Bellator President Scott Coker made a big announcement today for the promotion. For the last couple of years, the promotion has called the Paramount Network home.
However, starting on October 1st, Bellator will be moving to CBS Sports Network. Tomorrow night will mark the final card that will take place on Paramount for Bellator.
Bellator‘s parent company, ViacomCBS, made the decision to move the promotion over to a network that is focused on sports. This comes on the heels of the Viacom and CBS merger in December.
What it means for Bellator?
Bellator will be making the move on October 1st over the CBS Sports Network. That card will take place from Milan and it will be headlined by Paul Daley (41-17-2) and Derek Anderson (16-3). The next card will be the first major MMA event in France.
Coker said that this move to the CBS Sports network was years in the making. One of the problems that Bellator has ran into in the past was airing live events that were not domestic. With the limitations of Paramount, many times fans couldn’t see the action live.
However, with the move to a dedicated sports network, the promotion will have the full ability to bring fans live fights wherever they are. Coker was asked about Bellator eventually getting a slot on the national CBS channel for some of their big fights.
“What I will say is this is one family (ViacomCBS). I believe that one day we will get there. But for now, CBS Sports Network,” Coker said to the media. This is the smart move by ViacomCBS to get Bellator on a sports driven platform.
This by no means puts them on a competitive level with the UFC and ESPN, but moving to a sports driven network is a great move for Bellator as they continue to look to evolve.