Westminster Kennel Club and FOX Sports Reach Multi-Year, Multi-Platform Agreement
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Westminster Kennel Club and FOX Sports have reached a three-year, worldwide multi-platform media rights agreement to THE MASTERS AGILITY CHAMPIONSHIP AT WESTMINSTER.
In the first event of the agreement, America’s greatest canine athletes will take over prime time on FOX Sports 1, Saturday, Feb. 8 (7-9 p.m. ET), live from Pier 94 in New York City. Subsequent events are scheduled for 2015 and 2016. Additional terms were not disclosed.
The Westminster Kennel Club’s first-ever agility trial precedes Westminster’s 138th Annual All Breed Dog Show, which will be held in the same location (and also in the evenings at Madison Square Garden) on Monday and Tuesday, Feb. 10-11.
With its live coverage of the agility trial, Westminster and FOX Sports 1 are teaming up to bring what the American Kennel Club calls “the most exciting canine sport for spectators” to center stage on Westminster weekend. Dogs and their handlers excitedly attack the obstacle course of jumps, tunnels, weave poles, and more in a timed competition in the fastest-growing dog sport in the country.
“Agility is one of the most exciting and rapidly growing events in the dog world,” said Westminster Kennel Club President Seán W. McCarthy. “We are happy for the opportunity with FOX Sports 1 to share our inaugural Masters Agility Championship with our Westminster faithful and dog fans everywhere.”
“We’re extremely pleased to have reached this agreement with the Westminster Kennel Club,” said General Manager & Chief Operating Officer, FOX Sports 1 and FOX Sports 2, David Nathanson. “THE MASTERS AGILITY CHAMPIONSHIP AT WESTMINSTER is a terrific competition that puts canine agility and athleticism on display. It’s a terrific complement to the sports, events and programs already featured on FOX Sports 1 and FOX Sports digital assets.”
THE MASTERS AGILITY CHAMPIONSHIP AT WESTMINSTER is sponsored by Purina Pro Plan. The competition will be open to dogs competing at Excellent or Masters level. That would include both purebred dogs and mixed breeds. The Mixed Breed category is especially significant, bringing non-purebred dogs to a Westminster event for the first time since the very earliest days of its show.
Each dog will compete in two qualifying rounds and the dogs with the highest combined scores based on time and faults will move on to the televised championship finals. Judges will be Andrew Dicker of Reading, England and Lori Sage of Oregon City, Oregon.
