By MATT BOONE
MMANEWS.COM Staff Writer

The following is an excerpt from a new Sports Business Journal online article:

UFC Agrees To Deal With Fox That Will See Up To Four Events Per Year On Broadcast TV

By John Ourand, Staff Writer
Published August 16, 2011

In what would represent a major push into the mainstream for the UFC, Fox has agreed to a deal that will see the broadcast channel air as many as four MMA events per year, according to several sources. The multiyear deal would mark the first time the UFC will have consistent airtime on a broadcast network.

Fox execs refused to comment on the deal, but sources with knowledge of the negotiations said bidding had gone as high as $90M per year. The Fox deal is believed to be for seven or eight years.

As part of the deal, most of the weekly programming that UFC has on Versus and Spike TV will move to FX starting in January. That includes several fight cards, plus shows like the reality series "The Ultimate Fighter." Fox-owned Fuel also will wind up with some UFC content. But rumors that Fox will rebrand Fuel as a UFC channel are not true, sources said. Fox was attracted to UFC programming, which has produced some of the highest viewership figures ­-- and most attractive demos --­ on Versus and Spike TV.

Continue reading at SportsBusinessDaily.com ...

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