The first Hispanic MMA franchise, Combate Americas, continues to make big moves, adding yet another a new sponsor.
Combate Americas announced today a new partnership that makes Cricket Wireless the exclusive wireless sponsor of the promotion, giving Cricket visibility and consumer engagement at Combate’s five biggest events throughout 2019. The move comes after the two partnered for 2018’s “Cricket Wireless Presents Combate Americas: Reinas”, an all-female MMA card that produced the second highest ratings for the organization since they began airing shows on broadcast television last year.
Cricket will also produce a pre-fight and post-fight show in Spanish for the organization that features highlights and commentary for Combate events.
“We are thrilled and energized to partner with a blue-chip sponsor like Cricket Wireless, who continues to provide an extremely valuable service to the millions watching Combate Americas at a price-point in a market that can’t be matched,” said Chief Revenue Officer of Combate Americas Michael Pine in a statement.
“Just like Combate, Cricket is passionate about engaging with the fastest growing consumer demographic in the world; reaching Hispanic audiences in a genuine way at our action-packed events. On the heels of this sponsorship’s success, we look forward to expanding and adding official and exclusive sponsors from other premium categories,” said Pine.
In addition to sponsorship at Combate events, Cricket will team up with the promotion to deliver a 17-piece video series split into two parts, “Bridges” and “Prep Mode”.
“Bridges” will follow Hispanic fighters who identify themselves as “200 percenters”, or fighters with ties to two countries they identify as their home.
“Prep Mode” will be a behind-the-scenes look at the training regimen of some of the organization’s most prominent athletes.
The multi-part series will air during Combate’s live broadcasts as well as be distributed through social media platforms.
“This new sponsorship makes sense for us,” said Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Cricket Wireless Tiffany Baehman in a statement. “Combate Americas allows us to engage our Hispanic customers who are passionate about this sport.”
The partnership with Cricket helps reinforce the idea that the promotion is making big waves in the market. The first live televised event the organization hosted this year, “Combate Americas: Mexico vs. USA”, drew an impressive 610,000 viewers in its midnight timeslot on Univision and UDN.
The ratings beat the ONE Championship: Call to Greatness telecast on TNT head-to-head while also drawing a larger audience than the following day’s broadcasts of Bellator 217 on the Paramount Network, and the UFC Fight Night 145 prelims on
Combate Americas was founded in 2013 by UFC co-founder Campbell McLaren, who saw an opportunity to cater to the underserved audience of Hispanic MMA fans. McLaren, who leads the company as its CEO, has stated that his ultimate goal is for Combate Americas to make MMA the number 2 sport for Hispanics worldwide, behind soccer. To further that endeavor, the organization has been making a push to expand into Spanish speaking markets, as well as signing Hispanic talent to serve and increase its primarily Latino audience.