Bellator Inks 2021 Broadcast Deal with BBC iPlayer in United Kingdom

Bellator joins forces with @BBCSport

UK fans will be able to stream EVERY Bellator MMA event live on @BBCiPlayer in pic.twitter.com/3nntEaXPzH

— Bellator Europe (@Bellator_Europe) February 11, 2021

Fresh off its announcement with Showtime, Bellator MMA has secured its 2021 broadcasting schedule for audiences in the United Kingdom.

On Thursday, the promotion announced that it has signed a deal to air its events this year on the British Broadcasting Corporation’s streaming service, BBC iPlayer. Showtime Sports is only available for U.S. audiences, so the organization needed to set its international lineup for its other fans. This deal will include the airing of every event of the year starting with Bellator 255 on April 2, and should contain both U.S.-based cards and those held internationally through its Bellator Europe wing.

This is not the first arrangement between Bellator and the BBC, as its first event aired on the BBC iPlayer was the organization’s debut in France with Bellator Paris in October 2020. Bellator’s past arrangement with audiences in the U.K. region was one with Sky Sports, and it has also worked with Channel 5 – the latter the home to the notorious “Peppa Pig” incident in which fans saw a major main event switch to the children’s animated cartoon.

BBC iPlayer is not a subscription-based service, and is streamed for free for those only in the U.K. It does require registering a BBC account to login and access the events.