MLW signs U.S. streaming deal with DAZN

[cero2k]

source: https://www.f4wonline.com/mlw-news/mlw- ... um=twitter

Major League Wrestling has signed a deal with the U.S. version of DAZN, the sports-centric streaming service that is home to boxing stars like Canelo Alvarez, Anthony Joshua, and Gennady Golovkin, Bellator MMA, Major League Baseball highlight shows, and other major American sports leagues for international viewers.

The amount of years on the deal and financials were not disclosed. MLW has been available in some international markets via DAZN in the past.

Several episodes of MLW Fusion and their recent Opera Cup event went live on the service Tuesday for subscribers and are also available in most countries worldwide. Going forward, MLW will be part of DAZN's regular weekly schedule as well as on demand. Future live shows will also air on DAZN.

MLW will continue to air on beIN Sports every Saturday. The shows will also air on YouTube for the time being.

They become the first pro wrestling group to be carried on the American version of DAZN, although they had signed a deal with WWE to air Raw, SmackDown, and other programming for Japanese audiences in 2017.

The deal comes at a crucial time for DAZN as they are desperate for programming due to the pandemic gravely affecting their sole purpose: live sports.

MLW has had to postpone several of their events since the pandemic started, creating an Anthology series featuring past matches with notable names in order to meet their TV obligations. Their next event is a TV taping scheduled for October in Dallas, TX.

Under former WWE writer Court Bauer, the organization launched in 2002 and ran shows for two years before returning in the summer of 2017, developing a podcasting network along the way. In January, MLW announced they were working with entertainment agency ICM Partners in hopes of securing a new TV and streaming deal in the spring. They have been with beIN since April 2018 when Fusion launched.