The International Fight League (OTC.BB: IFLI) and Fox Sports Net (FSN) announced today that the IFL's weekly, one-hour "Fight Night" show will begin its 2008 run on Saturday, April 19, at midnight local time. The show, which will begin with the IFL World Grand Prix finals from December 29, will run in that time slot through mid-July, a slot which will give the IFL limited preemptions on the FSN regional network in a spot that is key for the demo that follows the sport.
"We are very pleased to be able to continue to work so closely with FSN, especially in this very desirable and consistent Saturday night time slot," said IFL CEO Jay Larkin. "The FSN weekly component is key to our TV strategy, and it has proven to draw an audience everywhere it has been placed. This Saturday midnight spot is a great piece for us to build around and promote towards, since we will rarely be up against other sports programming."
"The IFL has been a great compliment to FSN programming, and there's certainly an audience for it. For two seasons it has delivered solid ratings and exciting, quality fights. We expect Season 3 will deliver as well," said George Greenberg, FSN Executive Vice President of Programming and Production.
In addition to the weekly "IFL Fight Night," on FSN, the first three IFL events of the year are being shown live on HDNet in the United States and Fox Sports Net Canada, as well as in over 70 other countries and five continents around the world, ranging from HBO Latin America to Star TV in Asia and Middle Eastern Broadcasting and the Armed Forces Network. IFL programming is already among the most viewed MMA programming worldwide, despite being in existence only two years.