{"id":546226,"date":"2026-03-19T06:52:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T06:52:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/546226\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T06:52:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T06:52:13","slug":"what-zuffa-boxings-deal-with-sky-sports-could-really-mean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/546226\/","title":{"rendered":"What Zuffa Boxing’s Deal With Sky Sports Could Really Mean"},"content":{"rendered":"

Zuffa Boxing and Sky Sports confirmed its broadcast agreement in a statement Wednesday, after months-long speculation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Combat sports expert Ariel Helwani said Wednesday: \u201cSky Sports and Zuffa Boxing<\/a> have announced a new multi-year deal, confirming Sky as the UK and Irish broadcaster for their events. <\/p>\n

\u201cI will say, it\u2019s interesting that MVP also has a deal with Sky. Also, all of Zuffa Boxing\u2019s cards have taken place in North American time zones and on Sundays. This would seem to suggest they have an interest in holding events in the UK.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zuffa Boxing has only hosted four events so far this year, and has made significant additions to its roster through the signings of Jai Opetaia, now Zuffa heavyweight champion, and Benn. Those big names join prospects \u2014 possible future world-beaters \u2014 Robert Meriwether III and Jalil Hackett.<\/p>\n

But the shows so far have all taken place at the UFC\u2019s TV studio called Meta Apex, which can seat approximately 750 people.<\/p>\n

\u201cI see people talking about how bad the events look at the Apex, but if you think that\u2019s Zuffa Boxing\u2019s final form, you\u2019re kidding yourselves,\u201d Helwani said. \u201cI see these events as a pilot for a TV series.\u201d<\/p>\n

The multi-year agreement will see Zuffa Boxing host \u201cat least five shows per year on UK soil,\u201d the broadcaster said.<\/p>\n

British slugger Conor Benn could headline one of those shows after he returns to the ring against Regis Prograis on April 11, in the co-main event of Tyson Fury\u2019s fight against Arslanbek Makhmudov.<\/p>\n

Other US companies Top Rank, Golden Boy Promotions, and TGB Promotions, are more focused on American territories. This is unlike Zuffa Boxing, who has shown through its movements that it intends to build an international presence, putting it in direct competition with Matchroom and Eddie Hearn.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you think about boxing, over the last 10 years it\u2019s been very European and obviously the UK, there\u2019s been a decline in the United States,\u201d White told Sky Sports.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo our goal is to build the no-brainers, the United States, the UK, Australia, Mexico. I mean that\u2019s what we\u2019re focusing on right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

WHAT TO READ NEXT: <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Zuffa Boxing and Sky Sports confirmed its broadcast agreement in a statement Wednesday, after months-long speculation. Combat sports…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":546227,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[447],"tags":[703,49,48,10359,82,75400],"class_list":["post-546226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-dana-white","tag-sports","tag-zuffa-boxing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=546226"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546226\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/546227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=546226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=546226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=546226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}