CANAL+ exclusive French language PFL rights
holder in Sub-Saharan Africa
All PFL Fight Franchises to air live on
Canal+
NEW
YORK, July 11, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The
Professional Fighters League (PFL), the fastest growing and most
innovative sports league, today announced a multi-year media rights
agreement with CANAL+, the longest standing and market share leader
in French-speaking Sub-Saharan Africa, for French language
rights. The partnership also includes Myanmar and Haiti where CANAL+ broadcasts several top
sports competitions.
CANAL+ will provide live localized programming, continuing
across all PFL Global, PFL Europe, PFL MENA, Bellator Champions
Series, PFL Super Fights, selected PFL and Bellator archives, and
also PFL Africa which will launch in 2025 and will benefit from the
prime exposure offered by Canal+ Sport channels in Sub-Saharan
Africa, where CANAL+ will carry PFL action live with French
commentary on linear channels to nearly 8 million homes.
"The Professional Fighters League could not be more excited to
partner with Canal+ bringing our brand to French-speaking
Sub-Saharan Africa," said James
Frewin, PFL Managing Director International. "The PFL
believes strongly in connecting with MMA fans in areas that have
been traditionally underserved in the sport and doing so in their
native languages. Canal+ is the sports media brand that lives in
the hearts and minds of the French speaking population in
Sub-Saharan Africa and is synonymous with premium sport."
Jacques du Puy, CEO of CANAL+ International says. "We are
proud to bring PFL to our African subscribers. Fighting
competitions, and MMA leagues in particular, attract ever larger
audiences of fans among African audience. And we are all the more
thrilled to partner with a dedicated PFL franchise in Africa and broadcast top fights with stars
such as Francis Ngannou or Cedric
Doumbe. This perfectly fits our strategy of promoting
African sport on the continent and beyond."
The 2024 PFL Global Season and Global Season Playoffs are
available live across ESPN platforms in the U.S. and via DAZN in
Canada, Europe and additional premium sports platforms
internationally.
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. 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 available on ESPN/ESPN+
in the U.S., DAZN in Canada and
Europe and broadcast and streamed
in 160 countries with 20 premium media distribution partners.
ABOUT PROFESSIONAL FIGHTERS LEAGUE
Professional
Fighters League (PFL) is a global powerhouse in MMA and the
fastest-growing sports league world-wide. PFL has five live fight
franchises, offering year-round content: PFL League Season, PFL PPV
Super Fights, PFL Challenger Series, PFL International Leagues, and
Bellator. Founded in 2018, PFL is backed by major blue-chip
investors including SRJ, Ares, Knighthead, Luxor Capital, Waverley
Capital, Elysian Park Ventures, and numerous NBA, MLB, NHL, and MLS
team owners. MMA is the growth sport business of this decade, with
650 million fans worldwide, the youngest audience demographic, and
true global revenue streams. PFLmma.com; Instagram (@PFLmma);
Twitter (@PFLMMA); Facebook (/PFLmma)
ABOUT CANAL+ GROUP
CANAL+ Group, a subsidiary of
Vivendi, is a leader in the creation and distribution of
content in the world, with a presence in more than 50
countries and nearly 7,600 employees on every continent.
CANAL+ Group has 26.4 million subscribers worldwide,
including 17.1 million in Europe,
8.1 million in Africa and 1.2
million in Asia-Pacific. It is the
largest shareholder in MultiChoice, the leader in pay-TV in English
and Portuguese-speaking Africa;
Viaplay, the Scandinavian leader in pay-TV and streaming;
and is also a shareholder in Viu, a leading Asian
streaming business.
CANAL+ Group invests 3.5 billion
euros in content every year, making the group a key
player in sport (main funder in France of football and rugby, and the leading
partner of UEFA and the EPL internationally), films (leading funder
in France and Poland), series (including more than 50
original series per year in over 15 languages) and entertainment
(documentaries, comedy, shows). CANAL+ Group offers over 2,000
channels, including 130 produced in-house. In addition to
content creation and its own channels, CANAL+ Group acts as an
aggregator or both linear channels global streaming services
including, Netflix, Disney+, Paramount+, Apple TV+ and Max.
With the support of its subsidiary STUDIOCANAL and its network
of 14 production companies, including 13 in Europe and one in the United States, CANAL+ Group is the leading
producer and distributor of feature films and TV series in
Europe. It holds a catalogue of
nearly 9,000 titles from more than 60
countries, including those of Orange Studio following the
acquisition of OCS by CANAL+ Group.
Canal+ Group is an innovative, technology-based company, with a
leading direct to consumer digital offer via its CANAL+/myCanal
app, which is deploying internationally at an accelerating rate and
currently has a presence in more than 40 countries and
territories.
canalplusgroup.com/en
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SOURCE Professional Fighters League (PFL)