BRAVE Combat Federation has announced the creation of what they are calling the BRAVE National Leagues. A league model that brings mixed martial arts closer to the FIFA model.
BRAVE CF was founded in 2016 by Shaikh Khalid Bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Prince of Bahrain, with the idea of introducing a new system that will create a global ecosystem for the MMA industry under one umbrella, similar to the effect of FIFA. The promotion’s new national league is designed to create an MMA economy around the world.
BRAVE CF to launch BRAVE National Leagues in 2023
“MMA is one of the most global sports along with football/soccer. It deserves a sports system that helps the industry reach its potential around the world and BNL will be that solution,” said BRAVE Combat Federation COO, Valeria Lang in a statement.
The BNL targets to launch its first league in 2023 and has plans to introduce the model to five different countries/regions in three years’ time.
‘’The BNL puts together experts from every area of sports, from policymakers to sports media property founders and the biggest sports investors behind the organization,’’ said Mohammed Shahid, BRAVE CF President. “A sport can’t be controlled by only one person, company, or even a nation. No matter the wealth. If that is happening or if that is even a possibility, then the sport is not reaching its highest potential.”
The BNL format will allow private and public sectors to own teams and will provide opportunities for investments at the league level. This format will hope to avoid any possibilities of monopolizing the sport. The league model will give opportunities to local fighters to make a living and become national stars.
For the past five years, the vision of Khaled bin Hamad Al Khalifa and BRAVE CF has been geared towards activism for change in the mixed martial arts industry. The organization has taken its events to various locales and unexplored territories advocating the need for change in the MMA industry.
“We will introduce a system that will allow fighters from around the world to have the opportunity to become the best in the world regardless of color, creed, gender, or marketability,” said Shahid. “Only talent will be the variable. If we can have a Lionel Messi in MMA who doesn’t speak English and we don’t listen to his interviews but we still consider him to be one of the best in the world … The day we have a system that can achieve that, then we know we have a sports structure for MMA.”
The leagues under the BNL will have the freedom to operate within their own meanings, as long as they follow certain requirements, similar to UEFA, Premier League, and La Liga do in football/soccer.
BNL will also have a transition system from amateur to professional. Fighters will see season contracts instead of contracts per fight. They will also have multiple revenue streams. The club owners will have a policy of mandatory requirement to reinvest a percentage of revenue to the athletes, while the Leagues will have a central pool revenue system that will see the major share of revenue going to the club owners.
“We are very excited to announce the BRAVE NATIONAL LEAGUE. It has been 5 years of work and bringing the experience of the Kingdom of Bahrain and KHK Sports to mixed martial arts,” said Shahid. “It was not easy to bring a massive group of people together from different areas of expertise and world together for one vision. We believe it will be the biggest game-changer we have seen in sports for a while.”
The BNL is expected to launch in 2023.
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