Tag: ufc ESPN deal

Ariel Helwani Joins ESPN & Takes ‘The MMA Hour’ With Him

Ariel Helwani will make the move to ESPN, and he’s joining a prominent personality:

The post Ariel Helwani Joins ESPN & Takes ‘The MMA Hour’ With Him appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Veteran MMA reporter Ariel Helwani will be joining Chael Sonnen at ESPN for MMA commentating duties, Helwani and ESPN announced on Thursday.

Helwani, who will leave behind his position at MMAFighting.com, where he hosted the popular show ‘The MMA Hour,’ was voted ‘MMA Journalist of the Year’ at the World MMA Awards six times. Helwani will take over in his new position next month, where he will host a show called “Ariel & The Bad Guy” with Sonnen on the networks streaming service ESPN+. He will also take “The MMA Hour” with him, where it will be titled “Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show.”

He covered the UFC on FOX a few years ago but was removed from his post after politics and issues with UFC forced him out of his position.

Rob King, ESPN’s senior vice president of original content, newsgathering and digital media, was extremely complimentary of Helwani in a new release via MMAjunkie, praising the veteran MMA journalist’s addition to ESPN’s MMA team:

“Ariel is a dynamic and talented insider whose insights and acumen will expand and enhance our multimedia coverage of the mixed martial arts world. Pairing Ariel and Chael, the insider and the fighter, on ESPN+ is going to make for an energetic and engaging show that will be must-see for any MMA fan.”

Helwani and Sonnen’s move to ESPN follows the UFC’s new media rights deal with the network, which will officially begin in 2019. The UFC will no longer feature live content on FOX or FOX Sports, and will instead rebrand those Fight Night cards as UFC on ESPN.

Helwani himself released a statement on the announcement and expressed his excitement over the move to ESPN:

“For as long as I can remember, my dream has been to work at ESPN. I know the term ‘dream come true’ is often overused, but this is truly that for me. Growing up in Montreal, we didn’t get ESPN, but any time my family would travel down south I would stay in our hotel room as long as possible watching the morning ‘SportsCenter’ on loop. I’ve loved all things ESPN since I was a kid, and in all honesty, it still feels a bit surreal that I am joining the gold standard in sports media. I couldn’t be more excited to get started and am extremely thankful for the opportunity.”

The post Ariel Helwani Joins ESPN & Takes ‘The MMA Hour’ With Him appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

UFC Will Stage Same Amount Of PPV Events Under New ESPN Deal

Don’t expect less pay-per-view cards under the new UFC/ESPN deal…

The post UFC Will Stage Same Amount Of PPV Events Under New ESPN Deal appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

The UFC signed a new media content deal with ESPN, breaking off from FOX after nearly seven years, but don’t expect any less pay-per-view (PPV) events under the new ESPN deal.

The world’s leading MMA promotion will hold their Fight Night events under the ESPN brand but will continue its yearly PPV quota as well.

A recent Bloomberg report about the ESPN deal she some light about the UFC’s plans moving forward:

“The UFC is free to negotiate with other partners for the rest of its live rights. Those include 12 pay-per-view events, 12 pay-per-view prelim events (being offered separately in this round of talks) and about 15 other events per year, according to Chief Operating Officer Lawrence Epstein.”

The UFC has been a PPV-based company since it’s inception in the early 1990s. Said PPVs now cost $64.99 USD, so be prepare to dig deep in your pockets in 2019 for premium UFC content.

If anything, fight fans can expect to have a slight increase in UFC events next year. 2017 saw 39 shows, with 41 events for 2015 and 2016.

2014 still holds the record for most events in a year with 46, but that happened to coincide with the advent of UFC Fight Pass.

The post UFC Will Stage Same Amount Of PPV Events Under New ESPN Deal appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.