UFC strikes deal in the Middle East

Middle East pay TV provider OSN has struck a new long-term exclusive carriage deal with combat sports outfit UFC.

The renewal means that all UFC content including live events, pre and post-event shows, and The Ultimate Fighter reality series, will be available exclusively for OSN subscribers in the region. 

OSN and UFC together will also launch UFC Fight Pass, a digital subscription service featuring the UFC combat sports library, including all past events, exclusive programming, access to UFC archives, exclusive preliminary fights and select live events in the MENA region.

“We are very excited about bringing UFC back to OSN viewers and entering into this long term partnership,” said Andy Warkman, senior VP, sport and sports production, OSN.

“We are listening to our customers, and delivering exclusive content and great value to our new sports channel packages. UFC has seen massive growth and we look forward to working with them and [UFC parent company] WME/IMG to build on that growth in our region. UFC will be one of our standout offerings in the new sports line up for 2017.”

“UFC on OSN will be industry-defining, as for the first time, we will produce localised Arabic content ‘for the region, from the region’ to give UFC fans an unrivalled viewing experience.”

UFC vice-president, EMEA, James Elliott said: “We are pleased to be partnering with OSN once again to bring even more exciting, new and localised content to viewers across the Middle East and Africa. UFC has previously held two very successful events in the UAE and witnessed first hand the passion of the fans across the region. Together we will bring athlete stories and events to fans like never before, ensuring they don’t miss a minute of the action.”

The move is the latest boost to OSN’s sports line-up. The operators recently launched additional channels from Abu Dhabi Media Group – 3, 4, 5 and 7 AD Sports – to its offering.