The sixth season of “Dark Side Of The Ring” will debut on March 25th. The following was issued to us:
VICE LAUNCHES VICE SPORTS BRAND AND NEW ORIGINAL PROGRAMMING STRATEGY
VICE TV to Premiere Shows on Legendary College Basketball Coaches John Calipari and Rick Pitino as Part of New VICE Sports Programming Shift
Company to Produce More Than 50 Hours of Sports Docuseries, Content, Events, and Digital Platforms under VICE Sports Brand
NEW YORK (December 12, 2024) – As global demand for sports programming continues to grow, VICE Media today announced the launch of the VICE Sports brand, coupled with a significantly expanded original sports programming strategy. VICE TV, the company’s 40M plus subscriber cable television network in partnership with A+E, will shift its prime-time programming strategy to a sports-first model. As part of this strategic shift, VICE TV will co-produce and air seven original sports series early next year, with prime-time programming blocks branded VICE Sports. Overall, the company will produce more than 50 hours of sports-themed docuseries, programs, events, and podcasts for global distributors across television and digital.
“VICE’s brand and history have always been about producing authentic, differentiated, and compelling content – from our hit-series Gangs of London to HBO’s VICE,” said Bruce Dixon, CEO, VICE Media. “Given the demand for sports content around the world is greater than ever before, we are well-positioned to offer an alternative to the mainstream, airing not only on our own VICE TV network, but across other media platforms.”
“Our original sports programming such as VICE’s TV’s hit franchise Dark Side of The Ring, has performed incredibly well, and now is the time to double-down and shift to a sports-focused programming model,” said Pete Gaffney, President, VICE TV. “We have several exciting new shows that we are co-producing alongside some of the biggest names in sports who will partner with us to fuel the VICE Sports brand.”
Dixon added, “Audiences are looking for authentic sports content and while others have tried to emulate VICE’s unique brand of storytelling, only we can deliver.”
VICE Sports Network Prime-Time Programming
Anchoring the network’s VICE Sports prime-time programming slate are the original series Pitino: Red Storm Rising and Calipari: Razor’s Edge, featuring two of the most prominent and controversial coaches in college basketball. In addition, VICE TV will air The Verdict and four original series from VICE Studios, Dark Side of the Cage, The Grudge, Sports Gone Wrong, and the highly anticipated sixth season of VICE TV’s signature franchise, Dark Side of the Ring.
Pitino: Red Storm Rising follows St. John’s Coach Rick Pitino and this season’s Red Storm as the team works to end a long-running Big East title drought and earn a trip to the NCAA Tournament while looking back at Pitino’s storied career. Calipari: Razor’s Edge, produced with Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions, is an intimate, all-access look at Coach John Calipari’s first season as head coach of the Razorbacks, their quest for a National Championship, and the winding road that landed him at the University of Arkansas. Both new series premiere in February as a lead-in to March Madness.
“We’re excited to work with VICE TV on Calipari: Razor’s Edge, a show that will give fans an inside look at Coach John Calipari’s first season running the Arkansas men’s basketball program,” said Peyton Manning, Founder of Omaha Productions. “Coach Cal is a Hall of Fame coach and a legend in the sport. We expect this series to be the first of many future collaborations between Omaha and VICE as the company expands into more sports content.”
Rounding out VICE TV’s original sports series, the network will acquire, license, and air more than 100 hours of additional sports programming – from popular sports podcasts to events. Programming includes Nightcap with Shannon Sharpe and Ochocinco: Recap, The Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis: Recap, previous seasons of American Ninja Warrior, PDC World Championship Darts, Arena Football One, and premium docuseries and live event recaps from Red Bull.
VICE’s Sports Programming Success
VICE has a long track record of producing successful original sports-themed programming. The company has co-produced five seasons of the iconic wrestling docuseries Dark Side of the Ring with show creators Evan Husney and Jason Eisner, Uninterrupted: The Real Stories of Basketball with LeBron James’ SpringHill Productions, Who Killed WCW with Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s Seven Bucks Productions, The American Gladiators Documentary and Stolen Gold for ESPN and Max Verstappen: Anatomy of a Champion for Viaplay.
Danny Gabai, Co-President of Vice Studios, commented, “We are open for business to partner with great talent to produce breakthrough sports content as we leverage our brand and history. I have never been more excited about where we’re headed across not only sports, but scripted and non-scripted content in music, news and other genres.”
ABOUT VICE MEDIA
VICE Media is a global media and entertainment company, focused on producing authentic, high-quality content across television, digital, film, news, and branded advertising. The company has four main businesses in its portfolio: VICE Studios (award winning television, documentary, and film production company); VICE TV (40M plus subscriber sports and entertainment cable network in partnership with A+E); VIRTUE Worldwide (a global, full-service strategic, creative, and branded entertainment agency that excels in increasing brands’ cultural capital in today’s ever-changing, digital-first world) and Pulse (leading commercial and music video production company). Recent Vice Studios content includes hit UK series Gangs of London (now available on Netflix in the U.S), MAX documentary Bama Rush and the newly launched video podcast Shane Smith Has Questions which has attracted millions of views on YouTube.
The company’s owners (funds managed by affiliates of Fortress Investment Group, Soros Capital Management and Monroe Capital) are committed to future growth, with potential M&A as part of the long-term strategic plan.
Season 6. We're back on March 25.https://t.co/ifkylSLBXS
— Dark Side of the Ring (@DarkSideOfRing) December 12, 2024
