ESPN is talking about cutting boxing as well.
This all relates back to the proliferation of titles- because sanctioning fees drive up costs- and the PBC business model of throwing stupid money at fighters. The trend that they started of overpaying everybody to attract names has done a lot of damage. They have been paying Ennis over a million for filler fights- in essence that is what they have been- so what is he going to demand to fight for a title or against somebody that might challenge him?
I have had conversations with fighters that, for example, came up with GBP, became champions and were making good money. They bought into the PBC allure and made good money for a fight or two, then watched they career stagnate because they couldn't get fights. PBC couldn't afford to put on fights, plain and simple. The business model didn't turn a profit and the OPM ran out.
I believe it is DAZN that recently reported that they have lost huge amounts of money over the last few years. They are throwing money at fights that have no chance to recoup. On the other side of the coin, promotional companies like Top Rank and GBP that are playing with their own money and try to turn a profit get labelled as cheapskates. But if you have a fighter that you are trying to build, you will go to TR or GBP- especially TR- because they know how to do it and run shows that he can fight on.
In my opinion boxing is going to go back to local promoters building fighters that draw locally. This will lead to a resurgence of locally televised fights and, hopefully, more local opportunities to be active and a more sensible financial expectation for all parties involved.
Bookmarks