Fremantle Media Enterprises signs rights deal to Bellator

I guess these guys are a pretty big deal. They are the second largest TV, radio, a production company in all of Europe. So, another huge stride for Bellator.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118045696?refCatId=14

Fremantle jumps into MMA fray
Five-year deal with upstart Bellator signed
By Jon Weisman
Fremantle Media Enterprises has signed a five-year global rights deal with rising mixed martial arts org Bellator Fighting Championships.
Bellator is positioning itself as an alternative to Ultimate Fighting Championship, which signed a lucrative TV rights contract with Fox Sports Media Group in August. Viacom recently acquired a majority stake in Bellator and can begin airing its tournaments in 2013 on Spike, whose UFC relationship is ending with the Fox deal.

Bellator's tournaments currently air on Viacom-owned MTV2 and Epix2.

"It is our belief that there is room for two unique MMA properties to coexist in the marketplace both here domestically and globally," Fremantle senior veep of global content acquisitions and development Jeff Tahler told Variety. "There will always be competition, and the UFC, they are what they are. I don't think anyone's going to not say they're not going to be the No. 1 organization out there. That said, we wouldn't have gotten into this if we didn't think there was a unique selling opportunity."

Fremantle will handle rights for international TV distribution as well as licensing, digital and ancillary rights for both the U.S. and worldwide markets. Tahler said that the appeal for Bellator is growing thanks in part to its tournament-style approach that calls to mind college basketball's March Madness.

To that end, Fremantle doesn't envision selling Bellator as library programming, but rather event programming that will air live as much as possible. If there are windows for Bellator's spring season, Fremantle will take advantage of them, but fall 2012 remains the primary target for international distribution.

"We have a great relationship with Spike and Viacom channels," Tahler said. "We've distributed a number of their non-sports programming over the years. ... It's a great challenge and a wonderful opportunity to roll this out properly. You have to roll this out as a sport and not as a television program. People want to see events live."

Fremantle's interest in Bellator has been long-brewing and was only reinforced by the recent Bellator-Viacom deal.

"In this business, as you know, it's nice to get validation from a major corporation," Tahler said. "It was the cherry on top. It's a great story to tell for us when we're going out there and selling this -- it's not just a guy holding MMA fights in a barn."

Tahler noted that global interest in mixed martial arts was being fostered by fighters being pulled from regions all around the world.

"The incredible athleticism and intensity exhibited in all of our mixed martial arts tournaments translate into any language," Bellator chairman, CEO and founder Bjorn Rebney said. "With FME as our partner, we will have the ability to showcase our high-intensity brand of fighting to millions around the globe."

Global takeover
http://mmajunkie.com/news/25998/bellator-signs-european-prospect-attila-vegh.mma

I hope this means I'll finally get to see some Bellator cards on my tv.

Better not be shoved on some obscure crappy PPV channel otherwise it won't catch on. The best scenario would be for Bellator to go to ESPN once UFC switches to Sky Sports.

Ali wrote:

I hope this means I'll finally get to see some Bellator cards on my tv.

Better not be shoved on some obscure crappy PPV channel otherwise it won't catch on. The best scenario would be for Bellator to go to ESPN once UFC switches to Sky Sports.

Whats bigger over there, ESPN or SKY?

Farmer1906 wrote:

Ali wrote:

I hope this means I'll finally get to see some Bellator cards on my tv.

Better not be shoved on some obscure crappy PPV channel otherwise it won't catch on. The best scenario would be for Bellator to go to ESPN once UFC switches to Sky Sports.

Whats bigger over there, ESPN or SKY?

Sky Sports by a million miles, they own the rights to the English and European Soccer leagues.

ESPN is still relatively new here, only been available for about a year or so.

Ali wrote:

Farmer1906 wrote:

Ali wrote:

I hope this means I'll finally get to see some Bellator cards on my tv.

Better not be shoved on some obscure crappy PPV channel otherwise it won't catch on. The best scenario would be for Bellator to go to ESPN once UFC switches to Sky Sports.

Whats bigger over there, ESPN or SKY?

Sky Sports by a million miles, they own the rights to the English and European Soccer leagues.

ESPN is still relatively new here, only been available for about a year or so.

Interesting since ESPN is huge here int he states and I've never heard of Sky besides the UFC being on there.

Farmer1906 wrote:

Ali wrote:

Farmer1906 wrote:

Ali wrote:

I hope this means I'll finally get to see some Bellator cards on my tv.

Better not be shoved on some obscure crappy PPV channel otherwise it won't catch on. The best scenario would be for Bellator to go to ESPN once UFC switches to Sky Sports.

Whats bigger over there, ESPN or SKY?

Sky Sports by a million miles, they own the rights to the English and European Soccer leagues.

ESPN is still relatively new here, only been available for about a year or so.

Interesting since ESPN is huge here int he states and I've never heard of Sky besides the UFC being on there.

Sky Sports is basically our version of ESPN.

Ali wrote:

Farmer1906 wrote:

Ali wrote:

Farmer1906 wrote:

Ali wrote:

I hope this means I'll finally get to see some Bellator cards on my tv.

Better not be shoved on some obscure crappy PPV channel otherwise it won't catch on. The best scenario would be for Bellator to go to ESPN once UFC switches to Sky Sports.

Whats bigger over there, ESPN or SKY?

Sky Sports by a million miles, they own the rights to the English and European Soccer leagues.

ESPN is still relatively new here, only been available for about a year or so.

Interesting since ESPN is huge here int he states and I've never heard of Sky besides the UFC being on there.

Sky Sports is basically our version of ESPN.

I hope it is a better version. ESPN has turned into a machine that reports the news in how they see best, even ignoring and being down right biased at times.

I'm really hoping NFL Network and CBS Sports take off and give ESPN some competition.

OU wrote:

Global takeover
http://mmajunkie.com/news/25998/bellator-signs-european-prospect-attila-vegh.mma

Well Bellator has pulled in talent from the euro talent pool b4. The first hwy tourney had 2 or 3 euros. They all were on the small side, and prob would have been a nice start for a 205 division, but them guys just hate cutting weight. Haven't heard from any of em since either.

Sherdog has this guy listed as a 205er as well. Hopefully that is where he ends up.

check out the cheese ball belts he's rocking in his sherdog profile pic.

http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Attila-Vegh-33506

As far as the main story goes, only makes sense to go global, and it speaks to the stability of Bellator that they would ink a deal with such a big comp. Not sure the details, would not be surprised if it is for small $$$'s at the moment, but it's a foot in the door to a wide open market.