The Professional Fighters League (PFL) has named Derek Chang to the mixed martial arts company's board of directors. He is a former chief executive officer of National Basketball Association (NBA) China.

Chang was instrumental in expanding the NBA footprint across China by bringing innovative lifestyle experiences to fans of all ages. He expanded the NBA China business with major partnerships with Tencent, Alibaba, Vivo, ByteDance and China Mobile Migu.

"PFL has a top notch management team who are creating the makings of a major global sports league and entertainment brand," Chang said. "While early days, PFL has already delivered a unique, innovative, and premium product to its fans, fighters, sponsors and media partners. I am thrilled to help them scale the business and brand globally in the rapidly growing MMA space."

.

Currently, Chang is the CEO of Friend MTS, a leading provider of content protection technology for the sports and entertainment industries, and serves on the boards of Liberty Media Corp. and Isos Acquisition Corp. He has held executive positions with many of the leading global media companies including Scripps Networks Interactive, DIRECTV, Charter Communications, YES Network and TCI.

"Derek is the rare international sports and media executive with vision of the vast opportunities for sports leagues in the global world and importantly, Derek's sterling reputation and extensive business relationships can help PFL forge partnerships and chart expansion worldwide," PFL founder and chairman Donn Davis Chairman said. Having concluded a very successful regular season, the PFL will start its single elimination playoffs on August 13, 2021 on ESPN2 and ESPN+ live from Hard Rock Live at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida, United States.

 This post is ad-supported
​