premier boxing champions

Since it first hit the airwaves on March 7, 2015, Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) has become the number one boxing series on television, featuring top stars in the sport across an array of broadcast and cable networks including NBC, CBS, ESPN, Spike TV, Showtime and more. Swanson Communications has managed public relations efforts on behalf of PBC since its inception; executing a comprehensive publicity and promotional plan for each installment of the series, which totals over 100 fight cards to date.

Our agency has planned and managed hundreds of media events including press conferences, open workouts, creative promotional events, conference calls, weigh-ins and more all while pitching and securing stories in top national outlets such as CNN, Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, USA Today, New York Times, Huffington Post, ESPN, Sports Illustrated and many more.

PBC was designed to bring the sport back to the masses, which means each fight, no matter the scale, requires a two-pronged PR plan. Our team focuses on pitching national media outlets to ensure strong television ratings, while also working with local promoters to bolster ticket sales through press outreach. In-market media is contacted at the onset of each promotion ensuring that top local papers are aware of each fight and television network affiliates in every city have video assets with prior fight footage for main event boxers.

The series not only brings boxing to the widest audiences possible, it brings it to fans across the country. Events have taken place from Los Angeles, to Brooklyn, San Antonio to Miami and at least one member of the Swanson Communications staff travels to nearly every PBC fight. Public relations duties on the ground include managing and overseeing various fight week events and accompanying talent to in-studio interviews booked by our team. This requires acting as a conduit to communicate with the promoter, network, fight camps and venues to ensure fight week activities run smoothly.

PBC quickly set ratings records as the premiere event headlined by Keith Thurman vs. Robert Guerrero was the most-watched professional boxing broadcast since 1998 as 4.2 million viewers tuned-in to NBC. Records continued to be broken as the Leo Santa Cruz vs. Abner Mares ‘Fight of the Year’ candidate in August 2015 garnered 3.6 million viewers, the largest boxing audience on ESPN since February 1998.

The most impressive viewership came in August 2016 on NBC, when a peak of 6.3 million viewers saw Errol Spence Jr. knockout Leonard Bundu, the largest television audience for a boxing event in 18 years.

In March 2017, Keith Thurman defeated Danny Garcia in front of a record-breaking crowd of 16,533 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The event was the highest grossing non-Nets sporting event in the venue’s history. An aggressive PR campaign targeted local and national media resulting in widespread media attention including two fight week print pieces in USA Today in addition to coverage from Forbes, New York Daily News, Yahoo!, and VICE as well as dozens of other top tier outlets. The fight, which aired on CBS in primetime, won the night in network ratings, including the ever-important 18-49 demographic and beat out the NBA’s Chicago Bulls vs. Los Angeles Clippers game on ABC.

There is an extensive lineup of PBC shows planned for 2017 and Swanson Communications will be there every step of the way as we continue to collectively bring boxing back to the masses.