Where Is A New Fight Night Game?

[allBthere]

Quote: Originally Posted by aholbert32

Couldnt disagree more. Before the Haymon PBC series started a month ago. High level boxing hasnt been on regular or free cable TV since the 80s. The only non-PPV, Showtime or HBO boxing was ESPN's Friday Night Fights and random cards on FS1 and NBCSN. .

just correcting this part of your post. HBO and Showtime over the past number of years have offered high-level NON ppv bouts as well. The last 2 free HBO cards did around a million views.

I just saw the GGG fight in Monte Carlo though last night, not sure when that aired so I may be referring to the 2 before that one for the numbers... in any case, I agree with most of what you said, with the execption that HBO and showtime offer great free cards from time to time, so it's not just FNF's - and those shows are more for prospects and mid-range guys imo. You never see marquee matchups on ESPN - although that is looking to change too this year from what I'm reading.

/tangent

[aholbert32]

Quote: Originally Posted by allBthere

just correcting this part of your post. HBO and Showtime over the past number of years have offered high-level NON ppv bouts as well. The last 2 free HBO cards did around a million views. I just saw the GGG fight in Monte Carlo though last night, not sure when that aired so I may be referring to the 2 before that one for the numbers... in any case, I agree with most of what you said, with the execption that HBO and showtime offer great free cards from time to time, so it's not just FNF's - and those shows are more for prospects and mid-range guys imo. You never see marquee matchups on ESPN - although that is looking to change too this year from what I'm reading. /tangent

I think you read my post wrong. I grouped Non PPV/Showtime/HBO together. This was in response to the original poster saying that he cut the cord and didnt have cable.

Prior to the PBC, there was NO way to be a big boxing fan without cable. You need cable to access HBO/Showtime and PPV. Also, HBO and Showtime are pay channels in the US. Once or twice a year they may have a free weekend that may include a fight but that isnt guaranteed. Also, you still need cable to access those channels.

[SHAKYR]

More networks are following PBC, boxing isn't as dead as people keep trying to make it. There are 5 major networks working to bring more boxing to TV.

[aholbert32]

Quote: Originally Posted by SHAKYR

More networks are following PBC, boxing isn't as dead as people keep trying to make it. There are 5 major networks working to bring more boxing to TV.

Other than trolls, who says boxing is dead? I find it funny that many hardcore boxing fans accuse casual fans and the media of saying that. The worst I hear people say is that Boxing isnt as popular as it was in the 80's or 90's and thats true.

One other thing: Lets not use PBC as a sign that the networks are buying in to boxing because they arent.....yet. Every deal Haymon has done (CBS, NBC Spike, ESPN) has been a time buy. What that means is Haymon paid the networks for those timeslots. Thats a big difference than Top Rank's deal with HBO or the UFC on Fox, where the networks are paying the promotions to air fights.

The good news is that PBC has rated well and its likely that if Haymon puts on more good fights that one or two of those networks will attempt to sign PBC to an exclusive deal and pay Haymon for the fights. Also, because its a time buy, Haymon gets to keep the ad sales dollars which if he continues to get ratings will help cover the costs of the time buys.

[SHAKYR]

Quote: Originally Posted by aholbert32

Other than trolls, who says boxing is dead? I find it funny that many hardcore boxing fans accuse casual fans and the media of saying that. The worst I hear people say is that Boxing isnt as popular as it was in the 80's or 90's and thats true. One other thing: Lets not use PBC as a sign that the networks are buying in to boxing because they arent.....yet. Every deal Haymon has done (CBS, NBC Spike, ESPN) has been a time buy. What that means is Haymon paid the networks for those timeslots. Thats a big difference than Top Rank's deal with HBO or the UFC on Fox, where the networks are paying the promotions to air fights. The good news is that PBC has rated well and its likely that if Haymon puts on more good fights that one or two of those networks will attempt to sign PBC to an exclusive deal and pay Haymon for the fights. Also, because its a time buy, Haymon gets to keep the ad sales dollars which if he continues to get ratings will help cover the costs of the time buys.

I agree with much of what you said but you have to go to some of these boxing sites and see the so-called fans that hang on them forums.

[aholbert32]

Quote: Originally Posted by SHAKYR

I agree with much of what you said but you have to go to some of these boxing sites and see the so-called fans that hang on them forums.

Oh Ok. I avoid those like the plague. Same with the MMA forums on other sites. Combat sports will never die. MMA isnt a niche sport and neither is boxing. People like fights. The UFC has two MAJOR fights coming this summer and their PPV numbers have already been great this year. Boxing is doing great this year with the PBC ratings, good fights like Provodnikov/Matthyse coming up and the biggest fight in a generation on May 2.

Like I said, people like big fights and that will always be the case.

[SHAKYR]

Quote: Originally Posted by aholbert32

Oh Ok. I avoid those like the plague. Same with the MMA forums on other sites. Combat sports will never die. MMA isnt a niche sport and neither is boxing. People like fights. The UFC has two MAJOR fights coming this summer and their PPV numbers have already been great this year. Boxing is doing great this year with the PBC ratings, good fights like Provodnikov/Matthyse coming up and the biggest fight in a generation on May 2. Like I said, people like big fights and that will always be the case.

One of the EA producers said boxing was a niche sport. A few fans and boxers got mad too. This makes you think the producers wasn't passionate about the sport in general.

[RACZILLA]

I would agree it's niche in the sense that when you look at the sports gaming landscape, a majority of the other sports that are successful have a significantly larger audience. The same can be said for MMA.

Neither of these sports rivals something like the NFL (150MM fans in U.S.), NBA, etc. IIRC correctly boxing has something like 17-20MM fans in the U.S. Of course it's much more popular worldwide.

The key difference between MMA and boxing when it comes to video games is that the MMA audience skews a bit younger, which puts it closer to core gaming demos.

Here are some links if you'd like to look through some recent research on the combat sports audience.

http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2012/10/4...-combat-sports
http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/J...s/Up-Next.aspx
http://mmapayout.com/2013/05/survey-...oxing-and-ufc/


I don't mean to suggest a boxing game can't exist or can't be successful, but there are some reasons why we've arrived where we have.