Last month our Sport PR team were on the ground in Dublin, Ireland, to support Bellator MMA who were back in the Irish capital for the sixth time in three years for Bellator 299: Eblen vs. Edwards.
In the build-up to the event, the team secured widespread Irish and UK national coverage, utilising several fighter interview opportunities to build excitement for one of the landmark events in the Mixed Martial Arts calendar. This event was particularly special as UK fighter Fabian Edwards was fighting for the Middleweight Title, with the chance to become just the fifth Britain to win a major promotional MMA title, joining his brother Leon in the process. The team ensured Fabian’s story was told, securing widespread national and regional newspaper and broadcast coverage in the likes of ITV Central, BBC West Midlands, Birmingham Live, TalkSPORT, BBC Sport, Mail Online, Independent, Mirror, The Sun and Daily Star to name a few.
Elsewhere we ensured the home crowd heroes shouted loud about the event, with preview coverage secured on national TV on Ireland AM, amongst other radio broadcast opportunities and newspaper opportunities with Irish Independent, Irish Sun and Irish Mirror throughout the build-up to the event. All coverage included ticket credits and event plugs to ensure fans didn’t miss out on another show-stopping night at the 3Arena.
As the excitement reached fever pitch and fight week began, the team made the short trip to Dublin in time for media day, where the room was full of various newspaper, broadcast and endemic media primed to get fighters final thoughts before they stepped into the cage. We ensured the afternoon ran seamlessly, managing fighters for their media availability, whilst drafting all the key quotes for a press release which was sent far and wide following the media day.
As tensions grew ahead of Saturday’s fight night, the fighters stared each other down one final time at the weigh-ins before they’d meet in the cage at the atmospheric 3Arena. As Eblen and Edwards weighed in tensions boiled over with the pair going head-to-head, we were on hand to utilise Bellator’s assets to secure additional coverage and build the drama ahead of their meeting the following day.
On Saturday, we were ready for action as fight night finally arrived and we had secured widespread media attendance to cover the event in person at the 3Arena. Alongside Bellator’s communications team, we were on hand to manage the media experience, including check-in and ensuring fighters were available for post-fight media interviews with the assembled media in the mixed zone. The event is widely considered the most atmospheric in MMA and the Irish faithful didn’t disappoint as they raised the roof at the 3Arena throughout the night, serenading their hometown heroes as they made their way to the cage.
Post-event we were on hand to distribute an event release to UK and Irish media for inclusion in their sports coverage for the remainder of the weekend, before heading back to the hotel and getting ready for an early flight home on the Sunday.
In total, the team generated over 150 pieces of coverage around Bellator 299 across a wide range of titles, as we ensured the promotion once again made a splash in the ‘Emerald Isle’. We’re already on the case with setting up opportunities for fighters who will appear on the upcoming cards in October!
To read more about our experience in selling out events to providing on-the-ground event support, click through to our Sport PR page.