DAZN secures Hexagone MMA to boost combat sports portfolio

Sports streamer DAZN Group has secured global rights to broadcast Hexagone MMA mixed martial arts in the US, the UK, Mexico, Poland, Australia, New Zealand and other countries.

The streamer said that as part of its strategy to diversify its global platform, the deal furthered its goal to be the leading broadcaster of the widest range of sports with international fanbases, delivering consistency of quality to rights holders seeking access to a global market.

The agreement will see DAZN subscribers in the territories covered by the deal given access to watch all Hexagone MMA’s fights live and on demand on the platform until March 2023.

The first event takes place on August 28 in Dubai, featuring fights including Loiseau vs Mytilinaki for the Bantamweight title and Ftouhi vs Sousa for the Strawweight title.

The latest deal follows others with Matchroom Boxing, Golden Boy Promotions, GGG Promotions and Naciones MMA.

DAZN also offers a portfolio of live sports and original programming, as UEFA Champions League, UEFA Women’s Champions League, Bundesliga, La Liga and Serie A football in selected markets.

DAZN last week announced that it will broadcast the Women’s International Champions Cup (WICC) in over 175 markets and territories worldwide, including the UK, France, Canada, Italy, Spain and DACH.

The company is also continuing to forge distribution partnerships, most recently with Spain’s MásMóvil, bringing coverage of local top-ier LaLiga football to the latter’s subscribers.

That followed a deal with Sky Italia to make its app available to Sky Q subscribers in that country, as well as distributing linear channel Zona DAZN.

That deal was however a signficant boost for Sky Italia, which lost out to DAZN in the battle for Serie A rights last year.

DAZN forged a partnership with Telecom Italia (TIM), which provided financial backing as well as distribution for Serie A coverage, but the DAZN offering failed to meet subscriber targets, and the service was plagued from the start by technical problems.