COMBATE AMERICAS AND UNIVISION SIGN NEW FIVE YEAR MEDIA RIGHTS PARTNERSHIP

Combate Americas and Univision Ink
New, Five-Year Media Rights Partnership

Agreement Calls for 150 Live Television Events Over the Next Five Years
 
Combate Americas Rebrands to Combate Global to Underscore Its International Expansion of Electrifying World Cup-Style,
Country vs. Country Competition

NEW YORK AND MIAMI - MARCH 31, 2021 – Combate Americas, LLC and Univision Communications Inc. today announced a new, five-year media rights deal between the world’s premier Hispanic Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) sports franchise and the leading Spanish-language content and media company in the U.S.
 
The new agreement calls for 30 live television Combate Americas events annually - a total of 150 events - over the course of the next five years, beginning on Friday, April 9.  The details for the kick-off event will be announced soon.
 
The events will be available across Univision platforms, including on linear on Univision and TUDN, as well as via the TUDN Radio Network, TUDN.TV and the TUDN app. Additionally, fight fans will also be able to access Combate’s fight library on PrendeTV, Univision’s newly launched ad-supported streaming service featuring 100% free, premium Spanish-language content.
 
“This powerful broadcast partnership will establish Combate Global as the premier MMA brand on TV in North America. Univision’s power and Combate Global’s excitement will inspire passion in a new generation of fans for this sport,” said Combate Global CEO Campbell McLaren.
 
“When I launched the UFC,” continued McLaren, “I knew that its explosive action would capture fans’ attention, and the same is true with Combate’s style. We refer to our brand of MMA as ‘Mucha Más Acción®’ – much more action!”
 
"We are excited to extend our relationship and look forwar to growing the Combate brand in new and innovative ways across our Univision platforms," said Juan Carlos Rodriguez, president of Sports, Univision.  "With our audience's passion for thrilling, live action, Combate has teamed with our portfolio of soccer rights to deliver a powerful one-two punch.  Combate is a fast-ascending property and we are committed to delivering more events from the premier Hispanic MMA franchise to fight fans than ever before."

Effective immediately, Combate Americas has re-branded to Combate Global to reflect its international expansion that will include the addition of athletes from territories outside of the U.S. and Latin America, to support the company’s electrifying country vs. country style of competition, similar to that of international soccer competitions.
 
Combate Global concludes each calendar year with the “COPA COMBATE” – a one-night, eight-man, six-figure grand prize event, widely regarded as one of the toughest competitions in the world of MMA and combat sports.
 
As part of the agreement, some of the biggest North American soccer matches will serve as lead-in programming for Combate Global events. The new strategy will connect Univision’s fanáticos with the Combate Global brand and further position the MMA organization as a leading destination for Hispanic sports fans.
 
Combate Americas programming began airing live on Univision in 2018, bucking the trend of pay-per-view distribution in the space and making it the only MMA sports franchise to offer programming free-of-charge on a broadcast television platform on a regular basis.

With a midnight ET start time, Combate Americas live event programming has averaged over 400,000 Total Viewers 2+ in the U.S., regularly making it the highest-rated Spanish-language program on television during its time period.*
 
*Source: Nielsen, NPM, L+SD data

CONTACTS:
 
Kevin Sornatale
Univision
ksornatale@univision.net
212-455-5259
 
Mike Afromowitz
Combate Global
mikea@combateglobal.com
917-566-8754
 
 
ABOUT UNIVISION COMMUNICATIONS INC.
As the leading Spanish-language content and media company in the U.S., Univision Communications Inc. entertains, informs and empowers U.S. Hispanics with news, sports and entertainment content across broadcast and cable television, audio and digital platforms. The company’s top-rated media portfolio includes the Univision and UniMás broadcast networks, as well as 10 cable networks including Galavisión and TUDN, the No. 1 Spanish-language sports network in the country. Locally, Univision owns or operates 61 television stations in major Hispanic markets across the United States. Additionally, Uforia, the Home of Latin Music, encompasses 58 owned or operated radio stations, a live event series and a robust digital audio footprint. The company’s prominent digital assets include Univision.com, free AVOD streaming service PrendeTV, Univision Now, the largest Hispanic influencer network and several top-rated apps. For more information, visit corporate.univision.com.
 
ABOUT COMBATE GLOBAL
Combate Global, previously “Combate Americas,” is the premier Hispanic Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) sports franchise, rapidly becoming the number two sport after soccer for Spanish speaking fans worldwide. The company is dedicated to developing the best, new MMA athletes from different countries while matching them against one another in country vs. country-style competition.  Each year of Combate Global action culminates with “COPA COMBATE,” the toughest one-night tournament in sports that has established itself as the World Cup of MMA and the most coveted destination for representing one’s country.
 
The Combate Global franchise includes live event and original shoulder programming, and is the only MMA property regularly airing on broadcast television in both the U.S. (Univision) and Mexico (Televisa).  Nielsen research indicates that an astounding 91 percent of Combate Global viewers are not regular viewers of other MMA content, demonstrating that Combate Global has garnered a new MMA audience.
 
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.