beIN Sports acquires Karate Combat
September 2, 2020
beIN Sports has acquired the rights to the second season of Karate Combat – the professional, full-contact karate league – in a 37-market deal which spans five continents and includes the US, with 12 episodes airing weekly.
beIN Sports will broadcast weekly episodes of Karate Combat in North America, the Middle East & North Africa (MENA), Turkey, and 10 countries in Asia-Pacific.
Karate Combat’s diverse fighter roster features more than 150 men and women from over 40 countries competing in the league’s patented pit. Season two features bouts in four virtual worlds rendered real-time using Unreal Engine, the video game engine behind Fortnite.
“Necessity is the mother of invention, and our second season of Karate Combat is one step ahead of the game. Forget virtual fans and fight islands,” said Rob Bryan, CEO of Karate Combat. “We are rebuilding sports from the ground up to give fans something wildly entertaining. beIN Sports will bring our full contact action to the world.”
Antonio Briceño, Deputy Managing Director of beIN Sports North America, added: “Karate Combat is presenting martial arts in a way never seen before and is poised to transition combat sports from niche to mainstream. beIN Sports is excited to add a groundbreaking new property to our established portfolio of world-class sports content and we are making it readily available to thousands of combat sports fans across North America for free on beIN Sports XTRA, our free 24/7 live sports channel.”