BKB Bare Knuckle Boxing, the nascent combat sport promotion, has struck a new broadcast deal in the Mexican market with broadcast group TV Azteca.
The four-channel broadcaster, owned by Grupo Salinas, will showcase BKB fight cards on its networks, including the primary Azteca Uno and Azteca 7 channels, through its Azteca Deportes and Box Azteca sports broadcasting imprint.
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This will begin this weekend with the BKB 60 event on October 10, which will take place in Newcastle, UK.
Speaking on the deal, TV Azteca general director of content Adrian Ortega commented: “We are excited to welcome BKB to TV Azteca and bring this unique form of combat sports to our audiences in Mexico and Latin America. Combat sports have a long and important history on our platforms, and BKB represents an exciting new addition to that tradition. We look forward to showcasing the sport and its growing roster of fighters to our fans, beginning with BKB 60 in Newcastle.”
TV Azteca’s sports portfolio also includes domestic Liga MX and Mexican national team soccer action, which it reportedly holds the rights to through 2034, making the station a popular one for sports consumers in the country.
Indeed, during the recent FIFA World Cup, TV Azteca drew eight-figure audiences for its coverage.
BKB chief executive David Tetrault added: “Mexico and Latin America are passionate combat sports markets with an incredible appetite for world-class fighting, and we’re excited to partner with TV Azteca to bring BKB to even more fans across the region.
“TV Azteca is a tremendous platform for our sport, and launching the partnership with BKB 60 in Newcastle gives fans an opportunity to experience the intensity and authenticity of bare-knuckle boxing from the very beginning.”
This is the latest in a string of moves from BKB to support its advancement into the Mexican market.
At the beginning of July, BKB launched in the Mexican market for the first time through a partnership with the regional Zanfer Promotions agency.
Zanfer will co-promote BKB events in Mexico, a major boxing market, as a means of aiding the promotion with its international expansion goals.
That partnership was inaugurated on September 19, when BKB super cruiserweight champion Julian Fernandez defended his title in Tijuana, Mexico, on a Zanfer boxing co-promoted card.
Future cards in Mexico, in cities such as Monterrey and the capital, Mexico City, are already planned.
Tetrault spoke to Sportcal (GlobalData Sport) back in September, and discussed the move into the Mexican market, saying: “Now, when you look at Mexico. What I did not want to do was go into Mexico blindly. And I had an existing relationship with Zanfer Boxing. I went to them, and I said, look, we really want to partner with you and figure out a way to really explode in Mexico.
"And by doing that, they help us from an organizational standpoint, from an operational standpoint, and from a fighter standpoint, helping us fill the cards with proper local fighters. There's a whole strategy to that.”
For the full, unabridged interview with David Tetrault, listen to the latest edition of the Sportcal Industry Insights podcast.
Outside of Mexico, the series’ top-line numbered events are broadcast across North America on Vice TV (English-language coverage), NBC-owned US linear network Telemundo (Spanish-Language coverage), and in the UK and Ireland on the YouTube channel of major sports radio network TalkSport.
