On Monday (Nov. 20, 2023), the PFL made it official: they had been shopping for Bellator MMA from Paramount International and folding the struggle promotion into their total enterprise.
In response to PFL president Donn Davis, Bellator will live on by means of 2024 — partially to finish present TV offers the corporate had signed. We may see a PFL champions vs. Bellator champions occasion in February, and there can be eight Bellator Worldwide Champion Sequence occasions by means of the yr.
So how a lot did it value PFL to choose up Bellator from Paramount? In response to Sportico, they acquired the ailing promotion for lower than $100 million. That’s a far cry from the beforehand rumored $200-$500 million sale quantity, however nonetheless greater than the $50 million Paramount paid to purchase Bellator in 2011.
And in an interview with The MMA Hour, Davis revealed the purchase was made with PFL inventory, not precise cash.
“So this was a inventory deal, not a money deal,” he stated. “They’re a small minority proprietor going ahead. So as a substitute, they stated ‘Boy, we actually don’t wish to promote low, we wish to promote low and have a possibility to make it excessive. So subsequently a deal was made. Paramount [is now a] small minority proprietor of PFL. Nice deal for us. Very pleased.”
“It was all the time this sort of deal,” he added. “It simply acquired finalized Saturday afternoon.”
The deal will get PFL the Bellator model, 210 fighter contracts, and a lot of Bellator workers — in the event that they’re .
“We despatched them a observe this morning on the similar time they had been knowledgeable that each one of them is welcome to turn out to be a part of the brand new firm,” he stated. “We’ll speak to them the week after the [PFL] Championship. There received’t be a Bellator firm and a PFL firm. There’s one firm. So we wish them to affix our one firm in roles that we’ll speak to them about.”
“There are 21 workers of Bellator, simply as there are 210 fighters,” he added. “Everybody can have a task if they need one.”