Will boxing ever make it back to network TV? Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports reports on the possibility of boxing returning to network TV.
Showtime sports head Stephen Espinoza is optimistic about seeing boxing back in the mainstream and even opined that it may happen this year.
Via Yahoo! Sports:
“There’s a decent chance of it, maybe even a good chance of it happening, in fact,” Espinoza said. “Boxing, for all of its challenges, still has a very loyal fan base, especially in the Latino and African-American demographics. Boxing has shown that, at its highest level, boxing can capture the mainstream sports, and non-sports, population.
Payout Perspective:
We saw the return of boxing, albeit just 30 minute fight promos, to CBS with Showtime’s 360 series which promoted the Mosley-Pacquiao fight. With the new use of partnerships (i.e., Showtime-CBS) and the seeming trend for live sports as key programming, boxing could make it back to over the air television. If you think about it, snowboarding, skateboarding and even poker have been on network television in the past year yet we haven’t seen a big fight in quite some time.
Yesterday, we looked at whether boxing should change its business model. Showing fights on network television to promote the sport and its fighters could build and sustain a following. While promoters remain optimistic, nothing has been set. NBC Sports Network’s quarterly show is a good step in the right direction but promoters realize that the big money remains in PPV and the two premium cable channels.
Will promoters be willing to take the hit (loss of potential PPV revenue) in exchange for the increased exposure? I doubt it, but hopefully they will.
My point is that I could see boxing return to network TV, but I find it unlikely they’d put any big fights on that will really draw. It’ll be interesting to see how negotiations unfold between fighters/promoters/networks.
Network TV is the most overrated thing in terms of brand exposure today.
Unless it’s the product being showcased on a weekly basis for an extended period of time, cable can be just as effective.
4 or 6 shows a year to the masses with sub-par product won’t do anything positive in the long run.
Disagree. Lack of tv exposure is what has killed boxing. The bad fights, judging, ducking, to many titles, to many weights, etc have always hurt boxing. But when they went away from Tv and to PPV they lost a way to create new fans. Their fan base decline gradually over the years but the decline wasnt fast enough to cause pannic. But when MMA took fans away the decline was rapid and now they have to find a way to build a following again. Everyone always talks about the good ol’ days of boxing when all the big names were on tv and they could actually following the entire sport of boxing. Now you can only follow a few low level names for free and lose them once they fell they can get on PPV. Boxing doesnt have to give all the big names for free but they have to give a few fights a year to get people giving a damn. Just putting 1 big name guy on TV could cause new people to buy his others fights on PPV. They may also start buy the fighters who he fought when he pass’s the tourch. Either way you create fans. The UFc realized this and even with PPVs making lots of money they still covet the tv deals and try to find a balance between giving good free fights but not giving away something that sells well on PPV.
I don’t see this happening.
Sure it’s the lack of TV exposure that might have caused boxing to not be as popular as it once was but it’s also due to simply more entertainment outlets today then there was in boxing’s heyday.
When 1.5 million viewers are regularly tuning in on HBO and 20+ million viewers internationally, the sport hasn’t been exactly “killed”.
Just for your info, the biggest fights in the 80’s, 90’s weren’t on free tv. It’s not as if everyone knew every boxer’s name back then either.
Most all the biggest fights in the 80’s were free except a few. Also im not talking about just the big fights. Back then only the biggest fights made PPV. But not every fight a fighter had. Those guys built a following on free tv. They took that following to PPV. Hollyfield, Bowe, Tyson, etc all the biggest names in boxing rose up the ranks of tv as they rose the boxing ranks. Fighters are on PPV or HBO before anyone knows about them. HBO sign Aturo Gatti in 1995. It wasnt until his second match with Ward 7 years later that i ever heard of him. Basically sports fans, mainstream fans, casual fans never seem the good fighters. You have to pay for them. If a casual person talks to a boxing fan the boxing fan wont be talking about any fighters who fight on free tv. So you get what we have now with no one being introduced to boxing at all. HBO is just a retirement home for the aging boxing fans of the past. There isnt one fighter who will take one for the sport and fight on free tv and ignite a whole generation to follow the sport.
You don’t know anything. I’m done with you.
Maybe next time you will come with facts rather than try to mislead people. Forrest Griffin was a good PPV draw for a while. But he got his following fighting free on Spike TV. Without his free tv fights he could never have been a draw. Thats what the boxers of the 80’s did. They didnt spend their entire career fighting on pay channels like todays boxers do. They fought for free and then took their following to PPV. Only a fool would try to say those boxers or Forrest didnt help themselves with free tv. But that is exactly what you try to convience people of.
Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao have fought solely on HBO.
Same as Miguel Cotto.
The three biggest domestic draws in boxing have never graced the “free network” tv airwaves.
Go figure.
Both Pac and FMJ got their following by beating ODLH. ODLH passed the torch to both of them. But boxing has always had only 1 torch because they are not in front of the mass’ regularly. If those two ever fight boxing will be back to 1 torch again. They struggle to create great match ups. Fact is the sport cant have but a few guys who can draw. Being the biggest boxing has doesnt means they couldnt be bigger with free tv. Only 2 have any mainstream acceptance. Of all the belts boxing has and all the weight class’ they have 2 guys who get any attention. Whats that tell you? They have dozens of champs the American public doesnt even know. Most dont even know 1 single HW fighter. You dont think network tv would solve this problem to an extent? Just about every star in MMA can trace it back to free tv. From Brock and Ken in WWE, Chuck Liddell on Entourage, etc. There is a reason why guys want to go on the tonight show. Number of eye balls count. FMJ give his PPV buys a huge shot in the arm doing Wrestle Mania.
Boxing is a global sport with regional followings.
Not too many people know who Chris John is here in the U.S. He still makes great money fighting in Indonesia.
Kameda’s in Japan.
Adamek in Poland.
Danny Green in Australia.
This list goes on and on. There are 3 legitimate PPV draws in the US, and the rest of US stars aren’t mainstream but who says that they need to be mainstream?
Boxing was never filled with 40+ U.S. stars at one time. NEVER. To think that it was always like that in the past is ridiculous.