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.” 

One month after announcing the shutdown of Showtime Sports at year-end, Paramount Global on Monday (November 20) sold its Bellator mixed martial arts franchise to the Saudi Arabia-backed Professionals Fighters League.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Paramount, which has owned Bellator since 2011, will retain a minority stake in the franchise. Paramount-owned Showtime has offered Bellator events on its air and via pay-per-view since 2021.

The five-year-old PFL will add Bellator to its four existing MMA franchises, including the PFL League Season, PFL PPV Super Fights, PFL Challenger Series and the PFL International Leagues. The company plans to offer eight Bellator fight events yearly under the Bellator International Champions Series.

PFL also looks to create a major event in 2024, pitting the PFL Champions versus the Bellator Champions. PFL founder and chairman Donn Davis said the deal positions PFL well against the category leader, the Endeavor Group Holdings-owned UFC. 

“PFL is now a global powerhouse in MMA,” PFL founder and chairman Donn Davis said in a statement. “Our Bellator acquisition turbocharges PFL’s mission to innovate the sport and become the industry co-leader.”

The deal comes as Paramount plans to shut down Showtime Sports and its live MMA and boxing events at the end of 2023. Showtime will distribute its last scheduled pay-per-view boxing event on Saturday (November 25) featuring the David Benavidez-Demetrius Andrade middleweight championship fight. 

The list of marquee TV sports events for the last weekend in January starts with the NFL Conference Championships.

On Sunday afternoon, CBS will televise the AFC Championship game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Kansas City Chiefs, while later that evening Fox’s NFL Championship telecast will feature the San Francisco 49’ers and Los Angeles Rams. The winner of each game will meet in Super Bowl LVI in Los Angeles on February 6, which will air live on NBC.

On the mixed martial arts front, Showtime on Saturday will televise live the Bellator 273 fight card featuring a main event heavyweight championship fight between Ryan Bader and Valentin Moldavsky.

ABC on Saturday will air a live primetime NBA game between the Brooklyn Nets and Golden State Warriors, while the NHL Network on Sunday will telecast the Seattle Kraken-New York Rangers hockey contest. 

ESPN on Saturday and Sunday morning will hit the tennis court for live coverage of the Australian Open women's and men's finals, respectively,  while on the auto racing track USA and NBC will offer weekend coverage of the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship. On Saturday, FS1 will offer live coverage of the Professional Bowlers Tour’s Players Championship Finals. 

The weekend college basketball lineup features several top ten-ranked teams playing on Saturday, including No. 1 Auburn hosting Oklahoma on ESPN and No. 3 Arizona against Arizona State on CBS. ESPN will also televise fourth-ranked Baylor against Alabama and fifth-ranked Kansas versus 12th-ranked Kentucky. ESPN2 will air seventh-ranked Houston’s game against UCF. On Sunday, CBS carries No. 6 Purdue against No. 16 Ohio State.

This weekend's live TV sports telecasts tip off Saturday with a full slate of NBA playoffs games tipping off on ESPN and ABC. ESPN will televise the Miami Heat-Milwaukee Bucks, Dallas Mavericks-LA Clippers and Portland Trail Blazers-Denver Nuggets games, while ABC airs the Boston Celtics-Brooklyn Nets game in primetime.

NBA first round playoffs coverage continues on Sunday, with TNT airing the Washington Wizards-Philadelphia 76’ers and the Atlanta Hawks-New York Knicks contests, while ABC televises the Los Angeles Lakers-Phoenix Suns game.

Major League Soccer games will air Saturday on ABC (LA Galaxy at Portland) and Sunday on Fox (Atlanta at Seattle) and FS1 (Austin at Nashville SC), while Premier League soccer games will air Sunday on NBC, USA Network and NBCSN. 

Also Read: NBA Launches 'That Game' Campaign During Playoffs

ESPN and CBS will feature weekend coverage of the prestigious PGA Championship golf tournament. The tournament is the second of golf's four major championship events. 

NBC will continue its coverage of the NHL Playoffs with a Saturday doubleheader featuring the Pittsburgh Penguins-NY Islanders and Vegas Golden Knights-Minnesota Wild games. 

NBC will take to the track on Sunday with coverage of the USATF: Boost Boston Games track and field event. On the auto racing front, NBC and NBCSN on Saturday will telecast Indianapolis 500 qualifying races.

