Most Valuable Promotions (MVP), co-founded by influencer turned boxer Jake Paul and his partner Nakisa Bidarian, officially announced the launch of MVPW, a global platform exclusively dedicated to women’s professional boxing.
After a nonstop river of news about multiple legal battles among promoters and squabbles over belts, Friday’s announcement by MVP about its new venture was a breath of fresh air.
MVPW Strikes Deal With ESPN
Central to the deal, MVPW secured a landmark multi-year broadcast deal with ESPN, giving elite female fighters a permanent, prime-time home on the “Worldwide Leader in Sports” through 2028. It is no small irony that ESPN has been without English-language boxing since its contract with Top Rank Boxing ended in August 2025.
MVPW announced its first three fight cards under its new banner. MVPW-01 is set for Saturday, April 5, in London, featuring Caroline Dubois vs Terri Harper and Ellie Scotney vs Mayeli Flores. It will be followed by MVPW-02 on Friday, April 17, at the Infosys Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York, featuring Alycia Baumgardner vs Bo Mi Re Shin and Shadasia Green vs Lani Daniels in the co-main event, both unified title fights.
Finally, MVPW-03 on Saturday, May 30, in El Paso, Texas, will feature hometown star Stephanie Han vs Holly Holm in a rematch for the WBA World Lightweight title.
MSG Entertainment is also on board, committing to stage MVPW events at MSG over the next three years.
MVP is now positioned as the dominant promoter of women’s boxing, with a multi-year investment in the sport. It currently has more than 40 female athletes under contract, with 14 of them world champions.
MVPW News Conference
Nakisa Bidarian and Jake Paul, co-founders of MVP, called it a new era for women’s boxing, with Bidarian saying the new agreements with both ESPN and MSG are historic milestones.
“When we set up MVP, we said to our network partner that we wanted to put women’s boxing on as the co-main event. Everyone paused, took a step back, and didn’t seem to understand why,” said Bidarian. His plan was reinforced by Ronda Rousey’s success in MMA, leading him to believe he could find boxing’s equivalent. It turned out to be Amanda Serrano.
“Now, to be here four years later with the best sports platform in the U.S. on linear television for all these incredible athletes is the most important day of my career,” declared Bidarian.
Bidarian said discussions with ESPN began last year.
“We started talking to ESPN in early 2025, around the idea to one day be a part of ESPN. When it was decided that they were moving on from Top Rank, we met with them and started to focus on what the future could look like,” said Bidarian.
“We definitely presented a focus on women’s boxing because we think that’s the untapped opportunity to actually drive real new fan engagement in the sport.” Bingo.
.@nakisa_bidarian makes it OFFICIAL! MVPW is here and on @ESPN! pic.twitter.com/J3PfEdpVrE
— MVP – Most Valuable Promotions (@MostVpromotions) March 6, 2026
“We’re proud to bring these championship matchups to ESPN and the ESPN App and further elevate women’s boxing for fans across the country,” said Rosalyn Durant, ESPN Executive Vice President, Programming & Acquisitions.
The Numbers Don’t Lie
While the overall boxing pie keeps shrinking in the U.S., MVP is effectively eating its competitors’ lunch by owning the only sector of combat sports currently experiencing hypergrowth: women.
For years, women’s boxing was little more than a novelty. The addition of women to Olympic-level competition starting in 2012 gave competitors a significant boost. But in the last few years, women’s boxing and women’s professional sports have lit the old narrative on fire.
In 2022, the first fight between Olympic gold medalist Katie Taylor of Ireland and multi-division world champion Amanda Serrano of the U.S. gave the boxing world a preview of what was to come, headlining a sold-out Madison Square Garden in one of the most electric fights this century.
The next turning point was the historic Taylor vs. Serrano 2 rematch in late 2024. Serving as the co-main event to Paul vs. Tyson, the fight stole the show and shattered the ceiling of what was thought possible for women’s sports.
- Nearly 50 million households tuned in live on Netflix to watch Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano go to war.
- became the most-watched professional women’s sporting event in U.S. history.
- The event contributed to an $18 million gate at AT&T Stadium, the largest in U.S. history outside of Las Vegas.
MVP recognized it had lightning in a bottle. It then booked the final bout in the Taylor vs. Serrano 3 trilogy last summer at Madison Square Garden in July 2025, again a history-making event with an all-women’s card.
