Major League Fishing announced today that the championship round of its next event, the Summit Cup, will air on NBC. The broadcast is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 9, 2013, at 1 p.m. ET.
Subsequent to its airing on NBC, the championship round will re-air on Outdoor Channel the following week. The first five rounds of the Summit Cup leading up to the championship will be telecast exclusively on Outdoor Channel.
“We’re delighted to announce that our final round will air on NBC,” said MLF GM Jim Wilburn. “Our goal is to offer Major League Fishing’s unique brand of competition to a broad audience. We believe that our innovative format, along with the compelling and diverse personalities of our anglers, will appeal to sports fans, not just fishing fans. We believe this broadcast on NBC moves us a big step in that direction.”
Wilburn added that the fresh approach and the popularity of Major League Fishing’s inaugural event, which recently completed a 13-week run on Outdoor Channel, led league and network officials, as well as participating anglers, to seek a broader audience for the Summit Cup finals.
“We all agree that we’ve got a great product in Major League Fishing,” he said. “We want to deliver this product to as many potential viewers as possible.”
Pro angler Gary Klein, one of Major League Fishing’s creators, said that NBC’s airing of the Summit Cup finals is “an extremely important move” for the league. Klein echoed Wilburn’s sentiments about Major League Fishing’s long-term goals.
“From the beginning, one of our goals has been to present Major League Fishing to a traditional network television audience,” Klein said. “Our vision is to reach out to sports fans who are not ordinarily exposed to pro fishing. We want a wider audience to see what we have to offer. This is great news.”
