Solutions, a leading system integrator and provider of innovative sol...

16/04/2026

AJA to Acquire Video Encoding Software Company Comprimato

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

16/04/2026

NAB Show 2026: Sony Announces New Cameras, Virtual Production Tools

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

16/04/2026

Synamedia launches GO Shorts

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

16/04/2026

Clear-Com Introduces Arcadia and Eclipse HX Updates

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

16/04/2026

AJA Enters into Agreement to Acquire Video Encoding Software Company Comprimato

AJA Enters into Agreement to Acquire Video Encoding Software Company Comprimato Brie Clayton April 15, 2026 0 Comments Deal will expand AJA's video ...

16/04/2026

Deity Announces PR-4 Compact Field Recorder with Pre-Orders Launching April 14

Deity Announces PR-4 Compact Field Recorder with Pre-Orders Launching April 14 Brie Clayton April 15, 2026 0 Comments Deity Microphones today announce...