Deal between CANAL+ Group and PFL

CANAL+ exclusive French language PFL rights holder in Sub-Saharan Africa

All PFL Fight Franchises to air live on CANAL+

CANAL+ Group and the Professional Fighters League (PFL), announced today a multi-year media rights agreement on the league's French-language broadcasting rights in sub-Saharan Africa. The partnership also includes Myanmar and Haiti where CANAL+ broadcasts several top sports competitions.

CANAL+ will provide live localized programming across all PFL Global, PFL Europe, PFL MENA, Bellator Champions Series, PFL Super Fights, selected PFL and Bellator archives, and also PFL Africa which will launch in 2025 and will benefit from the prime exposure offered by CANAL+ Sport channels in Sub-Saharan Africa, where CANAL+ will carry PFL action live with French commentary to nearly 8 million homes.

“The Professional Fighters League could not be more excited to partner with CANAL+ bringing our brand to French-speaking Sub-Saharan Africa,” said James Frewin, PFL Managing Director International. “The PFL believes strongly in connecting with MMA fans in areas that have been traditionally well less served in the sport, especially in French. CANAL+ is the sports media brand that lives in the hearts and minds of the French speaking population in Sub-Saharan Africa and is synonymous with premium sport.”

Jacques du Puy, CEO of CANAL+ International says. “We are proud to bring PFL to our African subscribers. Fighting competitions, and MMA leagues in particular, attract ever larger audiences of fans especially among our African audiences. This partnership with a dedicated PFL franchise in Africa, and the broadcast of emblematic fights with stars like Francis Ngannou or Cédric Doumbé, is excellent news that fits in with the CANAL+ Group's strategy of developing sport in Africa and beyond.”

ABOUT CANAL+ GROUP

CANAL+ Group, a subsidiary of Vivendi, is a leader in the creation and distribution of content in the world, with a presence in more than 50 countries and nearly 7,600 employees on every continent. CANAL+ Group has 26.4 million subscribers worldwide, including 17.1 million in Europe, 8.1 million in Africa and 1.2 million in Asia-Pacific. It is the largest shareholder in MultiChoice, the leader in pay-TV in English and Portuguese-speaking Africa; Viaplay, the Scandinavian leader in pay-TV and streaming; and is also a shareholder in Viu, a leading Asian streaming business. CANAL+ Group invests 3.5 billion euros in content every year, making the group a key player in sport (main funder in France of football and rugby, and the leading partner of UEFA and the EPL internationally), films (leading funder in France and Poland), series (including more than 50 original series per year in over 15 languages) and entertainment (documentaries, comedy, shows). CANAL+ Group offers over 2,000 channels, including 130 produced in-house. In addition to content creation and its own channels, CANAL+ Group acts as an aggregator or both linear channels global streaming services including, Netflix, Disney+, Paramount+, Apple TV+ and Max. With the support of its subsidiary STUDIOCANAL and its network of 14 production companies, including 13 in Europe and one in the United States, CANAL+ Group is the leading producer and distributor of feature films and TV series in Europe. It holds a catalogue of nearly 9,000 titles from more than 60 countries, including those of Orange Studio following the acquisition of OCS by CANAL+ Group. CANAL+ Group is an innovative, technology-based company, with a leading direct to consumer digital offer via its CANAL+/myCANAL app, which is deploying internationally at an accelerating rate and currently has a presence in more than 40 countries and territories. canalplusgroup.com/en

ABOUT PROFESSIONAL FIGHTERS LEAGUE

Professional Fighters League (PFL) is a global powerhouse in MMA and the fastest-growing sports league world-wide. PFL has five live fight franchises, offering year-round content: PFL League Season, PFL PPV Super Fights, PFL Challenger Series, PFL International Leagues, and Bellator. Founded in 2018, PFL is backed by major blue-chip investors including SRJ, Ares, Knighthead, Luxor Capital, Waverley Capital, Elysian Park Ventures, and numerous NBA, MLB, NHL, and MLS team owners. MMA is the growth sport business of this decade, with 650 million fans worldwide, the youngest audience demographic, and true global revenue streams. PFLmma.com; Instagram (@PFLmma); Twitter (@PFLMMA); Facebook (/PFLmma)

CONTACTS

CANAL+ Groupe : Elvire Charbonnel, elvire.charbonnel@canal-plus.com

CANAL+ International : Hala Saab, hala.saab@canal-plus.com