NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)– FuboTV Inc. (d/b/a Fubo) (NYSE: FUBO), the leading sports-first live TV streaming platform, has made a minority investment in Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC), the world’s fastest growing combat sports promotion, through an investment announced by the companies today. Fubo Co-founder and CEO David Gandler will also join BKFC’s board of directors.
The strategic investment expands the companies’ current partnership, which includes live distribution rights on Fubo Sports, Fubo’s FAST (free ad-supported streaming TV) linear network, and Pay-Per-View (PPV). BKFC’s live combat fights are consistently among the top 10 most watched programming on Fubo Sports while BKFC 48 on August 11, 2023, headlined by social media star Bryce Hall vs. Gee Perez, was the most watched combat sports event in the channel’s four year history.
Through the expanded partnership, Fubo will stream select BKFC’s live events, including BKFC 57 on February 2, 2024, live from the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, FL. The headline event features a welterweight clash between BKFC #1 Pound-for-Pound Fighter Luis ‘Baboon’ Palomino and former boxing World Champion Austin ‘No Doubt’ Trout.
Fubo will also stream upcoming BKFC original programming including BKFC Prospect Series, and the companies will co-develop a reality series, BKFC: What’s Your Why?, aimed at creating an emotional connection between fighters and fans.
“Fubo is committed to bringing consumers an aggregated content experience that includes the widest choice of live sports programming,” said Gandler. “The singularity of bare knuckle fighting has already made BKFC an important strategic partner for our Fubo Sports linear channel. BKFC was our best performing MMA property in 2023, and we have been very impressed with its continued viewership and engagement growth on Fubo Sports. With this investment, Fubo is committed to the future of BKFC and working with David Feldman and his team to scale the sport.”
“The investment by Fubo is not only a milestone for BKFC because it signifies and validates our continuing growth and evolution, but also will increase viewership and distribution exponentially through Fubo’s extended reach,” said David Feldman, president and founder, BKFC.
About Fubo
With a global mission to aggregate the best in TV, including premium sports, news and entertainment content, through a single app, FuboTV Inc. (d/b/a Fubo) (NYSE: FUBO) aims to transcend the industry’s current TV model. The company operates Fubo in the U.S., Canada and Spain and Molotov in France.
In the U.S., Fubo is a sports-first cable TV replacement product that aggregates more than 300 live sports, news and entertainment networks and is the only live TV streaming platform with every Nielsen-rated sports channel (source: Nielsen Total Viewers, 2023). Leveraging Fubo’s proprietary data and technology platform optimized for live TV and sports viewership, subscribers can engage with the content they are watching through an intuitive and personalized streaming experience. Fubo has continuously pushed the boundaries of live TV streaming. It was the first virtual MVPD to launch 4K streaming and MultiView, which it did years ahead of its peers, as well as Instant Headlines, a first-of-its-kind AI feature that generates contextual news topics as they are reported live on air.
Learn more at https://fubo.tv
About Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC)
Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) is the first promotion allowed to hold a legal, sanctioned, and regulated bare knuckle event in the United States since 1889. Based in Philadelphia, and headed by President and former professional boxer David Feldman, BKFC is dedicated to preserving the historical legacy of bare knuckle fighting, while utilizing a specifically created rule set that emphasizes fighter safety. BKFC holds all of its bouts in a revolutionary circular four-rope ring, designed to encourage fast-paced and exciting bouts. The patented BKFC “Squared Circle” contains scratch lines, based on the Broughton Rules which governed bare knuckle fighting in the 19th century, and which requires fighters to “Toe the Line”: start every round face to face, and just inches apart.
In BKFC, only those fighters who are established professionals in boxing, MMA, kickboxing, or Muay Thai are allowed to compete. The referees and judges are required to have extensive professional combat sports experience. All fights are held under the auspices and control of an Athletic Commission. Unlike other fighting organizations and combat sports internationally which claim to be “bare knuckle”, but require wraps, tape, and gauze; BKFC is true to its word as fighters are not allowed to wrap their hands to within one inch of the knuckle. This makes BKFC unquestionably the truest form of bare knuckle fighting. BKFC is dedicated to not just creating the safest, most exciting, and highest-level bare-knuckle fighting organization in the world, it’s also leading the way for a new fully recognized professional combat sport. BKFC is truly the sport of the future, which fully respects its remarkable past.
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