First “Stars & Stripes” MPL Event to Air on September 13th, 2011
Toronto, Canada – September 13th, 2011 – MuayThai Premier League (MPL) announced today that it signed a distribution agreement with a Canada-based sports media company, theScore Television Network (“theScore”) to bring world-class MuayThai to Canadian fans. theScore is the first major television network to air MuayThai in Canada.
“theScore is excited about the addition of MuayThai Premier League programming to our network. With six events and “Into the Fire”, MPL’s documentary series that takes an inside look at its fighters, fans will have access to world-class MuayThai content,” says Greg Sansone, Vice President, Broadcast Operations, theScore.
The first MPL event, “Stars & Stripes” is scheduled to air on September 13th, 2011 at 8 pm EST for theScore’s 6.8 million Canadian television audience. The event will feature such MuayThai legends as Buakaw, Julie Kitchen, Nathan Corbett and Baxter Humby, as well as upcoming talents, such as Artem Levin, Nieky Holzken, Valentina Shevchenko, Simon Marcus and many others, representing 15 countries in all.
“It is a great opportunity for fans of the sport, and martial arts fans to see the world’s best fighters competing in a transparent league format to become champion of the World. We see theScore as the most progressive, forward-thinking organization that will help grow our brand and fan base, and, therefore, are very excited about this new venture,” said Clifton Brown, President and CEO, MPL.
About Score Media
Score Media is a media company committed to delivering interactive and authentic sports entertainment. Score Media’s primary asset, theScore Television Network (“theScore”), is a national specialty television service providing sports news, information, highlights and live event programming in more than 6.8 million homes across Canada. The Company’s digital media assets include theScore.com and the industry leading mobile sports applications ScoreMobile, ScoreMobile FC and SportsTap which reach over three million unique users per month. Growing from a team of 60 in 1997 to over 270 employees in 2011, Score Media is a revolutionizing interactive media company.
About MuayThai and the MuayThai Premier League (MPL)
MuayThai, also known as Thai boxing, is an extremely effective and lethal form of martial arts utilizing punches, kicks, knees, and elbows. Originally practiced in the once closed society of Thailand, MuayThai has always flourished in the Asian region and has seen a dramatic increase in international participation over the last 30 years – from the development of professional fighters, to executives incorporating this form of martial arts into their workout routines.
The MPL is a structured league format comprised of five weight divisions – four male, one female – where fighters must earn their place in the finals. With eight competitors in each division, the fighters are split into two pools. In the Round Robin stage, each fighter faces the other three competitors in their group, earning three points for a knockout victory, two points for a decision victory, and one point for a draw. At the conclusion of the Round Robin stage, the top two fighters in each Group will advance to the elimination stage, where the top fighter in Group A will compete against the second place fighter in Group B and vice versa. The winners of these semi-final matches will then advance to the finals to compete for the MPL and WMC World Championships in their respective weight classes. At the conclusion of the season, athletes who advanced to the elimination stage will remain for season two, the following September. Fighters who do not advance to the elimination stage will be replaced with new competitors drafted by the league to compete in the upcoming season.
For more information on the league, an overview of the competitors and to purchase event tickets, visit www.TheMPL.tv or www.facebook.com/TheMPL.tv