The NBC Sports Group division of US media company NBCUniversal has struck a multi-year rights deal to show the new Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) series.
Under the deal, the NBC network and pay-television channel NBCSN will show live coverage of a total of 20 PBC events in 2015.
Five of the events will be shown on NBC at primetime on Saturday nights, six will be broadcast on NBC on Saturday afternoons, and nine will be shown on NBCSN at primetime on Saturday nights. It will be the first time in nearly 30 years that NBC will broadcast primetime Saturday night boxing.
Spanish-language channel NBC Universo, which will launch on February 1, will show repeats of broadcasts while NBC Sports Group will also show coverage of bouts online.
The Associated Press news agency said that the Haymon Boxing management company, the promoter of the series, will finance the broadcast coverage, with “little financial risk” for NBC Sports Group.
The first event to be shown through the deal will feature Keith Thurman v Robert Guerrero and Adrien Broner (pictured) v John Molina Junior on March 7, starting at 21.00pm ET. All of the fighters are managed by Haymon.