INTERNATIONAL FIGHT LEAGUE ANNOUNCES 22-DATE FSN SCHEDULE
Weekly National Coverage Debuts Friday, Feb. 23 at 11 p.m. as
Tiger Sharks and Condors Square Off;
First-ever Same-Night Broadcast Set For April 13
NEW YORK, February 7, 2007- The International Fight League (OTC.BB:
IFLI), the world’s first team-based professional mixed martial arts
league, and television partner Fox Sports Net (FSN) today announced the
first segment of its weekly national schedule of IFL programming to
primarily air on Fridays at 11 p.m. local time, beginning February 23. The
series begins with the 2007 season-opening matchup from Oakland, Calif.,
between the Seattle-based Tiger Sharks, coached by MMA and kickboxing
world champion Maurice Smith, and the Condors of Southern California led
by Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and MMA champion Marco Ruas.
The FSN schedule will follow the order of IFL events in the first third
of the regular season. Then, as previously announced, the battle at
Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., between two of the league’s two
top teams, the Pitbulls, coached by Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu master Renzo
Gracie and based in New York, and the Wolfpack, coached by Olympic Silver
Medalist Matt Lindland and based in Portland, Ore., will be shown on
same-night delay at 11 p.m. on Friday, April 13.
“Getting a more consistent schedule across the country in terms of
both day and time was an important next step in our growth and we are
glad to be able to continue to grow our FSN relationship,” said IFL
Co-founder and Commissioner Kurt Otto. “This schedule allows fans to
better plan their viewing schedule and to know that they can usually see
IFL action on Friday night every week. We are very excited that this
schedule, along with our MyNetworkTV show in prime time on Monday nights,
will continue to showcase our coaches and athletes and help both the
IFL and Mixed Martial Arts gain a stronger footing in the sports
landscape.”
The 22 hours of original programming scheduled on FSN this year
represents nearly 70% more than the 13 hours shown in 2006, when the network
aired three hours of coverage of the IFL Legends Championship in May and
June and followed up with 10 hours of IFL World Team Championship
action, September through December.
The FSN coverage is in addition to the 22, two-hour episodes of
“International Fight League’s Total Impact,” to be seen on over-the-air
MyNetworkTV nationwide beginning on March 12. In all, 66 hours of
original IFL programming is scheduled to run on the two networks, which
together reach more than 95% of U.S. television households.
The February FSN schedule, with dates and times on each Regional FSN
network, can be seen at www.ifl.tv/TV-Schedule.html. Viewers can also
check their local schedule at http://msn.foxsports.com/tv/schedule.
The schedule of matchups on each FSN debut date is as follows for March
and April:
February 23, Condors vs. Tiger Sharks (contested in Oakland, Calif.,
Jan. 19)
March 2, Lions vs. Razorclaws (Oakland, Jan. 19)
*March 9, Scorpions vs. Sabres (Houston, Feb. 2)
March 16, Anacondas vs. Silverbacks (Houston, Feb. 2)
March 23, Dragons vs. Wolfpack (Atlanta, Feb. 23)
March 30, Pitbulls vs. Red Bears (Atlanta, Feb. 23)
April 6, Condors vs. Sabres (Los Angeles, March 17)
April 13, Wolfpack vs. Pitbulls (Mohegan Sun., April 13 same night)
April 20, Anacondas vs. Razorclaws (Los Angeles, March 17)
April 27, Dragons vs. Scorpions (Mohegan Sun, April 13 show)
*West Coast only; event airs Sat., March 10 in remainder of country
(check local listings)
Several IFL athletes and coaches will be featured on FSN’s popular
“Best Damn Sports Show Period” program on Thursday, February 8.
Anacondas Coach Bas Rutten, Sabres Coach Ken Yasuda and four IFL
competitors will appear in multiple segments.
Each of the nine regular season IFL events will consist of four teams
— each with an athlete in all five weight classes competing — along
with a special Superfight, for a minimum of 11 bouts per card. The
team that wins the best three of five match setup will be declared the
team winner for the match, similar to collegiate and high school
wrestling meets. The IFL also differs from other MMA organizations in that
bouts are held in an oversized five-rope boxing ring with three,
four-minute rounds, each designed to create the most compelling in-arena
experience for local fans.
Each of the 12 IFL teams for 2007 will compete in three regular season
events; the teams with the top four overall win-loss team records will
advance to the semi-finals, which will be held on Thursday, August 2,
at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, N.J. The 2007 IFL
Finals will then be held at The Forum in Los Angeles on Saturday,
September 15.
About FSN
FSN is the nation’s leading provider of local sports. Through its
affiliates and other FNG-owned networks, FSN reaches more than 82 million
homes through 25 regional networks. Fox Networks Group owns FSN
Arizona, FSN Detroit, FSN Florida, FSN Midwest, FSN Indiana, FSN North, FSN
Northwest, FSN Ohio, FSN Pittsburgh, FSN Prime Ticket, FSN Rocky
Mountain, FSN Utah, FSN South, FSN Southwest, FSN Houston, FSN West, Sun
Sports and SportSouth. FSN also has programming affiliations with
Comcast-owned regional sports networks in Chicago, Baltimore/Washington, DC and
Philadelphia, as well as Rainbow-owned FSN Bay Area, FSN New England,
FSN New York, and Madison Square Garden Network.
Based in Los Angeles, FSN owned– or affiliated-regional sports
networks serve as the TV home to 68 of the 82 MLB, NHL and NBA teams based in
the United States. FSN produces close to 5,000 live, mostly local,
events each year, including nearly 1000 in high definition. In addition
to its thousands of home team games and a wide variety of locally
produced sports programs, FSN televises national sports events and programs,
including Pac-10 and ACC basketball; Pac-10 and Big 12 football; Best
Damn Sports Show Period; CMI: The Chris Myers Interviews; the
Mansionpoker.net Poker Dome Challenge, In Focus and The FSN Final Score. For the
latest up-to-the-minute sports new and opinions, visit the FOX
Sports/FSN website at www.FOXSports.com.
About the IFL
International Fight League (IFL) is the world’s first professional
mixed martial arts sports league. IFL has its headquarters in New York,
NY and offices in Las Vegas, NV. For more information about IFL,
please see: www.ifl.tv.
Forward-Looking Statements: This release contains forward-looking
statements pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which are subject to various risks and IFL’s
management's expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies
regarding the future financial condition, and results of operations. There
can be no assurance that future developments actually affecting IFL
will be those anticipated.
Important factors that could cause actual results to differ (favorably
or unfavorably) from the expectations stated in this release include
the risks and uncertainties such as the conditions of the markets for
live events, broadcast television, cable television, pay-per-view,
Internet, entertainment, professional sports, and licensed merchandise;
acceptance of the Company’s brands, media and merchandise within those
markets; uncertainties relating to litigation; risks associated with
producing live events; uncertainties associated with international markets;
risks relating to maintaining and renewing key agreements, including
television distribution agreements; effects of competition, including
locations of competitors and operating and market competition.. Should one
or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of
the Company’s assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in
material respects from those projected in these forward-looking
statements.
IFL undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking
statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or
otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws. This
press release may include the opinions of IFL and does not necessarily
include the views of any other person or entity.
The names of all International Fight League, Inc. televised and live
programming, teams, images, and logos are trademarks, which are the
exclusive property of International Fight League, Inc. All other trademarks
and tradenames mentioned in this release are the property of their
respective owners, and are not affiliated with IFL in any way.
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