Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a mixed martial arts promoter, has announced that it has launched its own sports betting product in an endeavor to capitalize on the increasing gambling market and change the way people wager on fights.
UFC is part of Endeavor Group Holdings Inc. and is launching the UFC Event Center in partnership with IMG Arena, another wholly owned Endeavor unit.
The product is the first to be created specifically for a major sports body and will feature live betting options for every UFC fight as well as official data from UFC, logos, photos and fighter bios to create a complete suite of gambling options that betting operators can incorporate into their apps and sportsbooks.
The UFC Event Center app as well as the UFC’s official data feed will be licensed to sportsbooks and gaming operators, including IMG Arena’s current network of over 300 operators.
The UFC has also revealed that Event Center will feature immediate bet settlement, live event information, live stats, a mobile-first design and 3D visualizations of live action.
Lawrence Epstein, Chief Operating Officer at UFC, commented that in-game betting is the fastest-growing part of the sports-gaming industry. He added that some of the stuff they are doing is stuff that has not been done with respect to UFC in the past.
Freddie Longe, Executive Vice President and Managing Director of IMG Arena, said that the demographic of the UFC fan is right in a sportsbook’s sweet spot, in the context of men aged 21 to 44.
