Warner Bros. Discovery Strikes Bellator MMA Media Rights Deal
Warner Bros. Discovery has acquired television rights to the Bellator Championship Series mixed martial arts franchise, adding to its lineup of live sports content.
Max will stream Bellator’s first event under the new deal on March 22 from Belfast, one of eight Bellator Championship Series events taking place during the year, according to WBD. Each event will take place from various locations around the world and highlight the best fighters from each region.
In addition, other Bellator content – which formerly aired on Paramount-owned Showtime prior to the company’s sale last November of the franchise to the Professional Fighters League – will air on TruTv throughout the year. Max will also stream two new all-access docuseries, Fight Camp Confidential and Fight Week, that will debut March 21 in advance of the first live event, said WBD.
The Bellator content adds to WBD-owned TNT Sports lineup of live sports programming, which includes Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League, the National Basketball Association, NCAA men's college basketball, and NASCAR events.
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“We are thrilled to partner with Professional Fighters League to introduce a new live sport to the U.S. Warner Bros. Discovery content portfolio,” Warner Bros. Discovery Streaming chief financial & strategy officer Josh Walker said in a statement. “The addition of Bellator Champions Series offers our viewers an opportunity to experience highly anticipated mixed martial arts, nicely complementing our robust slate of can’t miss programming.”
