The Professional Fighters League (PFL) mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion has unveiled a multi-year expansion to its Latin American media rights tie-up with international sports broadcaster DirecTV, arranged by Argentine media and sports agency Torneos.
The tie-up, announced yesterday, entails DirecTV carrying on as the PFL’s exclusive partner across Latin America, including in markets such as Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Uruguay. It excludes, however, Brazil and Mexico.
The deal also extends across the Caribbean and covers action including the 2024 PFL regular season, PFL Europe, PFL Middle East and Africa, and all PFL archive content. In addition, it will cover Bellator, the former rival MMA series that the PFL acquired in late 2023.
At the time, PFL said the acquisition would allow it to rival the UFC, the world’s largest MMA promotion.
The deal extends the PFL’s relationship with DirecTV and Torneos, with the first deal between those parties struck in February 2022, running through last season.
The action will be shown on the DSports Fight channel run by DirecTV, and on the DGO streaming platform.
Peter Murray, chief executive at the PFL, said: “The Professional Fighters League is proud to expand our partnership with Torneos and DirecTV, our exclusive media partner in Latin America. As the PFL continues to grow globally, DSports Fight will serve as the dedicated channel for PFL and Bellator content in the region.”
Hernán Bidegain, DSports’ director of original content and programming, added: “The variety of content is one of the main characteristics that differentiates our exclusive sports signal. This strategic alliance allows us to further expand our combat sports offering, that is having more followers in the region.”
In terms of recent PFL broadcast rights deals, in mid-January, the league agreed to a tie-up in France with streaming service DAZN.
The agreement will see DAZN subscribers given access to more than 30 top MMA events in 2024.
DAZN’s coverage in France will begin with the PPV event PFL Champions vs Bellator Champions being held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on February 24 and comes after the PFL staged its first event in the French capital Paris last year.
The US-based PFL is a relative newcomer in combat sports, having launched its first event in 2018. It is backed by SRJ Sports Investments, the sports-focused investment vehicle recently launched by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which secured a minority stake in the promotion for $100 million in August.
