Most Valuable Promotions, the boxing and combat sports promotion founded by Jake Paul and Nakisa Bidarian, is launching a dedicated women’s boxing platform, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
The new promotion, called MVPW, has already secured a multi-year rights deal with ESPN, as the sports media giant expands its roster of women’s sports coverage. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
MVP has been pursuing more women’s bouts in recent years. Last year the company hosted an all-women card at MSG, in what was described as a first for the arena. That event, which streamed on Netflix, garnered six million viewers, making it the most-watched women’s sports event of the year up until that point.
Earlier this year MVP announced a major push into mixed martial arts with a Ronda Rousey-Gina Carano fight, which will be held in Los Angeles in May. That event will stream on Netflix.
ESPN, meanwhile, has been bulking up its women’s sports coverage, including a significantly expanded WNBA deal, which will complement its exclusive women’s March Madness coverage and the NWSL. The Disney-owned sports media brand will be launching “Women’s Sports Sundays” this summer, featuring live coverage of women’s sports, anchored by the WNBA and NWSL.
It’s deal with MVPW begins next month, when it will stream the first event, MVPW-01 on April 5 from London, and televise and stream MVPW-01 from Madison Square Garden in New York (the company is also announcing a deal with MSG to host events there over the next three years). That event will feature Alycia “The Bomb” Baumgardner set to fight contender Bo Mi Re Shin. MVPW-03 will be held May 30 in El Paso, Texas, and feature a rematch between MVP’s WBA lightweight world champion Stephanie Han vs. Holly Holm.
“Since inception MVP has strategically focused on creating an umbrella brand as the global home for women’s boxing, with the best fighters in the world, that engages existing boxing fans and attracts untapped fan demographics that embrace women’s sport, and today, we proudly enter a new era,” said Bidarian and Paul in a statement. ”Over the past five years, we have invested heavily in female athletes, delivered historic and record-breaking events, and proven that these athletes belong on the biggest stages in the sport. Partnering with ESPN, the worldwide leader in sports, to launch MVPW across its platforms is a historic milestone, and aligning with the world’s most iconic venue, Madison Square Garden, as we introduce the brand in the U.S. reinforces the scale and ambition behind what we are building.
“MVPW brings together some of the most accomplished and dynamic championship athletes in boxing, competing on a stage that reflects the magnitude of their talent,” adds Rosalyn Durant, ESPN executive VP of programming and acquisitions. “We’re proud to bring these championship matchups to ESPN and the ESPN App and further elevate women’s boxing for fans across the country.”
Combat sports, including boxing and MMA, are on the rise in the U.S., thanks in no small part to Paul and Bidarian’s MVP, which has been strategic in staging attention-grabbing rights alongside elite bouts. Paul himself has headlined a number of those fights, defeating Mike Tyson in 2024, and falling to Anthony Joshua last December.
The deal with MVPW also gets ESPN back into the boxing business after its deal with Top Rank ended last year.