Also Read: Bellator's Scott Coker Looks to Strike A Blow with Showtime Deal

ESPN will offer ring action Saturday night with a fight card headlined by the Jose Ramirez-Josh Taylor undisputed junior welterweight championship fight. Also on Saturday, Showtime will offer the Bellator MMA 259 fight card featuring the Chris Cyborg-Leslie Smith featherweight championship rematch. 

ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball contest features the Oakland A’s against the Los Angeles Angels.  

 Showtime Thursday outlined its boxing event slate for the next five months, highlighted by its June 27 Gervonta Davis-Mario Barrios super lightweight championship fight.

The Davis-Barrios PPV fight is one of nine fights the network has outlined as part of its live boxing telecast lineup that runs through September. The fight cards feature such marquee fighters as Jermall and Jermell Charlo, Guillermo Rigondeaux, David Benavidez and Nonito Donaire, according to the network. 

Showtime Sports president Stephen Espinoza said the fights will take place before a live audience, keeping with applicable COVID-19 safety protocols. 

“High-impact, meaningful fights amongst many of the biggest names and brightest stars in combat sports ...that is what Showtime promises and that is what we are delivering,” Espinoza said in a statement. “With an opportunity to crown an undisputed world champion at 154 pounds, a highly anticipated super bantamweight title unification, a stacked pay-per-view showdown and more than a dozen fights between 118-168 pounds, Showtime is presenting boxing’s best young fighters, all daring to be great by putting their world titles and undefeated records on the line.” 

Showtime’s boxing lineup comes amid the network's April launch of the Bellator MMA franchise, offering at least two live MMA cards a month on the network as part of a multi-year agreement. 

Read also:  Showtime Taps Bellator MMA Events to Help Punch Up Subscribers 

The headline matchups for Showtime’s summer boxing lineup are as follows:

MAY 15 – SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING

Luis Nery vs. Brandon Figueroa, WBC Super Bantamweight World Title Fight

MAY 29 – SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING

Nordine Oubaali vs Nonito Donaire, WBC Bantamweight world championship

JUNE 19 – SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING 

Jermall Charlo vs. Juan Macias Montiel, WBC Middleweight World Title Fight

JUNE 26 – SHOWTIME PPV

Gervonta Davis vs. Mario Barrios, WBA Super Lightweight World Title Fight

JULY 3 – SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING

Chris Colbert vs. Yuriorkis Gamboa, WBA Super Featherweight Interim Title Fight

JULY 17 – SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING 

Jermell Charlo vs. Brian Castaño, Undisputed IBF, WBA, WBC & WBO Junior Middleweight World Title Unification Fight

AUGUST 14 – SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING 

Guillermo Rigondeaux vs. John Riel Casimero, WBO Bantamweight World Title Fight

AUGUST 28– SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING 

David Benavidez vs. Jose Uzcategui, WBC Super Middleweight Title Eliminator

SEPTEMBER 11 – SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING

Stephen Fulton, Jr. vs. winner of Nery-Figueroa, Super Bantamweight World Title Unification Fight

Showtime tonight (April 2) launches its inaugural live Bellator mixed martial arts fight telecast with the hope that the combat sports outfit will help pin down new subscribers for the premium channel.  

Showtime is offering free to non-subscribers tonight’s Bellator 255 Patricio Freire-Emmanuel Sanchez fight card -- the first of three consecutive weekly Bellator fight cards that will air as part of a multi-event distribution deal between the two ViacomCBS-owned companies signed in February -- across multiple platforms, including ViacomCBS-owned streaming service Pluto TV. 

In addition, new subscribers signing up to the Showtime streaming service via the Sho.com/BellatorMMA website will receive a 30-day free trial, followed by a discounted monthly subscription fee of $4.99 per month for the next six months, according to Showtime officials.

Showtime is the only one of the major premium cable TV services that consistently offers live combat sports events. The network is looking to appeal to fight fans in 2021 with more than 40 combat sports telecasts featuring Bellator fights -- marking the first time Showtime has aired mixed martial arts events since the early 2010’s -- along with the network’s traditional lineup of boxing events.

“We know that both sports attract very loyal, passionate fans, and these live events have urgency to them,” said Showtime sports and entertainment programming president Stephen Espinoza. “They drive subscriptions and new sign-ups, and create an excitement around Friday nights for Bellator and Saturday nights for boxing that is different from the network’s original series programming.”

For Bellator, which most recently aired its fight cards on CBS Sports Network, the Showtime deal provides much-desired distribution and promotion for the company’s fight cards. 

