Professional Fighters League has landed itself a big shark.
Thursday, PFL, formerly known as World Series of Fighting, announced that it had reached a partnership agreement with reality television leader Mark Burnett, President of MGM Television Group & Digital and MGM Television. Burnett has signed on to develop and produce new content and programming for PFL’s upcoming season which begins on June 7, and will entail 11 live events on the NBC Sports Network and Facebook Watch.
“We are thrilled to partner with MGM Television and Mark Burnett,” said Peter Murray, Chief Executive Officer of Professional Fighters League. “Mark’s creative vision for delivering innovative live content is among the absolute best the industry has to offer – and that is exactly what we will bring MMA fans this season.”
After a near five-year-run under the World Series of Fighting Banner, the promotion rebranded as Professional Fighters League in April 2017.
This is not Burnett’s first foray into MMA: in 2017, Burnett connected with ProElite and EliteXC to produce an ill-fated reality show that never saw the light of day.
“It’s no secret that MMA’s audience is rapidly growing and PFL has an enormous global presence. As an enthusiast for innovation within the television industry, I’m passionate about the growth and vision of PFL and it’s time this sport revolves around a league format,” Burnett said in a press release. “They’re elevating the sport in an entirely new way and I’m looking forward to being part of it.”
Professional Fighters League held its last event on Nov. 2 of last year, with Blagoy Ivanov earning a three-round unanimous verdict over Caio Alencar in the evening’s headliner from Washington, D.C.