Newport Beach, Calif. (February 24, 2014) – Bellator is continuing its global expansion with a broadcast alliance with OSN, the leading pay-TV network in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region. OSN will begin airing Bellator events immediately, starting with this Friday’s Season 10 premiere featuring Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, “King” Mo Lawal, and many others. The Multi-year agreement begins with this Friday night as Bellator debuts it’s 10th season.
“OSN is an absolute force in the Middle East and Northern Africa, and as Bellator continues to expand into key regions worldwide, OSN was the penultimate partner for our brand in 2014 and beyond,” Bellator Chairman & CEO Bjorn Rebney said. “From Algeria to Yemen, Bellator is now on the premier network for MMA across the entire MENA region, and we couldn’t be happier.”
Headquartered in Dubai Media City, UAE, OSN airs in both Arabic and English in high definition throughout the region, operating five 24 hour sports channels, featuring the NFL, NHL, the PGA Tour, the ICC Cricket World Cup, The Rugby Championship and more. With nearly 140 channels featured on the wider OSN platform, the network is the leading pay-TV operator in the region. This new Bellator/OSN alliance provides Bellator distribution with a substantially greater reach in the region than any competitors.
“We are very excited about this partnership, OSN understands and has a passion for MMA and in Bellator we have partnered with the largest tournament based organization in the world that is growing fast, gaining fans around the globe and we can’t wait to grow Bellator in our region,” OSN’s VP Sports & Production, Andy Warkman said. “We have signed a multiyear deal and have some exciting plans for growth, on ground activations and localization.”
Featuring the greatest fighters from across the globe including Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, The United Kingdom, France, Russia, and Africa, Bellator showcases many of the world’s greatest MMA fighters in a tournament based, single-elimination format that awards the winner of each eight-man or four-man tournament a guaranteed world title fight against the current Bellator World Champion in the applicable weight class. Bellator can now be seen in over 140 countries worldwide, including the United States, the UK and Latin America, as Bellator recently announced one of the largest International distribution partnerships in combat sports history with Fox Sports in Latin America.
For more information, visit Bellator.com, follow Bellator on Twitter @BellatorMMA, follow Bellator Chairman & CEO Bjorn Rebney @BjornRebney and check out Bellator on Facebook at www.facebook.com/BellatorMMA
