Sports Media Report
Triller Fight Club today announced that Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, will be the home for TFC’s inaugural event of 2021, the April 17 boxing Pay-Per-View card headlined by Jake Paul and Ben Askren. This will be the first-ever fighting event at one of the most dynamic venues in the world, which was the home of Super Bowl LIII.
iNDemand, the leading transactional video-on-demand and PPV programming provider in North America, will serve as the exclusive U.S. and Canadian cable, satellite, and telco PPV provider for the event. Fans will be able to order the event on PPV through their existing cable, satellite and telco PPV providers, including Xfinity, Spectrum, Contour, DirecTV, AT&T TV, Dish, Fios, and Optimum (U.S.), as well as Rogers, Bell, Shaw, Videotron, and Sasktel (Canada). FITE, the premier PPV digital platform will handle worldwide live pay-per-view streaming distribution online, and via FITE mobile and Smart TV apps, game controllers and all major OTT devices as well as power TrillerFightClub.com.
The suggested PPV retail price for the event is $49.99 (U.S. & Canada). Fans outside North America can check the FITE link for international pricing.
The four-hour show, which will kick off at 8pm ET with the live PPV main card starting at 9pm ET, will also feature an exciting undercard of fights that will be announced shortly. Triller Fight Club is a partnership between Triller and Snoop Dogg and is spearheaded by Ryan Kavanaugh.
“Our vision of big fights, big entertainment and world class events can only fit into a world class venue, and Mercedes-Benz Stadium fits that vision,” said Kavanaugh. “April 17th will have an element of surprise and action for everyone, from music fans to the casual and diehard fight fan. The way we will present the night in this state-of-the-art venue will continue to redefine consumer engagement for a global consumer, with world class partners like iNDemand and FITE joining us not just for this event, but for the others we will have in 2021 and beyond.”
“Mercedes-Benz Stadium will continue to be the place where sports and entertainment’s biggest events are held, and we welcome Triller Fight Club for this special event,” said Tim Zulawski, Chief Revenue Officer for AMB Sports and Entertainment. “We look forward to showcasing our stadium to the global audience that Ryan and his team are building, and are proud to be a part of this historic night of boxing and entertainment.”
Mercedes-Benz Stadium serves as the home stadium of the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL) and Atlanta United of Major League Soccer (MLS). One of the most acclaimed venues in the world, the Stadium has hosted the College Football Playoff National Championship in 2018, MLS All-Star Game and some of the biggest music and entertainment events in addition to its NFL and MLS tenants. There will be no public sale of tickets for the event. A very limited number of fans and guests will be selected to join in the live event, with details to be announced in the coming weeks, and everything will be subject to stringent local, state and federal protocols due to COVID 19.
“We’re thrilled to be working with Triller again after the incredible success of our Tyson vs. Jones Jr. PPV event last November—it was one of the best-selling PPV events of all time,” said Mark Boccardi, iNDemand’s SVP, Programming & Marketing. “2021 is going to be a great year for the Pay-Per-View event category, and we know that Jake Paul and Ben Askren will put on an exciting main event on April 17th.”
“Triller Fight Club has already reinvented the fight sport presentation genre, and we are excited to be a part of bringing this event to a global audience,” said Michael Weber, COO of FITE. “Triller and FITE are the perfect pair to deliver a flawless, no-filler fan experience worthy of this moment.”
The April 17th card will be Triller Fight Club’s first in a series of 2021 special events, following the debut record setting Tyson vs. Jones Jr. PPV fight in 2020, which shattered all digital fight PPV records and became the eighth most successful fight PPV in history. This event will feature Jake Paul taking on former Bellator and ONE Championship champion Ben Askren in the headline matchup of the night. Paul, whose boxing debut against former professional athlete Nate Robinson set all kinds of records for fan engagement, will face Askren, who transitions to boxing after an MMA record of nineteen wins and two losses, six knockouts and six submissions. Askren made his professional MMA debut in 2009 against Josh Flowers where he won by TKO in the first round. As a former Bellator Champion, ONE Championship Champion, PAN American Champion in freestyle wrestling, two-time NCAA wrestling champion for Missouri and two-time winner of The Dan Hodge Trophy, Askren joins Triller’s Fight Club with a significant amount of experience in the ring.
In addition to being a co-owner, Snoop also provides strategic counsel to Triller Fight Club, helping to select fighters and musical acts for the show-stopping events. An entertainment expert who has successfully maneuvered through a range of projects in a variety of different fields, Snoop secured his spot as a fan favorite during Triller’s first sporting event, Tyson vs. Jones.
