LAS VEGAS – In a strategic move to merge the sensational world of esports competition with premium sports and entertainment, Skillz, the leading mobile games platform bringing fair and fun competition to players worldwide, today announced a multi-year partnership with UFC, the world’s premier mixed martial arts organization. The licensing deal, which will enable Skillz’ developers to create UFC-branded competitive mobile games that are co-marketed by UFC and Skillz, was revealed at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, where Skillz is currently exhibiting.

“Skillz’ partnership with UFC is part of our winning strategy that aligns Skillz’ disruptive competitive mobile games platform with the business of sport,” Skillz CEO Andrew Paradise said. “We’re delivering an enticing opportunity for developers to create the most innovative, branded mobile games for UFC’s millions of loyal fans worldwide.

“The popularity of the UFC brand, which represents one of the fastest-rising sports globally, combined with Skillz’ mobile gaming expertise, is a huge win for developers seeking to monetize and grow their games through the power of competition. We look forward to nurturing this incredible collaboration to life in the coming months and years.”

“We’re thrilled to partner with Skillz to bring new mobile games to our fans,” UFC senior vice president of global consumer products Tracey Bleczinski said. “UFC is always looking to engage with our fans, and we have found gaming to be one of the best ways we connect with them beyond our live events. Our research shows there is a large number of UFC fans who are prolific gamers, so this is a perfect way to reach this audience.”

The deal allows selected game creators from the Skillz developer community to utilize certain UFC and UFC athlete intellectual property for mobile game creation and marketing. The new UFC-branded mobile games are slated to launch in 2023.