Jake Paul’s MVP Signs ESPN Boxing Contract News 2026

Most Valuable Promotions, co-founded by Jake Paul, signed a multi-year broadcasting deal with ESPN on March 6, 2026, to air women’s boxing events through 2028. This boxing contract news stands among the most consequential media agreements in women’s combat sports in recent memory, locking a major cable platform onto a division that has long been starved of mainstream TV exposure. The numbers behind MVP’s pitch — two Netflix-streamed Serrano-Taylor fights plus one all-women Madison Square Garden card — reveal why ESPN committed to a multi-year term rather than a trial run.

MVP announced the deal via press release on Friday. The promotion described the agreement as a “landmark” partnership, and the first ESPN broadcast event is scheduled as early as April 17.

How MVP Built Women’s Boxing Into a TV Property

MVP’s path to this ESPN boxing broadcast deal ran through a series of high-profile events that proved women’s fights could draw massive audiences. The promotion secured Amanda Serrano vs. Katie Taylor bouts livestreamed on Netflix in both 2024 and 2025. Those two fights gave MVP the leverage to negotiate a cable deal with one of sport’s most recognizable networks. The fight film from both Taylor bouts shows Serrano drawing the kind of sustained viewer attention that cable buyers pay close attention to.

MVP also staged an all-women’s boxing card in July at Madison Square Garden. That card served as a proof of concept, demonstrating that a full event built around women fighters could fill seats and generate real buzz. Over roughly two years, MVP moved women’s boxing from streaming experiments to a broadcast staple in a compressed window — a pace that most promotions take a decade to achieve.

The Serrano-Taylor Netflix bouts and the Madison Square Garden card form the backbone of MVP’s pitch to ESPN. Together, they represent a body of work that made this multi-year contract structurally sound for both parties. The Netflix track record gave MVP genuine leverage at the negotiating table, not just a trend to chase.

Key Details Inside the ESPN Boxing Contract

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Three verifiable data points anchor this boxing contract news: the agreement runs from March 6, 2026, through 2028; the first ESPN broadcast drops April 17; and MVP’s prior events included at least two Netflix-streamed Serrano-Taylor fights plus one all-women MSG card. Those figures form the factual spine of the arrangement.

The ESPN boxing broadcast agreement covers women’s fights promoted by MVP under its new dedicated platform, MVPW. MVP described MVPW as “a new global platform for women’s boxing.” The April 17 debut card is headlined by Alycia Baumgardner.

Mamdani Bidarian, MVP’s co-founder alongside Jake Paul, addressed the deal directly. “And when we set up MVP and we said to our network partner, ‘We want to put women’s boxing on as the co-main event,’” Bidarian said. That quote captures the promotional philosophy driving this agreement — women’s bouts are not filler; they headline.

The multi-year structure through 2028 gives MVP scheduling certainty and gives ESPN a consistent women’s boxing product across multiple fight cards. This is a committed media rights arrangement with a defined end date. That matters enormously for fighter contracts and long-term promotional planning, not a one-off experiment. Promoters who can guarantee cable dates attract better talent — and this boxing contract news hands MVP exactly that advantage.

Key Developments in the MVP-ESPN Agreement

• MVP launched MVPW, described as “a new global platform for women’s boxing,” as part of the ESPN deal announcement.
• The first ESPN broadcast under the new deal is set for April 17, featuring Alycia Baumgardner at the top of the card.
• The deal was announced March 6, 2026, via MVP press release and runs through 2028.
• MVP previously secured Amanda Serrano vs. Katie Taylor fights on Netflix in 2024 and 2025, building the audience base that underpins this cable arrangement.
• An all-women’s boxing card at Madison Square Garden in July was cited by MVP as part of its track record in elevating women’s boxing ahead of this agreement.

What This Boxing Contract News Means for Women’s Boxing

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This ESPN deal shifts women’s boxing from a streaming-first product to a broadcast staple. That transition matters for fighter purses, promotional budgets, and the broader strategy for building a women’s roster under MVP. Cable exposure typically drives larger gate revenues and more lucrative sponsorship structures than streaming alone, which feeds back into what fighters earn per bout. The data trail from MVP’s Netflix events gave ESPN a concrete audience size to underwrite — that is how multi-year rights deals get signed.

The April 17 card featuring Alycia Baumgardner will be the first real test of how women’s boxing performs on ESPN. Baumgardner is an established name in the super featherweight division. Her placement at the top of the card signals MVP’s intent to lead with proven draws rather than build slowly from the bottom of the lineup.

The MVPW platform launch alongside the ESPN deal opens a global distribution angle. MVP’s press release framed MVPW as a “global” platform, which signals the promotion is thinking beyond domestic cable rights toward an international audience. That framing suggests MVPW content could spread across multiple territories before the agreement expires in 2028.

The deal covers MVP-promoted women’s fighters specifically, so fighters outside the MVP promotional umbrella do not automatically gain ESPN access. That boundary matters for athletes weighing promotional options across a competitive landscape. ESPN’s alignment with MVP hands the Paul-Bidarian operation a structural advantage in signing top women’s talent through 2028 — a window that covers several world title cycles in every weight class. This boxing contract news, in short, redraws the promotional map for the entire women’s division.