Strikeforce has announced the signing of a new television deal in Canada with the pay network, Super Channel.
EDMONTON (Dec. 2, 2009)-Super Channel, Canada’s only national pay television network, is pleased to announce an exclusive agreement to offer SHOWTIME Sports® telecasts of STRIKEFORCE Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) events live to viewers across Canada, beginning Saturday, Dec.19. On that night, undefeated middleweight (185 pounds) superstar Cung Le (6-0) will take on hard-hitting Scott “Hands of Steel” Smith (16-6) in the main event of a stacked fight card at HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif.
The live HD telecast of STRIKEFORCE: Le vs. Smith on Super Channel will begin at 10 p.m. ET and will include as many as five bouts.
“Super Channel is striving to offer Canadians programming they can’t get anywhere else and we saw an excellent opportunity in bringing live MMA to viewers from coast-to-coast and knew it would be well received,” said Sandy Perkins, Super Channel’s Vice President Programming. “We are very pleased to add SHOWTIME Sports® and STRIKEFORCE MMA to our roster with an exclusive deal and will be rounding out our Super Channel Fights! lineup. They are a great team to have in our corner.”
“Canadian fans have consistently shown a deep appreciation for MMA, so to have the opportunity to bring live STRIKEFORCE action to this market on a regular basis on an outstanding, high definition platform like Super Channel is very exciting,” said STRIKEFORCE Founder and CEO Scott Coker.
Payout Perspective:
Super Channel is essentially one of those movie channel packages that you can buy on digital cable or satellite providers for an additional fee above and beyond the normal rate. They’ve been showing Showtime boxing events for a while now via their Super Fight channel.
However, the channel is not tremendously popular: possessing 220,000 subscribers out of the 9-10 million television households in Canada. Moreover, their parent company Allarco Entertainment Inc. filed for bankruptcy last June, and as a result Super Channel is caught in the middle of some restructuring.
So, not a huge deal, but every little bit counts.
—–
On a related note: Strikeforce is no longer on The Score in Canada. It’s a 24hr sports highlights channel that had been showing the occasional fight or 30 minute program.
Bummer. I don’t have Super Channel, and I don’t intend to order it just so I can watch Strikeforce and Showtime boxing. I was hoping they’d work out some kind of live TV deal with The Score or maybe even TSN.
Some people in Canada get Showtime already, so for those that don’t, they can get the Super Channel to watch the fights. Its only like $10 to $15 a month, I believe. Either way, it provides Canadian MMA fans a way for them to watch the fights LIVE without having to order the event as a $45 PPV.