Thread: Do you think that some of Haymon's fighters regret having to leave HBO?

When Floyd left, people assumed there was going to be this huge shift of power and viewer interest towards Showtime. Hasn't really worked out that way.

For instance, sometimes I hear people (outside of this forum) say that Bradley would be better off under Haymon and Showtime. Why would he? Why join a carousel of fighters in your division when you can easily stand out more on HBO and most likely get a bigger piece of the pie?

Imagine Terence Crawford fighting in the Haymon/Showtime/PBC circuit. I doubt he'd be getting the push he's getting on HBO. His name would have been lumped in with the rest of the guys in his weight class thus diminishing his shine.

I guy like Keith Thurman would be a much bigger star with HBO at this point of his career (even with his flaws), especially considering their reputation for hyping up young stars, not to mention his personality.

HBO looks so much better on screen also. Showtime broadcasts always looks like 720p standard definition.

Originally Posted by Sleepwalker

When Floyd left, people assumed there was going to be this huge shift of power and viewer interest towards Showtime. Hasn't really worked out that way.

For instance, sometimes I hear people (outside of this forum) say that Bradley would be better off under Haymon and Showtime. Why would he? Why join a carousel of fighters in your division when you can easily stand out more on HBO and most likely get a bigger piece of the pie?

Imagine Terence Crawford fighting in the Haymon/Showtime/PBC circuit. I doubt he'd be getting the push he's getting on HBO. His name would have been lumped in with the rest of the guys in his weight class thus diminishing his shine.

I guy like Keith Thurman would be a much bigger star with HBO at this point of his career (even with his flaws), especially considering their reputation for hyping up young stars, not to mention his personality.

HBO looks so much better on screen also. Showtime broadcasts always looks like 720p standard definition.

Part of the problem is that with PBC, you're building a brand so it helps the brand if its stars continue to be stars, which means most of the time matching them softly. It is not the focus of PBC to build stars. Look at any of the careers of A sides that are with PBC. It's one of the main conflicts with their model. The advisor/manager/network are all one and the same, which exudes conflict. At the same time, if they are paying the fighters more it might make it worth it for the fighter to make more money and not be a star.

Free fights on mainstream TV means more people are aware of these fighters under Al. They are getting paid a lot of money. So the answer would be no.

They're getting paid massive money for fighting "bums." Every fighters dream.

They're making at least the same money they would have been making on HBO/Showtime in the pre-PBC era.

You can argue whether being on HBO or being on network TV gives you a bigger profile, probably the latter though.

The more interesting question is what happens to PBC. Haymon is only able to get the TV dates and pay the purses he's paying because the whole operation is being bankrolled by an investment fund. If ratings don't start to improve or if the investment fund makes big losses with the main part of its business or changes management then they may pull the plug on PBC. In which case what happens then?

I'm not saying PBC is going to bomb but Haymon doesn't seem to be making many 50/50 fights and the whole enterprise doesn't seem to be gaining any momentum. It's one uninspiring card after another with no snowballing media coverage or viewer interest. So far anyway.

Give it time. This is a medium to long term project with the aim to bring in big money once mainstream fans have been hooked. They will then start charging ppv and bring in millions.

There will always be some fighters that regret leaving HBO but if you can't get paid thn exposure is the name of the game. You have to be seen before someone invests in you.