INTERNATIONAL FIGHT LEAGUE ANNOUNCES 22-DATE FSN SCHEDULE
Weekly National Coverage Debuts Friday, Feb. 23 at 11 p.m. asTiger Sharks and Condors Square Off;First-ever Same-Night Broadcast Set For April 13
NEW YORK, February 7, 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 (FSN) today announced the first segment of its weekly national schedule of IFL programming to primarily air on Fridays at 11 p.m. local time, beginning February 23. The series begins with the 2007 season-opening matchup from Oakland, Calif., between the Seattle-based Tiger Sharks, coached by MMA and kickboxing world champion Maurice Smith, and the Condors of Southern California led by Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and MMA champion Marco Ruas.
The FSN schedule will follow the order of IFL events in the first third of the regular season. Then, as previously announced, 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.
“Getting a more consistent schedule across the country in terms of both day and time was an important next step in our growth and we are glad to be able to continue to grow our FSN relationship,” said IFL Co-founder and Commissioner Kurt Otto. “This schedule allows fans to better plan their viewing schedule and to know that they can usually see IFL action on Friday night every week. We are very excited that this schedule, along with our MyNetworkTV show in prime time on Monday nights, will continue to showcase our coaches and athletes and help both the IFL and Mixed Martial Arts gain a stronger footing in the sports landscape.”
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’s Total Impact,” 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.
FSN To Broadcast 22 Hours Of IFL Coverage On Friday Nights – p.2
The February FSN schedule, with dates and times on each Regional FSN network, can be seen at www.ifl.tv/TV-Schedule.html. Viewers can also check their local schedule at http://msn.foxsports.com/tv/schedule.
The schedule of matchups on each FSN debut date is as follows for March and 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 (Mohegan Sun., April 13 same night)April 20, Anacondas vs. Razorclaws (Los Angeles, March 17)April 27, Dragons vs. Scorpions (Mohegan Sun, April 13 show)*West Coast only; event airs Sat., March 10 in remainder of country (check local listings)
Several IFL athletes and coaches will be featured on FSN’s popular “Best Damn Sports Show Period” program on Thursday, February 8. Anacondas Coach Bas Rutten, Sabres Coach Ken Yasuda and four IFL competitors will appear in multiple segments.
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 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 FSNFSN is the nation’s leading provider of local sports. Through its affiliates and other FNG-owned networks, FSN reaches more than 82 million homes through 25 regional networks. Fox Networks Group owns FSN Arizona, FSN Detroit, FSN Florida, FSN Midwest, FSN Indiana, FSN North, FSN Northwest, FSN Ohio, FSN Pittsburgh, FSN Prime Ticket, FSN Rocky Mountain, FSN Utah, FSN South, FSN Southwest, FSN Houston, FSN West, Sun Sports and SportSouth. FSN also has programming affiliations with Comcast-owned regional sports networks in Chicago, Baltimore/Washington, DC and Philadelphia, as well as Rainbow-owned FSN Bay Area, FSN New England, FSN New York, and Madison Square Garden Network.
Based in Los Angeles, FSN owned– or affiliated-regional sports networks serve as the TV home to 68 of the 82 MLB, NHL and NBA teams based in the United States. FSN produces close to 5,000 live, mostly local, events each year, including nearly 1000 in high definition. In addition to its thousands of home team games and a wide variety of locally produced sports programs, FSN televises national sports events and programs, including Pac-10 and ACC basketball; Pac-10 and Big 12 football; Best Damn Sports Show Period; CMI: The Chris Myers Interviews; the Mansionpoker.net Poker Dome Challenge, In Focus and The FSN Final Score. For the latest up-to-the-minute sports new and opinions, visit the FOX Sports/FSN website at www.FOXSports.com.(more)
FSN To Broadcast 22 Hours Of IFL Coverage On Friday Nights – p.2
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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