Fight Sports seals karate rights, Sanoma carriage deal 

Pay-television channel Fight Sports has sealed a rights deal with the World Karate Federation and secured a carriage agreement with Nordic and Finnish media company Sanoma.

Fight Sports will show live coverage of the federation’s Karate 1 Premier League events in more than 100 countries worldwide, including the US, Canada, Germany, Spain, the Nordic region, Africa and Southeast Asia.

The deal will cover the federation’s events in 2018, starting with the first event of the year in Paris on January 28.

The length of the carriage deal with Sanoma was not disclosed. Sanoma will offer the channel on its OTT and video-on-demand platform.

Fight Sports offers coverage of a variety of combat sports, including boxing, kickboxing and mixed martial arts.