Bellator MMA Announces New Partnership With William Hill
February 21, 2020
Bellator MMA has today announced a new partnership with William Hill, as the bookmaker becomes the exclusive gambling partner for all of Bellator’s European Series events throughout 2020.
This is the first major sponsorship deal for the MMA promotion specifically focused on their European Fight Series and comes as Bellator enter the second year of their broadcast relationship with Channel 5.
Starting with Bellator Dublin: McCourt vs Ruis, which is taking place this Saturday, 22nd February, William Hill will be sponsoring the Channel 5 broadcast of the event and their logo will be visible on the canvas in the cage.
Bellator Dublin: McCourt vs. Ruis will air live on Channel 5 in the UK from 10 p.m. GMT on Saturday night and will feature a women’s featherweight matchup between Northern Ireland star Leah McCourt and Germany’s Judith Ruis as the main event.
David Green, Head of Bellator Europe, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with one of the biggest betting companies in the world as we continue to grow our brand and the sport of MMA in the UK and across Europe.”
He added: “We are making history tomorrow night when Leah McCourt and Judith Ruis become the first female fighters to headline a Bellator European Series card, and we look forward to an action packed year as we take Bellator events to new cities and new countries, and reach an ever growing number of fans both at our live shows and via our broadcasts.”
Liam McKee, Global Head of Media & Sponsorship at William Hill, said; “MMA is one of the fastest growing sports in the world and so a partnership with a major promotion like Bellator made perfect sense to us. The viewing figures for Bellator’s European Series on Channel 5 and the audience share they are achieving is incredibly strong and so we are delighted to be partnering with them across all of their European shows this year.”
In 2019, Bellator MMA hosted six European Fight Series events including in London, Dublin, Newcastle, Birmingham and Milan, with an increased number of events planned for this year. Earlier this week, the promotion announced they will be returning to London with an event on May 16 at The SSE Arena, Wembley, where former England Rugby international James Haskell is confirmed to be making his hotly anticipated MMA debut.
