Why aren’t broadcasting companies stepping up in HBO’s absence?
Today it's impossible to conceive of professional boxing without broadcasting companies. If in the old days it was the radio that brought the sport to speakeasys around the city, today it's big companies
like HBO. For the opportunity to showcase an elite world class bout, companies pay promoters sums of money known as licensing fees.
In terms of boxing broadcasting and dishing out license fee money, there's one company that dwarfs the rest: HBO. It’s been years since another outfit has come close to matching them for marquee fights.
Actually, today, all relevant competition has to choose to air the fights that HBO passes on.
The result of this reign has been that, by and large, fighters only have one outlet for national headlines, mega-promotion, and top dollars. On the other side of things, rival companies simply can't offer
the same kind of publicity, because they don't have the viewing public or finances to get them. So fighting on this platform often means receiving little to no exposure for one's efforts.
But boxing, like all sports, is about fine distinctions. Just because HBO can offer a big event doesn't mean it will be a good one. And just because other companies have to contend with smaller budgets
doesn't mean they are incapable of putting on great fights and stepping up to HBO. Showtime, for instance, with its onslaught of tournaments, has earned many a fan. With less money they've often managed to outdo HBO and earn more respect amongst dedicated
boxing fans.
Proof of this can be seen in ‘fight of the year’ numbers. Showtime has broadcast the best fights three times in four years (2005, 07, 08), while HBO took it in 2009. All the same, the biggest fights
almost invariably end up with an HBO logo stamped in the centre of the ring. Typically, marquee HBO pay-per-views get over a million buys; other pay-per-view sponsored events do backflips with 100,000. So in most relevant ways, it’s HBO that’s carrying the
sometimes sorry carcass of boxing through the streets. But what would happen if they stopped?
Showtime deserves credit for its tournament innovations, which have garnered interest and got people talking. A second innovation has presented itself in ESPN’s decision to expand boxing coverage to fights
overseas. Big fights not picked up by HBO have been aired live on ESPN3, and then played back later at the relevant North American time. That's how people have been able to keep up with the Klitschko brothers, for instance, since HBO dropped them some time
ago.
This month, ESPN3 will air the Vitali Klitschko-Shannon Briggs bout on 16 October as well as the Lucian Bute-Jesse Brinkley bout on 15 October. That’s a nice change: generally the smaller guys remain
relatively quiet from fall until the New Year, as big fights and all are wrapping up and being projected for the next year.
HBO has boxing commitments in November (think Manny Pacquiao-Antonio Margarito) and December, but they’ve peeped quiet for most of September and October. So one question, presumably, is why other companies
aren’t jumping at the opening to promote their own events.
Both September 25 and October 2 were Showtime dates for the Super Six tournament, but things went awry, with cancellations and other blunders at the helm.
When HBO takes a break from boxing, so do many of boxing's big players. Guys like Andre Berto and Floyd Mayweather don’t believe they’re worth less than millions at this point, which they will only get
with HBO. So if HBO happened to 'retire' from boxing for longer than eight weeks, which is definitely plausible, would that mean the world’s top fighters would too? Would competing companies be willing to step up and pay more for fighters?
At present though there seems to be few companies who are genuinely willing to capitalize on HBO’s inactivity. It’s one thing to pick up the fights that HBO doesn’t want, it’s another thing entirely to
begin orchestrating events and setting up fights to build a brand name like HBO has done. So far, HBO’s competitors have been doing all too much of the former and almost none of the latter, save for the botched Showtime Super Six tournament. HBO’s own boxing
slow-down has presented an opportunity that has largely been missed. If other companies are going to step up and fill the void, they’ll have to do a better job picking (and proactively booking) top quality fights fans want to see.
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