Weekly Friday Night Show Starts With Condors vs. Tigersharks“IFL Battleground” on MyNetworkTV to Premier on March 12
NEW YORK, February 21, 2007- The International Fight League (OTC.BB: IFLI), the world’s first team-based professional mixed martial arts league, and television partner Fox Sports Net will begin its 2007 Friday night schedule this Friday, February 23, with the season-opening matchup from Oakland, Calif., between the Tiger Sharks, coached by MMA and kickboxing world champion Maurice Smith and based in Seattle, and the Condors, led by Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and MMA champion Marco Ruas and based in Southern California. It will be the first of 22 one-hour shows to be seen on FSN.
Start time for the show is 11 p.m. in most markets. The February FSN schedule, with dates and times on each Regional FSN network, can be seen at http://www.ifl.tv/TV-Schedule.html. Viewers can also check their local schedule at http://msn.foxsports.com/tv/schedule.
The FSN schedule will follow the order of IFL events in the first third of the regular season. Then the battle at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., between two of the league’s two top teams, the Pitbulls, coached by Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu master Renzo Gracie and based in New York, and the Wolfpack, coached by Olympic Silver Medalist Matt Lindland and based in Portland, Ore., will be shown on same-night delay at 11 p.m. on Friday, April 13.
The 22 hours of original programming scheduled on FSN this year represents nearly 70% more than the 13 hours shown in 2006, when the network aired three hours of coverage of the IFL Legends Championship in May and June and followed up with 10 hours of IFL World Team Championship action, September through December.
The FSN coverage is in addition to the 22, two-hour episodes of “International Fight League Battleground,” to be seen on over-the-air MyNetworkTV nationwide beginning on March 12.
In all, 66 hours of original IFL programming is scheduled to run on the two networks, which together reach more than 95% of U.S. television households.
The schedule of matchups on each FSN debut date is as follows through April:
February 23, Condors vs. Tiger Sharks (contested in Oakland, Calif., Jan. 19)March 2, Lions vs. Razorclaws (Oakland, Jan. 19)March 9, Scorpions vs. Sabres (Houston, Feb. 2)March 16, Anacondas vs. Silverbacks (Houston, Feb. 2)March 23, Dragons vs. Wolfpack (Atlanta, Feb. 23)March 30, Pitbulls vs. Red Bears (Atlanta, Feb. 23)April 6, Condors vs. Sabres (Los Angeles, March 17)April 13, Wolfpack vs. Pitbulls (Uncasville, Conn., April 13 same day show)April 20, Anacondas vs. Razorclaws (Los Angeles, March 17)April 27, Dragons vs. Scorpions (Uncasville, April 13 show)
Each of the nine regular season IFL events will consist of four teams – each with an athlete in all five weight classes competing – along with a special Superfight, for a minimum of 11 bouts per card. The team that wins the best three of five match setup will be declared the team winner for the match, similar to collegiate and high school wrestling meets. The IFL also differs from other MMA organizations in that the bouts are held in an oversized five-rope boxing ring with three, four-minute rounds, each designed to create the most compelling in-arena experience for local fans.
Each of the 12 IFL teams for 2007 will compete in three regular season events; the teams with the top four overall win-loss team records will advance to the semi-finals, which will be held on Thursday, August 2, at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, N.J. The 2007 IFL Finals will then be held at The Forum in Los Angeles on Saturday, September 15.
About the IFL
International Fight League™ (IFL) is the world’s first professional mixed martial arts sports league. IFL has its headquarters in New York, NY and offices in Las Vegas, NV. For more information about IFL, please see: www.ifl.tv.
Forward-Looking Statements: This release contains forward-looking statements pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which are subject to various risks and IFL’s management’s expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future financial condition, and results of operations. There can be no assurance that future developments actually affecting IFL will be those anticipated.
Important factors that could cause actual results to differ (favorably or unfavorably) from the expectations stated in this release include the risks and uncertainties such as the conditions of the markets for live events, broadcast television, cable television, pay-per-view, Internet, entertainment, professional sports, and licensed merchandise; acceptance of the Company’s brands, media and merchandise within those markets; uncertainties relating to litigation; risks associated with producing live events; uncertainties associated with international markets; risks relating to maintaining and renewing key agreements, including television distribution agreements; effects of competition, including locations of competitors and operating and market competition.. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of the Company’s assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in these forward-looking statements.
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