NEW YORK, NY (September 28^th, 2020) – NBC Sports Group announced today an agreement for exclusive U.S. distribution rights for the rapidly growing sporting competition of World Chase Tag. 

World Chase Tag USA will now take place at The Roxy in Atlanta, Georgia and will be broadcast on NBCSN in an eight-episode series airing between November 5^th – December 18^th 2020. The competition premiered in the U.S.  on NBCSN’s December 2019 broadcast of the World Chase Tag 2019 event held in London.

World Chase Tag (WCT) combines the dynamic athleticism of Parkour with the age-old game of Tag. Invented by brothers Christian and Damien Devaux in the U.K., the competition began in 2016 and has quickly built a cult following around the world, securing millions of online views.

Two teams of up to six athletes battle it out in a series of 20-second Chases featuring one Chaser and one Evader. All the action takes place on a 40’ x 40’ arena filled with a maze of obstacles and platforms called the ‘Quad’ and features the best Parkour athletes from around the world.  (For more information, please see  NBCSN’s 2019 WCT Intro).

WCT has amassed a global following with more than 350 million organic online views, including 60 WCT related videos with more than 1 million views and 52 million organic views in the last 12 months on the World Chase Tag YouTube channel. WCT has 1.5M+ total subscribers across all social media platforms.

Gray Television’s Tupelo Honey will serve as the production services company of the partnership.  In July, Gray Television made a capital investment in World Chase Tag.

Christian Devaux, CEO of WCT stated, “Partnering with Gray Television and Tupelo allows WCT to tap into a wealth of strategic knowledge and production expertise that will elevate the competition to a new level creating an annual global league rarely seen outside the world of eSports.”  

Cary Glotzer, CEO of Tupelo Honey and WCT President added, “Everyone can relate to WCT since we all played it as young kids.  WCT’s successful model will provide compelling brand opportunities and entertaining digital programming with the best parkour athletes in the world and NBC Sports is the best partner to take WCT to the next level.”

Gary Quinn, Vice President, Programming & Owned Properties, NBC Sports Group said, “We’re excited to partner with WCT and look forward to further exposing the event and its world-class parkour athletes to fans throughout the U.S.”

Tupelo Honey produces and packages over 800 live sports and entertainment shows per year.  It produces coverage of sporting events involving the NFL, MLS, PLL (Premier Lacrosse League), TBT (The Basketball Tournament), ACL (American Cornhole League), College Football, College Basketball, NBC Sports, ESPN, CBS Sports, Turner Sports,  NFL Network, ACC Network, SEC Network, and more.  

In addition, Tupelo creates, develops and produces original programming, including live music concerts for Twitter, You Tube, Facebook and other digital platforms. 

Tupelo is wholly owned by Gray Television (NYSE:GTN), one of the largest television broadcast companies in the country, which also owns production companies Raycom Sports and RTM Studios. 

 

ABOUT NBC SPORTS GROUP:

 NBC Sports Group serves sports fans 24/7 with premier live events, insightful studio shows, and compelling original programming. The sports media company consists of NBC Sports, NBC Olympics, NBCSN, Golf Channel, Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA, NBC Sports Regional Networks, NBC Sports Audio Network and NBC Sports Digital, which includes NBCSports.com, NBCOlympics.com, GolfChannel.com, the digital assets of the NBC Sports Regional Networks, Rotoworld, the NBC Sports Talk franchise, multiple apps, and two transactional sports businesses, GolfNow and SportsEngine, and a direct-to-consumer product NBC Sports Gold. NBC Sports Group possesses an unparalleled collection of media rights agreements, partnering with some of the most prestigious sports properties in the world: the International Olympic Committee and United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee, the NFL, NHL, NASCAR, INDYCAR, PGA TOUR, The R&A, PGA of America, USGA, Churchill Downs, Premier League, Tour de France, French Open, and many more.

Award-Winning Sports Journalist Joins NBC Sports After 25-Year Career as Senior Writer for Sports Illustrated

Layden To Cover Distinctive Stories Across All Sports through Longform Features, Video Essays and Digital Work

First Article for NBC Sports Offers Perspectives from Recently Retired NFL Players on Life After Football; Available Now on NBCSports.com

STAMFORD, Conn. – Sept. 11, 2019 – Award-winning sports journalist Tim Layden has signed an exclusive agreement with NBC Sports Group to produce longform articles, major-event stories and columns, as well as video work for NBC Sports’ television and digital platforms.

Throughout the year, Layden will seek out compelling and distinctive stories across the sports world with creative storytelling and in-depth analysis, building upon previous work that Layden has produced with NBC Sports. Over the past two years, Layden has written numerous video essays that have aired during marquee NBC Sports events, including the Kentucky Derby, Breeders’ Cup, Olympic sports, the NFL, NHL and NASCAR.

“It’s been so rewarding to work with the incredible NBC Sports team on television essays for the past two years,” Layden said. “This is a terrific opportunity to expand my role with NBC Sports to include the type of writing and journalism that I’ve worked on for my entire career, and to extend it across the entire breadth of NBC Sports’ unparalleled multi-platform portfolio.”

Layden’s first article for NBC Sports is available now on NBCSports.com. In the piece, Layden digs into life after football by speaking with recently retired NFL players, including former Pro Bowlers Jordy Nelson, Brian Orakpo and Max Unger, about what ultimately led to their retirement and their current relationship with the game of football.

Layden, a Williams College graduate, has spent the past 25 years as a senior writer with Sports Illustrated, covering 14 Olympic Games, 10 NCAA Final Fours, three Super Bowls and eight college football national championship games for SI. Originally a beat writer on college football, followed by the NFL, Layden was also responsible for SI’s coverage of horse racing, track & field, swimming and alpine skiing, and longform features on many topics and sports.

Prior to joining Sports Illustrated in 1994, Layden worked at the Schenectady Gazette (1978-1986), Albany Times Union (1986-1988) and Newsday (1988-1994). A native of upstate New York, Layden resides in Northern Connecticut with his wife, Janet.

– NBC SPORTS GROUP –