The Ultimate Fighting Championship has opened the door for a significant breakthrough in the Germany market with negotiations with two leading media properties in Germany following a five-year ban from broadcast television.
The Bavarian State Media Authority (BLM) had banned UFC events from German television in March of 2010, claiming the events were a violation of general morality and an undesirable influence on youth.
On Oct. 9, the Administrative Court in Munich ruled in favor of Zuffa, LLC, the parent company of the UFC, in its lawsuit challenging the broadcast ban. The court ruled that it could not back up the board’s ruling and felt BLM did not have the legal grounds for its decision. They also stated that mixed martial arts was a plausible sport.
Since the overturning of the ban, the UFC has been in negotiations with both ProSiebenSat. 1 and RTL, leading media giants in the market. ProSiebenSat. 1 already handles leading U.S. sports entertainment properties including the Super Bowl and has an existing deal with World Wrestling Entertainment.
UFC aired on TV channel Sports1/DSF until BLM banned the events from television nearly five years ago.
UFC events did broadcast in the country through streaming platforms since the ban, and over the last year, Fight Pass carried the events in the German market.
During the period UFC was banned, it only ran one show in the market, on May 31, 2004 at the O2 Arena in Berlin, which drew 8,000 fans for an event headlined by Gegard Mousasi vs. Mark Munoz.
“This verdict is a milestone for the UFC and for the many UFC fans in Germany,” said UFC Chief Global Brand Officer Garry Cook. “The court has confirmed that it was illegitimate to ban our broadcast programs. We always had confidence in the German market and felt a responsibility to grow the sport and satisfy demand–this is why we fought against this ban. We will continue to work intensively to bring events, content and original programming to Germany viewers.”