Upfronts 2016: beIN Sports Adds Tennis, College Football, MMA To Lineup

beIN Sports will add mixed martial arts fights and college basketball and football games as part of several new sports content acquisitions announced during then network’s upfront presentation Monday.

beIN Sports, which offers sports-themed English and Spanish language networks, has become the official broadcaster of the Women’s Tennis Association as part of a deal with the WTA that runs through 2021, said network officials. The network has also signed multi-year deals with motorcycle racing series MotoAmerica and the North America Soccer League.

In addition, the network will add MMA as well as college football an college basketball events to its English-language channel.

The new deals will complement its soccer coverage which incudes multi-year deals with CONMEBOL and CONCACAF World Cup Qualifiers, LaLiga, Serie A and Ligue 1.

“beIN Sports remains steadfast in reaching passionate sports fans and prioritizes delivering top, original live content in their language of choice,” said Yousef Al Obaidly, Deputy CEO beIN Media Group in a statement. “This year, we are expanding our multiplatform offerings and rethinking our English programming strategy to more fervently reflect our commitment to North American sports fans.”

R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.