The company includes a mix of entrepreneurs and senior level executives from different environments. The company's current investors include
Pierre Andurand, Scott Rudmann and Nectar Capital and
Yao Capital. Former investors have been
Liberty Global, and
TwinFocus Capital Partners. In February 2013, Glory announced that former
WWE Executive VP Andrew Whitaker had been hired as the global CEO of Glory Sports International. In August, 2014 Andrew Whitaker moved into an advisory role within GLORY and
Jon J. Franklin was appointed as the new CEO. Under Franklin's leadership Glory was named the Number one kickboxing league in the world by Combat Press and one of the three most important global combat sports leagues by Fox Sports (along with the UFC and Bellator). In 2018, Glory announced that former CEO Jon J. Franklin had moved to the role of Chief Development Officer, and former
UFC executive
Marshall Zelaznik had been hired as the new CEO. On May 15, 2020, Glory announced Zelaznik had resigned as Glory CEO.
Financial hardships and change of ownership On May 26, 2020, Glory Sports International went into receivership, and soon after ownership of Glory was transferred to London-based GSUKCO Limited. Rudmann is the Executive Vice-chairman, running the league since it was taken over by GSUKCO. In a press release on October 2, 2023, Glory announced that Maurice Hols was named as the new executive director. Citing "different vision of the future of the organization" with Executive Vice Chairman Rudmann, Hols resigned on February 19, 2024, after just a few months as executive director. In March 2024, it was announced by Glory that Zelaznik returned to the company and was appointed again as CEO.
Media coverage In June 2013, after having its first U.S. event in New York,
Glory 9: New York on June 22, 2013,
Spike TV signed a multi-year agreement to broadcast Glory kickboxing events; their partnership began with
Glory 11: Chicago on October 12 of that year. The broadcast deal with Spike was extended in May 2014 to cover 2015. In February 2016, Glory CEO
Jon J. Franklin announced a new multi-year deal with
ESPN. Glory was broadcast on
Veronica TV in the Netherlands from July, 2018 to February, 2020. Beginning in 2019, Glory initiated a partnership with the
UFC for the former's events to be exclusively carried in the U.S. by
UFC Fight Pass. The first event to be broadcast as part of this partnership was
Glory 63: Houston on February 1 and the last event was
Glory 75: Utrecht on February 29, 2020. Events from Glory 76 to Glory 80 Studio were available through pay-per-view. 28 June 2022 Glory announced a multi-year broadcast deal with
Videoland in the Netherlands. The deal covered all Glory events starting from
Glory 81: Ben Saddik vs. Adegbuyi 2. The last event broadcast by Videoland was
Glory 98 headlined by Jamal Ben Saddik vs Uku Jürjendal. On 16 February 2024 a multi-year broadcast deal with
DAZN for most global viewers was announced. On 6 January 2026, Talpa's OTT streaming platform KIJK become the new broadcaster of Glory in the Netherlands also replacing the previous global broadcaster DAZN after the DAZN's Glory broadcasting rights contract expired in the end of 2025. At the same time, Flipps Media's OTT streaming platform
Triller TV also have the new broadcaster of Glory for global viewers (outside of the Netherlands).
Glory Rivals In January 2022 Glory announced a new series of events called Glory Rivals, jointly promoted with regional promotions. The first Rivals event with
Enfusion was scheduled for May 21, 2022, at the Lotto Arena in
Antwerp, Belgium. The event was later cancelled due to the finances of Enfusion's local promoter partner Antwerp Fight Organization catching the attention of Belgian authorities.
Glory Rivals 1 was instead held on June 11, 2022, in Alkmaar, Netherlands. In the main event Luis Tavares defeated Florent Kaouachi by knockout in the third round.
Glory Rivals 2 was held on September 17, 2022, in Alkmaar, Netherlands.
Glory Rivals 3 was organized at Sporthallen Zuid in Amsterdam on November 5, 2022. Ibrahim El Bouni defeated Muhammed Balli by knock-out in the first round.
Glory Rivals 4 took place on December 25 at Ryogoku Sumo Arena in Tokyo, Japan, in collaboration with
Rise and
Shoot boxing. Kento Haraguchi defeated Serhii Adamchuk by unanimous decision.
Glory Rivals 5 was organized on January 28, 2023, at Zamna Tulum Hotel in Tulum, Mexico, in collaboration with War of Nations. Abraham Vidales defeated Tomás Aguirre by Unanimous Decision. On January 11, 2024, it was announced that Glory and RISE would hold joint tournaments, combine their rankings and unify their rankings. A few days later, on February 6, the promotion put their lightweight and women's super bantamweight divisions on hold. == Roster ==