Spike TV: Bellator MMA Live Launch
Fallon
Business situation
From 2005 to 2011, Spike TV had enjoyed considerable success broadcasting competitions of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) mixed martial arts (MMA) league. Prior to – and to a lesser degree, during -the sport's run on Spike, MMA had developed a reputation as being unforgivably violent and too primitive to be regarded by the masses or advertisers as a true professional sport.
In 2011, the right to those UFC broadcasts moved to the Fox TV, FX, and Fuel networks. Not willing to walk away entirely from the sport of MMA, in...