UFC Agrees On Business Deal With PokerStars

A new collaboration is born between two highly established brands in their own respected gaming categories: the largest online poker site in the world, The Stars Group brand PokerStars has united with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a leading mixed martial arts promotion company (MMA).

Under the terms of this newly-signed partnership, PokerStars becomes the UFC’s first ever official poker partner, creating a completely new sponsorship category.

PokerStars Powers Up the Octagon

The operator will have a marked presence inside the iconic cage, the popular Octagon, at UFC’s final Pay-Per-View event of 2018. This isn’t the first time for them to dip into the world of sports.

The final event, UFC 232: Jones vs. Gustafsson 2…

…is an upcoming mixed martial arts event, produced by the UFC that is taking place on December 29, 2018, at the famous ‘The Forum’ in Inglewood California.

Even though the match was supposed to take place in Las Vegas, which would make a return for poker brand in Nevada ever since 2011, however, on December 23rd…

…the event was moved to California due to a Jones drug testing irregularity, which found a trace amount of turinabol steroid.

Upcoming match between former champion, Jon Jones, and former title challenger Alexander Gustafsson will headline this event…

…and the winner of the contest would become the undisputed champion.

A Superb Combination

For the fans of UFC, this matchup is something they’ve hoped for since their previous match in 2013. The fight of the year is approaching pretty soon.

Beside the bout background, there are more additions: It will embrace PokerStars branding during MMA’s telecasts, together with social and digital media and other promotional possibilities.

With the future growth of both world famous brands, it makes a promising sponsorship.

Both sides agreed with this

"We're excited that PokerStars has joined our roster of global partners and has helped us create a new sponsorship category for our final event of 2018," UFC Senior Vice President, Paul Asencio said.

"This agreement lays the foundation to work together with PokerStars in the future to grow our respective customer bases in key markets."

Christopher Coyne, Chief Marketing Officer of Stars Interactive, a division of The Stars Group has stated:

"UFC and PokerStars have a lot in common,"

"We want to thrill and entertain, both in our products and customer experience. UFC is the world's leading MMA promoter with millions of fans and followers around the globe, while PokerStars is the heavyweight of online poker. It's a classic combination."

An Impressive List of Sponsorships

Previously, the poker operator signed world-class athletes to represent its brand. That includes soccer stars Ronaldo, Neymar Jr, Gianluigi Buffon, and other world-famous athletes including fastest man alive, Usain Bolt, and former tennis champion Boris Becker.

Throughout UFC’s worldwide programming distribution, PokerStars brand has the possibility to achieve over 1.1bn TV households in over 160 countries and territories in 40 different languages.

The collaboration could capitalize on the overlay between MMA community of fans and sympathy for sports betting, poker, and other forms, especially as sports wagering is progressively legalized in more states.

Get ready for a spectacular night.

Source:

“PokerStars Becomes Official Poker Partner of UFC”, gamingintelligence.com, December 24, 2018.