The NBC Olympics division of US media company NBCUniversal has entered into a partnership with United World Wrestling, the sport’s global governing body.
The groundbreaking partnership will result in more than 24 wrestling events being televised and live-streamed every year until 2020.
UWW will also work with SportsEngine, an NBC Sports Group company that provides web software and mobile applications for youth, amateur and professional sports, on the venture.
Under the agreement, NBC Sports Group will hold exclusive television and streaming rights in the US to the World Championships, Freestyle World Cup, Women’s World Cup and Greco-Roman World Cup.
Tournaments will be televised on NBC Sports Network and live-streamed on Trackwrestling, a division of SportsEngine.
SportsEngine and Trackwrestling will stream live coverage of an additional 20-plus events each year from tournaments around the world, including continental championships, junior and cadet-level world championships and the 2020 Olympic qualification tournaments.
UWW president Nenad Lalovic said: “Wrestling has been working hard to expand its worldwide reach and we think this new relationship helps bring our sport to the next level.
“Trackwrestling provides wrestling with a significant opportunity to grow our audience in North America and worldwide. NBC Sports and SportsEngine are valuable partners of the Olympic movement and we look forward to seeing how their expertise can help our sport grow.”
All coverage will be available on-demand via Trackwrestling.com to US-based fans with a subscription to Trackcast. Events shown by NBC Sports Network will be available on-demand at NBCSports.com.