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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Bellator Fighting Championships is gearing up for their second season beginning this April, and already they've made major strides to breakout even further from their exciting debut season. In addition to their new broadcast deal that will bring them live in primetime to Fox Sports Net on Thursdays with replay shows on NBC and Telemundo, the organization announced on Thursday a new partnership with online poker site Ultimate Bet.
The deal will bring Bellator's presence to the tens of millions of poker players on UB.net, and will bring a weekly Ultimate Bet presence to Bellator broadcasts. Paul Leggett, chief operations officer of Tokwiro, the owner/operator of UB.net, said in a press release, "Last year, we watched from the sidelines as the new kid on the MMA block delivered some of the most explosive moments in televised fighting sports history; this year, we’re elated to jump in the cage as an active player in the Bellator phenomenon, while exposing the UB brand to more than 250 million homes across the U.S."
The terms of the deal state that "UB.net will have a prominent presence on all Bellator broadcasts and at Bellator.com as well as a substantial on-site presence at each of the promotion’s events in 2010." At the same time, Bellator will have a "major presence" on the UB.net website. The release also states that, "UB.net will also sponsor online tournaments that give players the opportunity to win an all-expenses-paid trip to sit cage-side at Bellator events."
Bellator's second season begins on April 8th on Fox Sports Net.
Penick's Analysis: This is another great business move for Bellator, who are setting themselves up for a great sophomore effort. This brings a good sponsor on board, and for Ultimate Bet it allows them to provide some unique prizes to their players with the cageside package. It's also just the beginning for this relationship, and they could come out with some even more interesting ways to incorporate one another in the future.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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