IMG AND COMBATE GLOBAL
ANNOUNCE WORLDWIDE MEDIA RIGHTS AGREEMENT

NEW YORK – February 16, 2023 – IMG, a global leader in sports, events and media, today announced a multi-year partnership to manage and distribute Combate Global’s worldwide media rights, excluding the U.S.

Combate Global is the premier Hispanic Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) sports franchise, known for underscoring its fighters’ nationalities, and matching fighters from different countries against one another. This emphasis on country versus country competition helped Combate Global expand its programming partnerships in 2022 to media platforms in Spain, France and Portugal, respectively.

Since its inception in 2013, the U.S.-based Combate Global has produced over 110 live television events and 2 different reality television series that collectively amount to well over 350 hours of programming. Combate Global’s series on Univision is the highest-rated Spanish language show on late-night television in the U.S., delivering 1.5 billion total minutes viewed in 2021.

“I am very glad to have IMG in Combate Global’s corner and be included on their prestigious roster of world-class properties,” said Combate Global CEO, Campbell McLaren.

Guillermo Santa-Cruz, VP Media, Latin America & US Hispanic at IMG, said: “Combate Global is a fast-growing franchise with global commercial potential. Leveraging IMG’s vast media expertise and experience, we’re looking forward to bringing the sport to new international audiences around the world.”

In 2021, TelevisaUnivision purchased a significant equity stake in Combate Global, a deal that resulted in a new programming partnership calling for 30 Combate Global live television events annually over the course of a five-year period.

IMG manages the international media rights for some of the world’s biggest sports properties including UFC, Queensberry Promotions, The Championships (Wimbledon), the R&A, the FA Cup, ATP Tour, US Open, DP World Tour, the Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana.

Additional information about Combate Global and its athletes can be found on www.CombateGlobal.com as well as on FacebookInstagramTwitter and YouTube.
About Combate Global

Combate Global is the premier Hispanic Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) sports franchise that is rapidly becoming the number two sport after soccer for Spanish speaking fans worldwide, and that consistently garners television ratings that are superior to those of other major, longer established sports television properties. It is the only MMA property regularly airing on broadcast television in the U.S. (Univision) and the only MMA property owned, in part, by a major Hispanic media company, as a result of TelevisaUnivision purchasing a significant equity stake in Combate Global in 2021.  In 2021, the company also partnered with CBS Sports to distribute Combate Global’s live shows in English in the U.S. on Paramount+ and, in 2022, the company partnered with Eurosport for live distribution in Spain, as well as with RMC Sport in France, and closed out the year by entering into a multi-year partnership with global entertainment powerhouse, IMG, for media rights representation worldwide.  The company’s programming is available in over 70 countries in Europe, Africa and elsewhere globally.

Nielsen research indicates that an astounding 91 percent of Combate Global viewers in the U.S. are not regular viewers of other MMA content, demonstrating that Combate Global has garnered a new MMA audience with its World Cup-style, country vs. country-style competition.

Combate Global CEO Campbell McLaren, also the co-founder and creator of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), has been described by New York Magazine as “the marketing genius behind the UFC,” while Yahoo Sports has said he “knows more about the sport than just about anyone in it today.”  Under his direction, the growth of Combate Americas’ television footprint and worldwide audience triggered a re-branding in 2021 to Combate Global.



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