Las Vegas -- In a move that should bring greater national exposure to the sweet science, ESPN and Top Rank announced a vast and exclusive multimedia agreement to make ESPN the home of Top Rank in the U.S. and Canada.
ESPN will now be getting the type of higher quality fight cards that Top Rank previously had promoted on such premium cable channels as HBO.
"Top Rank is thrilled to enter into this relationship with ESPN, the top sports media brand in the world," said Todd duBoef, President of Top Rank. "This unprecedented partnership offers a 360 approach to the entire boxing vertical, including live world class events, unparalleled coverage as well as access to historical moments in the sport."
The next Top Rank on ESPN fight card, scheduled for September 22 in Tucson, Arizona, features two WBO World Title Fights, with Oscar Valdez (22-0, 19 KOs, Featherweight) and Gilberto Ramirez (35-0, 24 KOs, Super Middleweight) title defenses.
Under the agreement, ESPN will televise live fights on ESPN and ESPN Deportes, and stream them on the ESPN App. Also, the deal will have the two entities stream fights and other Top Rank content on the recently announced ESPN-branded direct-to-consumer streaming service via BAMTech and deliver select pay-per-view (PPV) fight events. It will also air all Top Rank content in English and in French on Canadian sister networks TSN and RDS.
In the first year of the deal, ESPN will showcase 18 main events in the U.S. on multiple platforms, including television networks, the ESPN App, the direct-to-consumer service and PPV events, in both English and Spanish, and on Canada’s TSN in English and RDS in French.
Top Rank on ESPN content will be widely accessible across multiple platforms, including the ESPN-branded multi-sport direct-to-consumer streaming service, and will feature all undercards, select main events, re-airs of all ESPN and PPV events, Top Rank archival fights, and more.
Creative Artists Agency (CAA) served as the media advisor to Top Rank on the landmark agreement with ESPN. Furthering its relationship with the leading sports and entertainment agency, Top Rank has retained CAA Sports to manage its official sponsorship sales efforts, working closely with ESPN.
The ESPN-branded multi-sport direct-to-consumer streaming service (being developed with BAMTech and debuting in early 2018) will be a key part of the Top Rank Boxing on ESPN multi-platform distribution. The service was announced earlier this month as part of The Walt Disney Company’s acquisition of majority ownership of BAMTech.
The new ESPN service will be accessed through an enhanced version of the current ESPN app and from authorized MVPDs. In addition to the multi-sport service, the ESPN app will continue to include the news, highlights and scores that fans enjoy today, and consumers who are pay TV subscribers will also be able to access the ESPN television networks in the same app on an authenticated basis.
By Staff of TheDailySportsHerald.com and news services
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