The Professional Fighters League, (PFL) has announced a groundbreaking new partnership with sports broadcasters DAZN to launch a brand new regional league to help produce new talent for their global competition.
PFL Europe will operate across the continent, with multiple events set to be held to crown PFL European champions, who will then move on to compete in the main PFL season the following year.
A press release from the PFL confirmed the deal as an “historic, multi-year media rights agreement” that will bring all of PFL’s events, both European and global, exclusively under the DAZN banner in select major international markets.
Per the press release, PFL Europe will “feature the top emerging European MMA fighters, and will be broadcast during prime local hours with all events staged in Europe.”
The deal also means that, from 2023, DAZN will become the exclusive home of PFL’s global events in 53 international markets, including the United Kingdom, Ireland and Spain. The network will also become a partner in the new PFL pay-per-view super fight division, and will promote and distribute those highly anticipated events in international territories outside of the United States and Canada.
PFL CEO Peter Murray hailed the new deal, saying, “PFL Europe is the beginning of the Champions League of MMA from PFL.
“We are excited to have DAZN as our strategic media rights distribution partner in Europe for all of fight franchises – PFL Global League, PFL Challenger Series, PFL Europe, and PFL PPV Super Fight Division.”
The PFL’s global product features a season format, followed by playoffs featuring the top performing fighters in the regular season. The knockout stages then progress to crown a single champion per weight class, with each champion earning $1 million.
It is expected that PFL Europe will follow a similar format, with the winners set to earn qualification to the global season.
