Bellator has landed its first broadcast deal since being purchased by the PFL in late 2023.
The 2024 Bellator schedule will air on Warner Bros. Discovery-owned subscription service Max, per an announcement made by the promotion on Tuesday.
The move brings Bellator into the digital age after previously being a product for traditional TV. Bellator briefly appeared on Showtime and CBS Sports in recent years and is best known for its lengthy stint on the Paramount Network (previously called Spike). Details about the length or financial value of the deal were not disclosed.
Along with the live event agreement, original documentaries, and Bellator’s full fight library will land on the service as well. “Fight Camp Confidential” and “Fight Week” are two new docuseries shows that are expected to debut this week on Max.
Bellator’s schedule this year, a significantly scaled calendar year of just eight shows, will kick off this weekend with a stop in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The promotion will mainly travel to Europe throughout the year, although a pair of stops in the U.S. are planned for the coming months.
Bellator was purchased by competitor promotion PFL late last year. The Bellator brand is still being kept alive as a separate entity following the purchase, giving fighters the option to compete apart from the usual PFL regular season format. PFL also currently has a broadcast deal with ESPN and ESPN+, plus a partnership with DAZN for its offshoot PFL Europe promotion.
The acquisition of Bellator is just a small part of Max’s larger focus on sports as of late. It was announced last fall that the app would have an add-on B/R Live subscription that gives viewers access to MLB, NHL, NBA, and NCAA games.