“We now have a home and the consistency that we’ll be able to provide our fans on Showtime,” Bellator President Scott Coker said. “It’s going to be a good piece of business for us in a sense that the fans know that twice a month they’ll be able to come to Showtime and watch MMA.”

Espinoza said Bellator content most likely will appear on other ViacomCBS properties as the company looks to generate maximum exposure for the mixed martial arts company. 

“One of the exciting things about Bellator being within the ViacomCBS family is that we have the opportunity to utilize it across all platforms, and we’ve already begun to do that,” he said. “We’re going to use this property for the benefit of the corporation across all platforms, which will only drive more attention and build value within Bellator as an organization.”

Digital streaming OTT sports service DAZN will add baseball to its lineup of ring sports content as part of a three-year, $300 million deal announced Thursday.

The $9.99 a month DAZN service -- which sent shock waves through the boxing and MMA sports circles this year with its signing of marquee fighters such as middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez to exclusive fight distribution deals and combat sports franchises such as Bellator MMA to long-term distribution agreements-- will offer to its subscribers a live nightly MLB-themed show that will feature look-ins to live baseball games. 

Similar to the NFL’s Red Zone channel, DAZN’s show will “seamlessly whip around the live MLB games to showcase the most suspenseful moments, crucial plays and biggest rallies,” according to the service.

RELATED: DAZN Inks Boxing Champion Canelo Alvarez to Long-Term Deal

The DAZN deal was announced in the wake of MLB’s new multi-year agreement with Fox Sports that will give Fox continued exclusive access to the World Series and MLB All-Star game through 2028.

“DAZN’s multisport streaming platform provides Major League Baseball and our clubs an important opportunity to extend the game’s digital reach,” said commissioner Robert Manfred.

For DAZN, which launched here in the states in September, the deal takes the service beyond the combat sports ring and onto the field of the major sports leagues with content it hopes will appeal to young, cord-cutting sports fans. 

“We are thrilled to partner with MLB on this important new initiative, which will be a great complement to and promotion of the outstanding lineup of live games from its national and regional broadcasters,” said DAZN Group executive chairman John Skipper in a statement. “We will target young multicultural fans, many of whom do not have pay television. The fast-paced nature of a whip-around show will appeal to this audience and bring in new fans. Ultimately, our goal with MLB is to grow both the overall audience for baseball and the burgeoning DAZN business.”

RELATED: Punching Up: How OTT services are scoring wins against pay-per-view with ring-sports viewers

The final episode of Univision’s long-running variety series Sábado Gigante was the most social non-sports series last night, according to Nielsen Twitter TV ratings.

The show, which ended its 53-year run last night, drew 75,000 tweets reaching a unique audience of 1.1 million Twitter users, said Nielsen.

The season premiere episode of BBC America’s Doctor Who drew the second most social media love on Twitter, generating 49,000 tweets viewed by 644,000 unique Twitter users. Spike TV’s Bellator MMA Live mixed martial arts event, OWN’s docu series Iyanla, Fix My Life and BET’s new scripted series The Start Up rounded out the top five shows on the Nielsen Twitter TV list, according to the company.

Spike TV’s live Bellator 131 mixed martial arts telecast this past Saturday drew big ratings, averaging 1.2 million viewers for its three hour telecast.

The fight card’s main event bout between Tito Ortiz and Stephan Bonnar drew 1.8 million viewers, making it the most watched MMA fight on cable this year, according to Spike officials. The fight card’s 1.2 million viewers was the most watched Bellator MMA event on Spike TV ever, said the network.

"Bellator 131 was an incredible event that had something for everybody, and I'm thrilled to see our efforts were so well-received by our fans,” said recently named Bellator president Scott Coker in a statement. “I'm very proud of our entire Bellator and Spike family for all of the hard work they put resulting in these record-breaking ratings.”

Mixed Martial Arts company Bellator MMA has named Jason Jordan as its COO, company officials said.

Jordan will oversee financial and operational aspects of the business, as well as manage corporate strategy and business development efforts, said network officials. He’ll report to Scott Coker, Bellator MMA president.

Bellator MMA events currently air on Spike TV and well as via pay-per-view.  

Jordan will continue his role as senior vice president of digital operations, strategy & finance for Viacom Entertainment Group.

“As Bellator continues to evolve into a premier mixed martial franchise, we are thrilled to join forces with such a dynamic and strategic leader with an incredibly comprehensive background in major entertainment brands such as Viacom and Disney,” said Coker in a statement.