https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtba...-and-adds-a-mike-tyson-mma-show/#6e26ee0c6cf0
The PFL owners will be dishing out more big checks for years to come thanks to a new infusion of cash in the business. The league closed a $50 million Series C funding round on Christmas Eve; it brings the PFL’s total funding to $100 million.
Tyson will be a bigger presence in the PFL. “Mike is going to help recruit and sharpen the marketing of some of our new fighters,” says PFL cofounder Donn Davis. “No one knows what it is like to be a champion more than Mike Tyson—how to become one and the pitfalls of being one, financially, emotionally and psychologically.”
Tyson will also cohost a new show for the PFL, Mike Tyson’s New Fight Game. The 30-minute episodes on ESPN2 and ESPN+ will preview ten PFL events during the year and also look back at some of Tyson’s classic matchups in the ring. Davis compares the show to the Emmy-winning Inside the NFL series, but it will be more “irreverent and freewheeling.”
“I’m excited to find and mentor the next generation of MMA world champions,” says Tyson. “PFL’s pay scale is aligned with my principles of paying fighters more for the entertainment value they create. MMA fighters are also prizefighters, and when you enhance the prize, you enhance their ability to thrive outside the cage.”
“We’re ready to build in three areas: upgrading the roster, upgrading the marketing and expanding the product,” says Davis. He points to the recent signing of Rory MacDonald, who previously fought on Bellator and UFC cards. Product expansion will include international offerings and a mobile gambling platform.
The PFL owners will be dishing out more big checks for years to come thanks to a new infusion of cash in the business. The league closed a $50 million Series C funding round on Christmas Eve; it brings the PFL’s total funding to $100 million.
Tyson will be a bigger presence in the PFL. “Mike is going to help recruit and sharpen the marketing of some of our new fighters,” says PFL cofounder Donn Davis. “No one knows what it is like to be a champion more than Mike Tyson—how to become one and the pitfalls of being one, financially, emotionally and psychologically.”
Tyson will also cohost a new show for the PFL, Mike Tyson’s New Fight Game. The 30-minute episodes on ESPN2 and ESPN+ will preview ten PFL events during the year and also look back at some of Tyson’s classic matchups in the ring. Davis compares the show to the Emmy-winning Inside the NFL series, but it will be more “irreverent and freewheeling.”
“I’m excited to find and mentor the next generation of MMA world champions,” says Tyson. “PFL’s pay scale is aligned with my principles of paying fighters more for the entertainment value they create. MMA fighters are also prizefighters, and when you enhance the prize, you enhance their ability to thrive outside the cage.”
“We’re ready to build in three areas: upgrading the roster, upgrading the marketing and expanding the product,” says Davis. He points to the recent signing of Rory MacDonald, who previously fought on Bellator and UFC cards. Product expansion will include international offerings and a mobile gambling platform.
