Sky Sports announces new deal with boxing promotion

Sky Sports and Zuffa Boxing have formally announced a “multi-year agreement” to broadcast events in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

The deal was announced via a press release on Wednesday. It claims that Zuffa Boxing will do at least five shows a year in the United Kingdom in addition to broadcasting all of their cards on Sky Sports. Details regarding the exact length of the deal and the number of boxing events that will be broadcast per year were not disclosed in the press release. It does claim, however, that a detailed fight schedule for 2026 will be revealed in the coming weeks.

The first boxing card to be broadcast on Sky Sports will be one that is headlined by Andres Cortes and Eridson Garcia. Zuffa Boxing is not the only company that the British broadcaster is currently working with. Sky Sports have also partnered with Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) to broadcast a lightweight unification bout between Caroline Dubois and Terri Harper. Though MVP have yet to sign a long-term deal with Sky Sports, they are working on it.

Sky Sports and Zuffa Boxing announce deal, stakeholders react

“Sky Sports has been a long-standing partner to boxing for more than 30 years,” said Jonathan Licht, Sky Sports’ chief officer, in the press release. “Zuffa Boxing has exciting plans for the sport, and we share that same ambition when it comes to putting on the best fights for our customers. We look forward to a new era where we’ll use our platform to both build stars and showcase elite boxing talent here in the UK and internationally.”

“The UK has played such a pivotal role throughout the history of boxing,” said Dana White, Zuffa Boxing co-founder, in the same press release. “The fans there are some of the most loyal and passionate in the world. When you talk about boxing in that region, Sky Sports has always been the home for legendary boxing fights. There’s no bigger or better platform to showcase the best boxing in the UK. This is a massive milestone for Zuffa Boxing.”

What this means going forward

Zuffa Boxing is a relatively new company, having only been founded last year. The press release did claim that they are committed to hosting events in the United Kingdom. This could also mean that they will sign more British and Irish boxers. Conor Benn is a fighter who has signed with Zuffa Boxing, albeit for only one bout. Callum Walsh and Feargal McCrory are among the company’s Irish talents.