The Texas-based promotion, Shark Fights, announced it had signed a deal with Fuel TV last week. It will be placed into Fuel’s one hour telecast of “Friday Fight Night” starting April 15th at 10 pm.
The press release from last week goes into a bit more detail regarding Fuel TV’s “Friday Fight Night”:
FUEL TV’s Friday Fight Night” features telecasts of several epic “must see” fight events, including Shark Fights 13. As part of the Shark Fight series, FUEL TV will air select bouts from the highly touted mixed martial arts event. The Shark Fights 13 roster is loaded with top MMA contenders including British slugger Paul Daley, TUF contestant and UFC super star Keith Jardine, current Shark Fight lightFUEL TV heavyweight champion Trevor Prangley, hard hitting light heavyweight contenders Rameau Sokoudjou and Houston Alexander, UFC veteran Danillo Villefort, Strikeforce veteran Joey Villasenor, and more.
Here is the TV promo for Shark Fights:
Payout Perspective:
It was no secret that Fuel TV was looking to showcase MMA programming in 2011 based on the new direction the channel, which reaches 31 million homes, was heading. Fuel TV general manager C. J. Olivares told Sports Business Journal about the possibilities and new direction last year:
Fuel TV plans to add lifestyle programming and sports programming from motorsports and mixed martial arts to its lineup over the next month and a half. The moves are designed to expand the channel’s target demo from 12- to 24-year-old males to 12-35 and enlarge its audience.
Fuel TV was also involved in the rumored Bellator TV deal along with FX late last year, though the reports were proven to be premature at the time. Along with Fuel TV, FX – another FOX affiliate interested in MMA programming – has also been in talks to bring in a sporting franchise to the network for years, rumored many times to be in talks with the UFC and even other big name MMA promotions such as Strikeforce. The Strikeforce purchase by the UFC has taken away a big name MMA promotion for these networks, therefore giving other smaller promotions such as Shark Fights the opportunity to strike a deal.
Leave a Reply