Foot In The Door: Has “Knockout” Created New Opportunities?

For the show’s creator, reality television program “Knockout” is the first step to bringing Boxing back to the main stream .

Boxing has proven to be a lucrative sport throughout its history. In the 70’s, Muhammad Ali was the cash cow. In the 80’s, it was Sugar Ray Leonard. In the 90’s, it was Mike Tyson. In the late 90’s and early 2000’s, it was Oscar De La Hoya and it continues presently with Manny Pacquiao and the world’s highest paid athlete, Floyd Mayweather Jr.

What they all have in common is that they are superstars and not just boxers. They are household names which equates to big fan bases and drawing power and we know that television makes stars.

Whether Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant or LeBron James are on a winning team or not, people will come out to watch them play.

Kim Kardashian causes the paparazzi to go crazy and people always ask why? The reason is because she is a celebrity and once again that creates a fan base.

All of these names are mainstream in America but ask the average person who is the featherweight champion or any champion outside of these households names and they can’t answer.

Outside of HBO and Showtime, no one in recent years has been able to make a mainstream Boxing superstar. There hasn’t been a production company to date that has focused on this very lucrative sports segment until now.

Combat sports have been growing at a rapid pace in recent years. Vince McMahon owns WWE films and makes his wrestlers household names with cross branding through shows such as Total Divas on the E Network and has film superstars such as John Cena and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who was 2013’s highest paid actor.

Dana White does the same with UFC films and various TV shows for his fighters, but there are very few boxers with television shows, movie roles or endorsements and Boxing is one of the world’s oldest sports, if not the oldest.

The buzz that Floyd Mayweather Sr. and Ruben Guerrero generated on the set of Knockout generated over 2 million views of their first altercation alone, and that proves that mainstream America wants to take a closer look at Boxing.

With all of this positive momentum, the creator of Knockout is currently in negotiations to do a fight night and bring more shows like Knockout into Americas’ living rooms.

Shows such as Fighters’ Wives and Next Mile which introduces America to their favorite fighters and their families in a way never seen before on television and that will also showcase up and coming fighters to establish them in the mainstream media.

The creator is also having discussions with various sponsors to cross promote products that are non-conventional in the Boxing world.

Imagine boxers such as Floyd Mayweather Jr. doing a bank commercial or an ad for a luxury home builder, cars, or even a toothpaste commercial. High level fighters such as Mayweather would be a natural for sponsors looking to increase their market share.

When Mayweather fights there are over a million set of eyes in the U.S. watching his fights and there were over 2 million watching him when he fought Canelo Alvarez, which also made Alvarez a legitimate superstar in the U.S.

While he was already a superstar in Mexico and has contracts with U.S. based companies such as Under Armour and Everlast, Alvarez could be the new face of many other products.

These fighters have millions of fans and millions of followers on various social media networks, proving that their drawing power and reach to a large extent has gone untapped.

Knockout executive producer and creator Steven Marcano feels that the millions of fans and followers that these fighters have behind them should be capitalized on like any other sports superstar or celebrity.

Marcano revealed that while his vision and plans are still in their early stages, his plans have received very positive responses and are coming close to becoming reality.

If they come to fruition this will be great for all parties involved in Boxing. Promoters will be able to build stars quicker, managers and advisers will be able to add revenue streams to their clients quicker.

Most importantly, the fans and the sport will be able to enjoy increased TV time with additional forms and outlets of entertainment for the boxing and non-boxing fan via reality shows, documentaries and also for more live events to be nationally televised.

This will help create more superstars when combined with the work of the advisers, managers and promoters.