CBS Sports, an arm of the US national television network, has secured English-language broadcast rights to Combate Global, the Hispanic-focused mixed martial arts series previously known as Combate Americas, until the end of 2023.
The deal also includes coverage on Paramount+, the streaming service launched by ViacomCBS in March this year, with the platforms to offer remaining events in 2021 and 30 events annually in both 2022 and 2023.
Events will be streamed live from a set in Miami, and produced by Combate Global’s own production arm, with an additional one-hour weekly highlights show on the linear CBS Sports Network, and preview and highlights shows Paramount+.
The first event from the series to be shown on CBS Sports will be on 25 June, with events then continuing on Paramount+ from 9 July.
In addition to the live events, highlights will ppear on CBS’ digital and social media channels, and the entire Combate Global archive library will be made available on-demand via Paramount+.
Campbell McLaren, Combate Global’s chief executive officer (also a co-founder of the Ultimate Fighting Championship), said: “We are thrilled to partner with CBS Sports and bring Combate Global action to the Paramount+ platform. Millions of combat sports fans have heard about Combate Global's fast and furious version of MMA and can now see for themselves.”
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By GlobalDataJeffrey Gerttula, executive vice-president and general manager at CBS Sports Digital, added: “We believe Combate events will complement the expansive live soccer programming that is now a cornerstone of our industry-leading sports coverage on the service.”
Combate Global rebranded from Combate Americas earlier this year, as the series sought to broaden its appeal worldwide, and add fighters from outside USA and Latin America.
In April, the series renewed its Spanish-language media rights arrangement in the USA with Univision, in a five-year deal.
The action will continue to be made available across Univision platforms, including linear television channels Univision and TUDN, the TUDN Radio Network, TUDN.TV and the TUDN app.
Fans will also be able to access archive content on Prendre TV, Univision’s new ad-supported streaming service offering free premium Spanish-language content.
Univision has been showing Combate Americas events since 2018.