Paramount Global announced on Tuesday that it will no longer be allocating resources to Showtime Sports after the end of 2023. This ends 37 years of Showtime Championship Boxing.
Al Haymon’s PBC provided the bulk of events on Showtime since 2013. The last event on the Showtime Boxing calendar at this point is the November 25th fight between David Benavidez and Demetrius Andrade.
The news also means, according to the SBJ, that Stephen Espinoza will no longer be with Showtime as he will be one of many employees that will be let go at the end of 2023.
.@ParamountCo is confirming today that it's shutting down @Showtime Sports + @ShowtimeBoxing by the end of 2023, as CBS exits boxing after decades in the sport.
— Adam Stern (@A_S12) October 17, 2023
🔲 The move is expected to lead to layoffs including @StephenEspinoza, per @Ourand_SBJ.
📰: https://t.co/nvuVGXAVp5 pic.twitter.com/qLt96VZcab
In a statement provided to media, Paramount Global stated: “Unfortunately, in a rapidly evolving media marketplace, the company has had to make difficult choices allocating resources, resetting priorities and reshaping its content offering. While today’s news is certainly difficult and disappointing, it is entirely out of our control.”
Payout Perspective:
First it was HBO and now Showtime is out of boxing programming on the subscription-based networks. Point to the lack of subscription viewership for the telecasts which have declined in the past decade. Also, the rise of digital platforms that have scooped up content to compete with Showtime. To the chagrin of Dana White, who reviled Showtime, the network’s business model was antiquated and ran out of the space by ESPN+.
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