India has been a major market on the UFC’s agenda for some time, and today they took the first step into the region by signing a major new television deal.
The promotion has announced that they’ve sealed a four year deal with Sony’s Multi Screen Media (MSM) which will see the UFC broadcast on their new premium MSM SIX channel which is targeted at young sports fans, making it a perfect fit for MMA’s leading organization.
“When we went to India over a year ago, I felt the market held enormous potential for the UFC,” says UFC chairman Lorenzo Fertitta. “India has a long history of martial arts and traditional wrestling like Kushti. Indian athletes have also demonstrated world-class levels in combat sports as evidenced by the country’s 2008 Olympic medalists in wrestling and boxing.”
With a population of 1.2 billion and half of those being under the age of 25, UFC president Dana White says the Indian market was a no-brainer for the UFC to break into.
“I’ve been saying for a few years that India would be next, and it was just a matter of finding the right partner in the market,” White says. “MSM has been a pioneer in India, broadcasting new sports franchises like the IPL. We’ve got big plans for India, and MSM couldn’t be a better partner.”
Indian fans can now look forward to live UFC events, historic fights, highlight packages and more from the new deal with SIX.
