Showtime Boxing’s card on Saturday night did better than HBO’s Boxing After Dark. The Showtime card featured Leo Santa Cruz taking on Carl Frampton in a rematch of their first encounter last July.
Santa Cruz-Frampton peaked with 643,000 Showtime subscribers and an overall viewership tally of 587,000 for the main event which lasted from 11:07pm-11:57pm ET according to Nielsen.
In comparison, per Sports TV Ratings HBO’s Boxing After Dark drew 497,000 viewers (234K in A18-49) for Miguel Berchelt and Francisco Vargas. Berchelt victory over Vargas aired approximately the same time as Santa Cruz-Frampton. The other fight on HBO BAD featuring Takashi Miura knocking out Mickey Roman drew 491,000 viewers (209K in A18-49).
Payout Perspective:
It’s clear that Santa Cruz-Frampton was the more notable fight to watch on Saturday night despite the fact that the BAD telecast had solid viewer numbers. The fight was a rematch of their July 2016 fight which handed LSC his first loss. It’s a rare victory for Showtime Boxing which seems to lag in viewers in comparison to HBO.
UFC prelims did better.
Ufc is down 4 bil hahahaha
http://www.mmamania.com/2017/1/31/14459422/dana-white-jon-jones-gets-next-ufc-title-shot-fights-winner-corm dw desperate….so it wont be a main event? Hahaha
Tops thats crazy, Dana is really scraping the barrel now
Topps has really been on the warpath ever since boxing deteriorated….the last act of a desperate man. Haha.
This is significant….HBO has 30% more suscribers, so a very poor showing for HBO in what was actually the better card, but the names were on Showtime. I would still like to see those numbers 2-300K higher but that’s what happens when you split a boxing night and go head to head with a UFC on FOX network show. Excellent night for combat sports fans, I watched and DVRd all 3
Wil – I actually thought Showtime had the better card. The Frampton-Santa Cruz rematch had a lot of buzz and Mikey Garcia is a known commodity though this was just his second fight back.
I like Vargas, but I’d never heard of Berchelt before Saturday.
Either way, the two networks (and Golden Boy and PBC) hurt each other by going head to head.
I hadnt either, though Ive been extraordinarily busy with work. and absolutely that head to head stuff needs to stop. Give me one card and Ill watch it no matter what network. Im glad Bellator generally takes to friday nights so i can watch that with no hindrances. The two HBO fights were bloody wars….I admit, I have a soft spot for that….I grew up watching the wars of the 70s and 80s and I like a good phone booth dust up
Lower weight classes historically lower amount of attention. boxers you have never heard of before historically lower ratings on any network. And still a combined 1 million viewers plus or minus. Boxing still alive. It does need a kick in the ass sometimes too I know. Nothing hurt the sport more The the Tyson bite. People forgive about the $35-$40 they lost. furgett, never..