Vice TV to television 13 BYB Bare Knuckle Boxing events

Vice TV has inked a multi-year media rights agreement with BYB Bare Knuckle Boxing, an influential bare knuckle fighting company.

Vice Sports will televise 13 live events in primetime in 2025, with most airing on Saturday nights, kicking off with BYB 37 Denver Brawl IV on Feb. 22, 2025. BYB will have the distinction of being Vive TV’s first live sports event series as the 40 million-plus subscriber cable television network continues its programming shift to a sports-first model.

Since its inception, BYB has been focused on bringing its viewers what it calls the “purest form” of combat sports, bare knuckle boxing. BYB’s patented, three-sided Trigon ring is the smallest fighting surface in combat sports, which pushes the action to the middle of the ring, forcing fighters to fight and resulting in a 90% knockout rate.

“We look forward to adding live BYB Bare Knuckle Boxing, our first live event series, as a mainstay of the Vice TV schedule as Vice Sports continues to fill its programming slate with compelling sports-themed docuseries, programs, live events, and podcasts,” said Pete Gaffney, president of Vice TV in a statement. “BYB is a combat sport surging in popularity, and having it on VICE TV helps us fulfill our mission of featuring provocative sports programming that our audience now expects.”

“Bare Knuckle Boxing is growing faster than any other sport, with a trajectory that mirrors MMA twenty-five years ago, and that growth and popularity will only accelerate as Vice TV builds out Vice Sports,” said BYB CEO Greg Bloom. “BYB, like Vice TV, prides itself on being an industry innovator and disruptor, and we look forward to being a tentpole partner as Vice Sports continues to elevate exciting original and live programming.”

BYB 37 will take place Feb. 22 from 9 a.m. to noon eastern from the Stockyards Event Center in Denver, Colorado.

The main event will pit two of BYB’s undefeated fighters against one another when men’s Super Lightweight champion Harry “The Hitman” Gigliotti defends his Police Gazette Diamond Belt against Jon “Untameable” Barnard. In the co-main event, BYB Women’s Featherweight champion Helen Peralta looks to become a 2-division champion when she faces Brazil’s Lailane Mota for the vacant BYB Super Featherweight Police Gazette Diamond belt.

As global demand for sports programming continues to grow, Vice Media recently launched the Vice Sports brand, coupled with a significantly expanded original sports programming strategy.

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Vice TV, the cable television network in partnership with A+E Networks, has shifted its programming to a sports-first model.

Recent Vice Sports premieres include debate series “Brady vs. Belichick: The Verdict,” with host Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo; “Calipari: Razor’s Edge,” a docuseries following the legendary coach in his first season with the Arkansas Razorbacks men’s basketball team; and “Pitino: Red Storm Rising,” a backstage pass as Pitino and St. John’s University’s Red Storm strive to capture the school’s first Big East Conference title since the turn of the century.

Overall, the company will produce more than 50 hours of sports-themed docuseries, programs, events and podcasts for global distributors across television and digital in 2025.