NBC Sports Group Surrounds PBC on NBC with Marketing, Social and Digital Efforts
“PBC on NBC” Debuts Saturday, March 7, Live at 8:30 PM ET on NBC
STAMFORD, Conn. - Mar. 1, 2015 - In six days, on Saturday, March, 7, boxing returns to primetime broadcast television with the debut of Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on NBC at 8:30 p.m. ET. The debut of PBC on NBC features a pair of blockbuster bouts — Keith Thurman vs. Robert Guerrero, and Adrien Broner vs. John Molina Jr. — from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Blow-by-blow announcer Marv Albert and analyst “Sugar” Ray Leonard call the action. Al Michaels will host. Laila Ali and B.J. Flores serve as corner analysts, joined by reporter Kenny Rice.
NBC SPORTS GROUP SURROUNDS PBC ON NBC WITH MARKETING, SOCIAL AND DIGITAL EFFORTS
NBC Sports Group surrounds the debut of PBC on NBC with comprehensive marketing, social and digital promotion this week.
“With boxing’s return to primetime television, we are deploying our ‘big-event’ strategy to launch PBC on NBC,” said John Miller, Chief Marketing Officer, NBC Sports Group. “With participation across many NBCUniversal platforms, we are looking forward to the opening bell next Saturday night.”
Following are NBC Sports Group’s marketing, social and digital promotion plans across the platforms of NBCUniversal:
Marketing
NBC Sports Agency created three TV spots featuring current boxers Keith Thurman, Robert Guerrero, Adrien Broner, John Molina Jr., Boxing Hall of Famer “Sugar” Ray Leonard, and on-air talent Al Michaels, Marv Albert and Laila Ali that will run in primetime and late night on NBC. The spots will also run in all sports programming on NBCSN, as well as in select shows on CNBC, USA, SyFy, NBC affiliates and on the NBC Sports Regional Networks. In addition, PBC on NBC promotion will be featured on NBC Sports Radio, NBC Sports Group’s digital platforms, and in select out of home and print advertisements. In addition, Haymon Boxing has collaborated with NBC Sports Group on further cross platform marketing.
All three ads are featured on NBC Sports’ YouTube channel.
Social
NBC Sports’ social media coverage of Premier Boxing Champions will showcase behind-the-scenes photos and videos leading up to the fight from the NBC Sports Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook accounts. Fans and viewers will get a chance to interact with the PBC on NBC announce team to get access and insight from the experts during open forum Q&A sessions. During the fight, NBC Sports’ social media platforms will give fans up-to-the-minute breaking news, stats, information and highlights from NBCSports.com.
Digital
NBCSports.com launched its Premier Boxing Champions page featuring comprehensive boxing coverage in the lead up to the PBC on NBC’s primetime debut on Saturday, March 7. NBCSports.com/PBConNBC includes boxing articles and videos, the full boxing schedule, and interactive “fight cards” that display each boxer’s attributes.
In addition, Joe Posnanski will write two pieces on NBC SportsWorld in the days leading up to the fight. The first features interviews with several prominent fighters and legends of the sport about where boxing is, where it’s been, and where it’s headed.
Posnanski will also profile one of boxing’s fastest rising stars, Keith Thurman, who fights Robert Guerrero in the debut of PBC on NBC. Thurman, who can be described as half philosopher, half knockout artist, carries with him the memory of Ben Getty, the late trainer who taught him how to box while working as the janitor at his elementary school.
NBC and NBCSN will present 20 live PBC on NBC boxing events in 2015. Within the 20 live shows, NBC Sports Group will present more than 50 hours of PBC coverage, including NBCSN pre- and post-fight programming for NBC telecasts. The Premier Boxing Champions series is created for television by Haymon Boxing. The PBC on NBC will feature many of today’s brightest stars, in their most compelling matches.
All PBC on NBC shows will be streamed live on NBC Sports Live Extra via “TV Everywhere,” giving consumers additional value for their subscription service, and making high quality content available to MVPD customers both in and out of the home and on multiple platforms. NBC Sports Live Extra is available for desktops at NBCSports.com/liveextra. The NBC Sports Live Extra app is available at the App Store for iPad and iPod touch, on select devices within Google Play, and on windows phones and tablets.
–NBC SPORTS GROUP–