The event pulled 4.2 million U.S. viewers on its own merit. It outdrew the 2025 Stanley Cup Finals average (2.5 million) and dwarfed the WNBA Finals audience (1.5 million).
Salita Promotions sees 18,000 fans in the seats at the Little Caesars Arena when undisputed heavyweight champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist Claressa Shields appears in the main event. The majority of fans who attend are women.
Nakisa Bidarian made it clear MVPW is open to working with other promoters. He named a fight between Shields and unified light heavyweight champion Shadasia Green as his dream fight for MVPW.
MVPW Sees “Monetization Gap” Closing
Let them squabble while we build with our athletes. pic.twitter.com/Uhh1TWzpOu
— Jake Paul (@jakepaul) March 6, 2026
By partnering with ESPN, MVPW moves women’s boxing out of the niche streaming corner and into the linear living rooms of 70 million American homes.
While traditional boxing promoters struggle with stagnant domestic viewership, MVPW is joining the tidal wave created by the overall expansion of the broader women’s sports market, growing at a rate 4.5 times faster than men’s sports. The consulting firm McKinsey classified women’s professional sports as “significantly undervalued” in August 2025.
Think Paul and Bidarian read this report? It wouldn’t be surprising.
As confirmed by the Sports Business Journal, the WNBA secured a new 11-year media rights deal with Disney, NBC, and Amazon (starting in 2026) worth approximately $2.2 billion ($200 million per year). This is more than triple the value of the previous contract. Note the media partners that decided this was a good investment.
The National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) signed a four-year deal worth $240 million in 2024, an increase of 40 times over its prior agreement, per the Sports Business Journal.
According to a 2025 report from Deloitte, global revenues for women’s elite sports were projected to surpass $2.35 billion. This is a mere baseline.
Since that report was released 11 months ago, several key developments have occurred, suggesting the final 2025 year-end numbers will likely exceed that figure.
The 2025 WNBA season saw a surge in gate and merchandise revenue that exceeded Deloitte’s projections. WNBA league-wide revenue for 2025 is estimated to have neared $300 million, a significant jump from the $200 million projected in late 2024.
At the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, the women’s ice hockey gold-medal game between the United States and Canada set a record for women’s hockey, averaging 5.3 million viewers and peaking at 7.7 million.
Women’s sports may not interest you. That’s perfectly OK. But don’t insult the athletes or the fans who are on board by denying reality. The numbers don’t lie.
The Jake Paul Effect
Securing a broadcast deal prioritizing accessibility over the pay-per-view model, MVPW is tapping into a younger, digitally native, and more diverse demographic. The strategy is clear: high-volume exposure leads to high-value sponsorship.
Love him or hate him, credit Jake Paul for applying his business savvy and marketing genius to a sport that badly needs it. Paul vs Tyson didn’t set the world on fire with its athletic excellence. But it gave a platform to Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano that woke up a worldwide audience to women’s boxing.
Women’s Boxing Not Welcomed Everywhere
It must be noted that only two women’s bouts have been scheduled on boxing cards promoted or sponsored by the Saudi General Entertainment Authority under any of its own promotional banners.
The 2022 fight featuring Ramla Ali on the Usyk Joshua 2 card in Jeddah was the first-ever women’s professional bout in Saudi Arabia. It was followed by the October 2024 title fight, in which Skye Nicolson of Australia defeated Raven Champman of England on the Beterbiev vs Bivol card in Riyadh.
To date, no women have been signed to Zuffa Boxing, nor have any women appeared on its first three cards, including the upcoming March 8 card.
There are boxing fans who have no interest in watching the women. They are free to pass it up. There are plenty of women, and not a small number of men, who enjoy seeing talented women champions who do not shy away from fighting each other, unlike some of their male counterparts.
Finally, A Positive Development in Boxing
While other promoters are currently suing each other over Saudi payouts or disputed contracts, in conflict over whether championship belts are in play versus new “UBO” style belts, or discussing “step aside” money for male champions who fight once every 18 months, Paul, Badarian, MVP, and ESPN have an eye toward the future, not the past.
ESPN’s recent announcement that women’s sports would take over its Sunday night lineup is also worth noting as part of this wave.
The launch of MVPW and the ESPN partnership offers the best female fighters an end to the struggle to find opportunities. Their talent and their revenue generation now have a home.
Gayle Falkenthal is an award-winning boxing journalist and the only woman journalist who is a full voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA). She is the Managing Editor for NY Fights based in San Diego, California.