UFC Inks Broadcast Deals With Fox Sports Asia, RS Thailand

UFC announced a pair of new multi-year rights deal in Asia this week, renewing its broadcast partnerships with FOX Sports Asia and RS Thailand (Channel 8). 

UFC, Fox Sports Asia Ink Broadcast Partnership Renewal
UFC and FOX Sports Asia have agreed to a multi-year deal to bring the world’s fastest growing sport closer to fans throughout the region. FSA will air over 40 live events annually in addition to magazine programming and archived events. As part of this renewed agreement, FOX Sports also has exclusive rights to air UFC’s reality series, The Ultimate Fighter. 

“UFC is excited to extend its long-term partnership with FOX Sports Asia,” UFC Senior Vice President of International and Content Joe Carr says. “The opportunity to have our premier content available to over 55 million viewers will continue to foster the growth of the UFC brand and the sport of MMA across the region.  FOX Sports’ extensive reach and marketing muscle will help further entrench UFC as the leading MMA promotion in Asia and engage with our valued fans across Southeast Asia.”

“FOX Networks Group has been the home of the UFC in Asia for the past five years and we are very proud of having contributed to their growth in the region.  We are even more excited about the future and look forward to giving fans the most compelling MMA experience through our broadcast networks and digital platforms,” notes Italo Zanzi, Executive Vice President and Managing Director, Sports, APAC & Middle East, FOX Networks Group.

According to results provided by research firm Futures Sport + Entertainment, UFC is the leading provider of MMA TV content across Asia. The study highlighted that UFC’s viewership in Asia has grown at an exponential rate and surpasses all local MMA promotions in the region – 26 times the number of hours compared to the next largest MMA promotion in Asia.

UFC Renews Deal With RS Thailand
In addition, UFC and RS Thailand (Channel 8) have announced a multi-year content deal renewal to bring fight fans in Thailand localized premium UFC content including live international events and original programming such as UFC Countdown, Road to the Octagon, UFC Unleashed and Ultimate Knockouts.

RS Thailand partners with the UFC in growing Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) in Thailand while connecting the millions of sports enthusiasts in the region with some of the planet’s fittest athletes.  Last year, RS Thailand and UFC brought newly crowned UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway (17-3-0 fighting out of Waianae, Hawaii) to Thailand to meet fans and Muay Thai boxing legend Samart Payakaroon where they exchanged training tips.  Both organizations are committed to delivering on-ground activations that will see even more international UFC stars coming in to the region to help grow the sport.

“Thailand is a growing market where UFC programming has eight times more hours viewed than the next largest MMA promotion. We see this renewal as a positive indicator of the increased interest from fans and brands in MMA,” Carr said. “RS Thailand has been a valued partner and we look forward to continuing our relationship and working together in give fans easy access to the best in MMA content.”

“This contract renewal confirmed a very promising path and partnership between Channel 8 and UFC. The world’s best MMA sports content brandUFC coupled with the local king of fight sports allows Channel 8 to strengthen it’s position within the digital tv market in Thailand.” says Mrs. Pornpan Techarungchaikul, RS’s COO.

RS Thailand (Channel 8) is operated under the concept of “In Depth and Intense.” With the variety of contents ranging from drama series, current news, variety program and sports program, Channel 8 is placed in the top-ranked digital tv in Thailand.