The Sports Business Daily reports that ESPN 3D is adding boxing as live content for its 3D channel. “Friday Night Fights” will have 5 editions on ESPN 3D this summer.
The article points out that not only will a successful run of Friday Night Fights this summer help the 3D network, it will help with the revitalization of boxing.
ESPN had a test run of boxing in 3D in February and decided to go forth with more this summer. The telecasts are produced as a single telecast in 2D and 3D with one set of announcers. The article points out that the sport of boxing allows for this production since there are less frequent switching of camera angles.
If the summer run is successful, ESPN could look into more boxing in 3D. The 3D Friday Night Fights will begin June 24th and end August 12th.
Payout Perspective:
This is good for the sport of boxing as it seems to have experienced a resurgence in good fights this year. I think the one drawback with 3D is the need to purchase a special television (with 3D capabilities) and glasses for all viewers. This is not cheap. While I am not yet on board with the 3D concept, I have not seen boxing in 3D. It may be the wave of the future and could be good for boxing in drawing more positive attention to the sport. It will be interesting to see the viewership of Friday Night Fights in 3D and see if it picks up over the summer.
You may recall that the UFC aired its last Versus show in 3D. I am not sure whether the UFC will bring it back in the near future, but if it does it will likely happen after it signs a new television deal.
Completely off topic, but why the silence on the web for the past week on the ‘UFC looking for a network’ story’? Is the MMA Payout crew hearing anything, and anything that you could update us on?
Looks like Zuffa remains in negotiations, so no updates on the story, thus the lack of recent coverage. Searching the web for recent articles reveals several publications running articles that contain dated info (UFC is negotiating to buy majority stake in G4, Dana White saying they’re “not ruling anything out, we’re talking to everybody” etc.).
It would be hilarious if Bellator events are broadcast in 3D BEFORE they are in HD.
Also, do networks have a way to see how many viewers are actually using 3D?