ESPN Deal Shifts the 2026 Boxing PPV Schedule for Women

Most Valuable Promotions, the company co-founded by Jake Paul, signed a multi-year deal with ESPN on March 6 to broadcast women’s boxing fights, reshaping the Boxing PPV Schedule for 2026 and beyond. The agreement runs through 2028 and launches a new platform called MVPW, described by MVP as “a new global platform for women’s boxing”.

The deal places women’s fights on ESPN’s traditional cable channel, a distribution step that moves the sport from streaming-only events to linear television. The first card under the agreement is set for April 17. Alycia Baumgardner is named as a headliner on that card, though the full opponent listing was not completed in available source material.

For anyone tracking the fight broadcast calendar, this agreement adds a new series of dates to the women’s boxing slate on a major U.S. sports network. The numbers suggest the deal covers at least two full years of programming, giving promoters and fighters a reliable television home well into 2028.

How Did MVP Build Women’s Boxing Before This ESPN Agreement?

Most Valuable Promotions built its women’s boxing record by securing high-profile fights before the ESPN deal was announced. MVP promoted Amanda Serrano vs. Katie Taylor bouts that were livestreamed on Netflix in both 2024 and 2025, drawing global audiences to women’s boxing on a major streaming service. The company also staged an all-women’s boxing card in July at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Tracking this trend over three seasons, MVP moved women’s boxing from undercard slots to headlining positions on major platforms. Bassel Baraket Bidarian, who co-founded MVP alongside Jake Paul, described the company’s approach directly. “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 philosophy of elevating women’s fights to featured positions now carries into the ESPN partnership.

The Netflix events gave MVP credibility as a promoter willing to invest in women’s boxing at the highest level. Based on available data, the Serrano-Taylor fights drew enough audience interest to attract a traditional cable network into a multi-year commitment. Whether ESPN’s linear audience translates to pay-per-view growth for women’s boxing is a separate question the numbers have not yet answered.

What Are the Key Terms of the ESPN and MVP Boxing Deal?

Read more: Boxing PPV Schedule 2026: MVPW Women’s

The ESPN and MVP agreement is a multi-year contract running from 2026 through 2028, covering fights promoted by MVP under its new MVPW banner. The deal places those fights on ESPN’s cable channel, not solely on ESPN+ or streaming tiers, giving the fights broader linear reach across the United States.

MVP announced the deal on March 6 via a press release. The company describes MVPW as “a new global platform for women’s boxing,” signaling an intent to build the brand beyond a single event series. The April 17 card headlined by Alycia Baumgardner serves as the first test of that platform on ESPN’s cable network.

The film shows that when promoters secure multi-year linear television deals, fighters gain scheduling stability and sponsors gain predictable audience windows. The ESPN deal gives MVP that structure through at least 2028, though the specific number of events per year was not disclosed in available source material. That absence of detail leaves the full scope of the boxing broadcast calendar under this deal open to future announcement.

Key Developments in the MVP and ESPN Women’s Boxing Partnership

• Most Valuable Promotions announced the ESPN deal on March 6, 2026, describing it as a “landmark” multi-year agreement.
• The deal runs through 2028, giving women’s boxing fights promoted by MVP a home on ESPN’s traditional cable channel for at least two years.
• MVP launched MVPW as part of the announcement, calling it “a new global platform for women’s boxing”.
• The first ESPN card under the deal is scheduled for April 17, headlined by Alycia Baumgardner.
• MVP previously promoted Amanda Serrano vs. Katie Taylor on Netflix in 2024 and 2025, and hosted an all-women’s card at Madison Square Garden in July.

How Does the ESPN Deal Affect the Boxing PPV Schedule and Women’s Fight Broadcasts?

Read more: Boxing Results Today: Nina Meinke Defends

The ESPN deal directly changes where women’s boxing fights appear on the Boxing PPV Schedule and the broader fight broadcast calendar through 2028. Fights that might have landed on streaming platforms or smaller networks now carry ESPN’s cable distribution, which reaches tens of millions of U.S. households without a separate subscription.

For fighters like Alycia Baumgardner, ESPN cable exposure means a larger potential audience than a Netflix livestream, which requires an active subscription to view. The trade-off is that Netflix events like the Serrano-Taylor fights carried global reach and prestige that a cable slot does not automatically replicate. Both distribution models serve different audience segments, and MVP now operates across both.

The MVPW platform also signals that MVP intends to market women’s boxing as a distinct product line, separate from any male-headlined cards. That branding decision affects how sponsors, broadcasters, and ticket buyers perceive the women’s fight schedule. Based on available data, the April 17 card is the immediate next step, with additional dates expected to follow under the multi-year agreement through 2028. The full schedule of ESPN events under the MVPW banner had not been released as of March 6.

Promoters and fighters tracking women’s boxing opportunities should note that ESPN’s involvement adds a second major broadcast partner to MVP’s portfolio alongside Netflix. That dual-platform strategy, if sustained, could expand the number of high-profile women’s boxing dates on the annual fight calendar well beyond what either platform alone would support.