The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has announced media agreements with discovery+ which will become the home of the sport in the Netherlands, along with Eurosport, which will broadcast in Spain.
The long-term partnership includes rights to all live UFC events on the calendar, as the organisation aims to reach new and younger audiences.
David Shaw, UFC Senior Vice President of Content and International, commented: “The Discovery team came to us with a vision perfectly aligned with our growth aspirations in Europe.
“This multi-year, multi-territory agreement will give UFC and our athletes a platform like never before, providing our fans in the Netherlands and Spain with access to more localised content as well as all the big blockbuster events. We’re excited about taking UFC to the next level alongside Discovery.”
Furthemore, the partnership looks to grant fans access to additional UFC programming such as Countdown and UFC Connected, which provides behind the scenes insights into the MMA promotion. The organisation has reported that it broadcasts in more than 170 countries to 900 million TV households worldwide.
Gijs Poortman, Head of Discovery Sports Netherlands, added: “Our experience in building and rolling out one of the most rapidly expanding streaming products in discovery+ will provide a natural home for UFC, one of the fastest growing and most exciting sports globally.
“With the acquisition of the rights to broadcast UFC on discovery+, we are further expanding our already broad sports offering with the most premium fight sport.
“To create the perfect experience, we will produce a full studio show and have additional content for the MMA fan, so discovery+ will truly become the new Streaming Home of UFC in The Netherlands for years to come. With Eurosport.nl as the destination for UFC news, we feel we can perfectly serve the Dutch UFC fan. We can’t wait to start.”
Additionally, Eurosport 1 in the Netherlands will also broadcast a selection of the live action throughout the year, in a bid to reach a high number of fans across the Discovery network.
“With this new addition to our portfolio of rights, Eurosport further strengthens its extensive catalogue of international sports events to offer fans in Spain,” concluded Fernando Ruiz, Sports Editorial Senior Manager, Eurosport Spain.
“In addition to broadcasting the most competitive mixed martial arts events to more viewers, fans of combat sports will be able to follow the best coverage of UFC on Eurosport’s channels and digital platforms in Spain until 2026.”