By Stuart Thomson
Mixed martial arts giant UFC is to join the discovery+ streaming service in the Netherlands and Eurosport in Spain as part of a new long-terms rights agreement with Discovery.
The partnership includes rights to all live UFC events, which will also be available on-demand.
Discovery said it will offer viewers across the Netherlands and Spain studio coverage of every event on the UFC calendar. Fans will also have access to additional UFC programming such as Countdown and UFC Connected.
Eurosport 1 in the Netherlands will also broadcast a selection of live action throughout the year to maximise its reach across the Discovery network and further showcasing the full experience available on discovery+.
Discovery’s coverage of UFC will be supported by content published on eurosport.nl and eurssport.es.
The first event of the year, UFC Fight Night: Kattar vs Chikadze, will air live on discovery+ in the Netherlands and Eurosport 2 and Eurosport App in Spain on Saturday, January 1.
Head of Discovery Sports Netherlands, Gijs Poortman said: “Our experience in building and rolling out one of the most rapidly expanding streaming products in discovery+ will provide a natural home for UFC, one of the fastest growing and most exciting sports globally. With the acquisition of the rights to broadcast UFC on discovery+, we are further expanding our already broad sports offering with the most premium fight sport. To create the perfect experience, we will produce a full studio show and have additional content for the MMA fan, so discovery+ will truly become the new Streaming Home of UFC in The Netherlands for years to come. With Eurosport.nl as the destination for UFC news, we feel we can perfectly serve the Dutch UFC fan. We can’t wait to start.”
Sports editorial senior manager, Eurosport Spain, Fernando Ruiz said: “With this new addition to our portfolio of rights, Eurosport further strengthens its extensive catalogue of international sports events to offer fans in Spain. In addition to broadcasting the most competitive mixed martial arts events to more viewers, fans of combat sports will be able to follow the best coverage of UFC on Eurosport’s channels and digital platforms in Spain until 2026.”
UFC SVP of content and international, David Shaw said: “The Discovery team came to us with a vision perfectly aligned with our growth aspirations in Europe. This multi-year, multi-territory agreement will give UFC and our athletes a platform like never before, providing our fans in the Netherlands and Spain with access to more localised content as well as all the big blockbuster events. We’re excited about taking UFC to the next level alongside Discovery.”
