Fight Sports expands coverage with Finnish carriage announcement

Sanoma adds Fight Sports to OTT and VOD platform Ruutu.

“Sanoma already has a strong track record of offering media coverage and distribution for local boxing and MMA events in Finland and we are now excited to partner with the leading international provider and add Fight Sports network’s channel and content to our fast-growing multi-device OTT VOD platform Ruutu” – Lassi Tasajärvi, Senior Vice President, Consumer Business at Nelonen Media, the broadcasting arm of Sanoma Media Finland

CSI Sports has signed a new carriage agreement for its 24/7 HD Network Fight Sports in Finland, with leading Nordic and Finnish multi-channel media company Sanoma.

The programming line-up includes some of the highest profile `LIVE’ World Title Boxing events (WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO), Championship Kickboxing, K-1, MMA, Martial Arts and exclusive Reality, Documentary and original programming series.

In addition, the SANOMA viewers can enjoy past fights from some of history’s most exciting Championship Boxing events from HBO Championship Boxing and some of the Greatest Classic fights with legendary fighters such as Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis, Oscar De La Hoya and George Foreman from an exclusive selection of events that have grossed over USD$1B in US pay-per-view [PPV] revenue alone.

This launch continues Fight Sports Network’s rapid global expansion. Since launching in December 2012, CSI Sports has already a wide range of carriage agreements for its FIGHT SPORTS network with operators across Europe and the Asia Pacific region that has taken the network into almost 40 countries.

CSI Sports was founded in the US in 1997 by Richard and Craig Miele, and has a rich heritage of acquiring, producing and distributing fight-related content. In addition to the high profile live events, it boasts ownership of an invaluable asset of content in today’s media market that includes thousands of hours of the widest variety of premium fight-related programming from across the globe.

“We are pleased to be expanding the FIGHT SPORTS reach with wide distribution on leading OTT and VOD Platform of SANOMA in Finland. Our channel performance in Europe and Asia has continued to deliver distribution in new markets while we continue to invest significantly in LIVE and original programming”, – CSI Sports, Co-CEOs, Richard and Craig Miele.