Late last week Dan Rafael of ESPN reported that Bob Arum, the promoter of boxer Manny Pacquiao, has signed a deal with CBS-Showtime to air the May 7th Pacquiao-Shane Mosley fight. The news came as a monumental shift to the boxing world as HBO Boxing had been synonymous with big fights, Arum and the Pac Man in recent years.
Via ESPN:
According to sources, part of the deal will include CBS promoting the fight by running commercial spots advertising the pay-per-view during prime time programming. Also in the works is a series of preview shows that would run on CBS, or possibly Showtime, which would be similar to HBO’s hit reality series “24/7,” which it uses to stoke interest with weekly episodes during the month leading up to major pay-per-view fights.
Fanhouse spoke with Pacquiao adviser Michael Koncz:
“We’ve worked with HBO for many, many fights, and it’s always great working with them. But, you know, sometimes change is good for everybody involved. So we’re making that change and we’re going on Showtime this time,” said Koncz. “It’s a big benefit for us, economically, and he’s going to be getting wider viewership,” said Koncz. “It’s a different platform for us, and I think that it’s important to have a different platform. It’s going to take it out of the regular pay-per-view audience because we have a lot of options with the network.”
Koncz indicated the opportunity for a 24/7-type documentary series leading up to the fight would be televised on CBS although the ESPN report indicated it could be on either CBS or ESPN. He noted CBS’s ability to reach 115 million homes compared to HBO’s 28 million homes.
For fight fans, Showtime’s move on HBO means competition between the two companies:
Via Bad Left Hook:
Quotes from folks at HBO (regarding the Pacquiao deal to Showtime) may be stoic, but they have to be feeling the sting, and you’d almost expect a certain level of panic setting in. Without Pacquiao, who is the HBO flagship star? And with Top Rank taking its fighters (Pacquiao, Cotto, Lopez, Brandon Rios) over to Showtime, could HBO see themselves forced into another sweetheart deal with Golden Boy Promotions, a company that right now is badly lagging behind Top Rank in the development, cultivation, and securing of major names? The biggest fighter left on the Golden Boy roster is Juan Manuel Marquez, who is going to fight Erik Morales in a bout that has limited appeal beyond the Mexican audience and perhaps a portion of the diehard boxing audience. Last word was that that fight was being worked out as a Golden Boy PPV. That might change now.
When you get down to it, Manny Pacquiao, without even really knowing he’s doing it, may be causing an enormous shift in American boxing coverage. Nobody else in the sport could do that.CBS is clearly showing a serious interest in combat sports, MMA and now boxing, and it just feels like something very big might be happening here.
Payout Perspective:
For MMA fans, the CBS-Showtime move to acquire the Pacquiao fight could be a sign of a broader move to jump on the growing popularity of combat sports. Could this mean we see the UFC get into serious talks with networks (not just ION) about airing its content?
If you are boxing fan, the shift from HBO to Showtime could mean something in terms of pay subscribers to HBO and Showtime. One of the main reasons I subscribe to HBO is because of HBO Boxing and the fact that HBO will show its PPVs a week after the fight (yes, if you are frugal and have patience, it pays to wait a week to watch a fight rather than pay $65 for the PPV to see the main event). Another repercussion of the shift means that the excellent broadcast team of Jim Lampley, Max Kellerman, Emmanuel Steward and Larry Merchant will lose the opportunity to call a Pacquiao fight.
It will be interesting to see the success of the CBS-Showtime-Arum relationship. With a mega-boxing star like Manny Pacquiao, you can expect huge numbers. But, I am more intrigued by what will be HBO’s next move. This deal appears to be a one-time event but you can expect CBS-Showtime to sign on for more events…especially if it could mean Pacquiao-Mayweather in late 2011 or 2012.
It’s interesting that Koncz mentions that it’s a big benefit economically. The only way Showtime/CBS got Bob Arum on board is by throwing down a lot of money. That means CBS may be looking significantly increase their investment in combat sports. Coupled with the rumors of a SF PPV and the M-1 cards Showtime has committed to broadcasting, it constitutes a significant play by Showtime.
Pacquiao is a proven PPV blockbuster, but the combination of ads, 24/7 type reality programming and talk show and news show stints on CBS as a way to hype up a PPV can easily be replicated for MMA. After all, stars are made, not born. In a world where the Khardashians can be worth millions of dollars for doing nothing more than being on TV (“they’re famous for being famous”), guys like Fedor and Overeem should be able to steal some limelight for themselves with if supported with the right editing and voice over narration.
It will be interesting to see where CBS takes this. I love the fact that the leading network is getting back into fightsports and I hope this is successful enough to make other networks take note.
I am curious to see what kind of ratings this pulls. SF rarely pulls 500k, and I bet this pulls multiple millions if not many millions. Granted, he costs a hell of a lot more so this is a far bigger investment.
Showtime has shown a very strong commitment to Boxing. But I am not at all convinced they are showing an strong commitment to combat sports. If you go to the sports.sho site you wouldn’t even know they are going to be holding one of the biggest tournaments in MMA history. Will the HW tournament get a major push on CBS or ESPN? Coker said in the MMA Nation interview that he is in discussions with CBS and hopes to have an answer in a month. So no promotion from CBS for the first round of the tournament. If you want to pump up the Showtime numbers now is the time to let people know about it.
That first paragraph of the perspective seems like an awful fan boyish stretch.
Thomas Hauser over at Max Boxing has the definitive and exhaustive write up on this deal. It’s a must read for any one that haunts MMA Payout.
http://www.maxboxing.com/news/main-lead/how-hbo-lost-manny-pacquiao
Great story. Thanks for sharing.
jv,
Great link, I just read the article. Thanks for that.
I think that if the boxing landscape does shift from HBO to Showtime/CBS it will only help MMA. One of the problems at HBO is that the guys at the top have an actual dislike for MMA compared to the more general disinterest you find at most networks. That’s what has kept any MMA promotion from doing business at HBO – their flat out refusal to put on any MMA events.
If Showtime/CBS are successful in stealing away the big boxing cards from their rivals, it will give a boost to their cross-promotion of MMA. Showtime already promotes MMA events during boxing cards and vice-a-versa. I think the two will continue to go hand in hand in the future. The bigger hand will be boxing, but it can’t help but pull MMA along.
The short of it is that for the boxing limelight to shift from a network that is averse to MMA to one that actively promotes it as part of a growth strategy can only have a positive impact on the sport of MMA. How much of an impact remains to be seen but a boost for Showtime Sports is a boost to all their sports programming.
I like everything about this move except for the fight itself. Pacquiao-Mosely is garbage. But I’ll probably see it anyway.
Facepalm.
Like JV, I recommend the Max Boxing article as well. It does paint HBO execs as soulless but gives context to the move to Showtime..