Spike TV obtains rights to Glory Kickboxing

A Spike TV press release sent out this morning announced that Glory Sports International (GSI) will debut on the network starting in the Fall of 2013.  Two hour kickboxing events will air in prime time on select Saturday nights.

Via Spike TV press release:

“We are thrilled to partner with GSI in bringing Spike TV’s audience the incredible action and intensity of GLORY’s fight league, which feature the best kickboxers in the world,” said Slusser. “Viewers will quickly see this as the perfect complement to our coverage of Bellator, the world’s leading tournament-based MMA promotion.”

“Spike has established itself as the home of combat sports in a way that is unique. Its audience will expect the most exciting ring action and we promise to deliver it,” said Whitaker. “Glory kickboxing is the next big thing and Spike clearly knows something about spotting aces in the sports programming space.”

GLORY Sports International is the world’s premier stand-up fighting league, staging events across the globe. The fight series includes multi-man tournaments, along with traditional, single bouts.  The most elite kickboxers in the world fight for GLORY including Tyrone Spong, Gokhan Saki, Semmy Schilt, Nieky Holzken, Yuta Kubo, Giorgio Petrosyan, Daniel Ghita, Peter Aerts, Remy Bonjasky and Albert Kraus.

Payout Perspective:

CBS Sports Network had signed a multi-fight television deal with Glory and recently held an event in New York this month.  According to Mike Chiapetta of MMA Fighting, CBS Sports Network will air one more Glory show in September.  Another interesting tidbit, is that PPV is in the promotion’s future.  For Spike TV, this will bolster its lineup of combat sports which it hopes will attract the 18-34 male demo.  It could be a risk considering that many viewers are not familiar with kickboxing.  In the past, Spike TV had pursued K-1 to no avail.  But, the thought appears to be that if they are into MMA, they should like kickboxing.  Its a calculated risk but perhaps a good one as the organization has put on competitive shows in the past.