Showtime/CBS to get Pacquiao-Mosley Fight instead of HBO

[Kev]

Is this Bob just trying to cash in more by having more people buy the fight? How could CBS even produce a show like 24/7? CBS is not going to have the same effect 24/7 has. Regular TV has limitations on stuff. So Bob wants to get even more people interested, more non boxing fans. Anything to suck all the cash out of Pac. Maybe because he is worried that the HBO PPV won't do huge numbers do to the lack of such a punching bag opponent for Pac? This is crap.

Margarito-Pac was considered to be a shit fight by boxing fans and it still did 1.15 million ppv buys. Clottey-Pac was considered a shit fight and it did 700k buys also.

And of course Arum wants to tap into the market of non-boxing fans because they are the ones that make up the bulk of PPV buys not the hardcore boxing fans. A 24/7 type show on CBS will be limited due to censors but will reach an audience of 115 million whereas HBO only has an audience of 28 million. More exposure=more money. And boxing has always been about the money.

To be honest a CBS preview show is a lot more exciting to me than the 24/7 now. It's been done now, over and over and over, the exact same format every time, I find it tiresome. There is only such much I can listen to that guy's distinctive voice overs before I've had enough.

Let's see a similar show put together by a different team.

I like Showtime.

[Dizaster]

Is this Bob just trying to cash in more by having more people buy the fight? How could CBS even produce a show like 24/7? CBS is not going to have the same effect 24/7 has. Regular TV has limitations on stuff. So Bob wants to get even more people interested, more non boxing fans. Anything to suck all the cash out of Pac. Maybe because he is worried that the HBO PPV won't do huge numbers do to the lack of such a punching bag opponent for Pac? This is crap.

Margarito-Pac was considered to be a shit fight by boxing fans and it still did 1.15 million ppv buys. Clottey-Pac was considered a shit fight and it did 700k buys also.

And of course Arum wants to tap into the market of non-boxing fans because they are the ones that make up the bulk of PPV buys not the hardcore boxing fans. A 24/7 type show on CBS will be limited due to censors but will reach an audience of 115 million whereas HBO only has an audience of 28 million. More exposure=more money. And boxing has always been about the money.

To be honest a CBS preview show is a lot more exciting to me than the 24/7 now. It's been done now, over and over and over, the exact same format every time, I find it tiresome. There is only such much I can listen to that guy's distinctive voice overs before I've had enough.

Let's see a similar show put together by a different team.

I like Showtime.

I 100% agree with you on the 24/7... ESPECIALLY when it a fighter they have already featured on it.... It is slightly interesting the first time around where you get to see inside someone's camp... But even then 95% of the camps are utterly boring...
I found Pac's interesting the first time, but after that it is the same old stuff...

The only real reason I watch them anymore is because it is often a fight I am really hopped up for and excited, and my anticipation for it being only a month away makes me want to get even further in the mood for it, by watching the 24/7... And the slightly satisfy my need for more, but are now far from entertaining...

I think a BIG change that could be made to them to increase their value in regards to hyping the fight, which is what you want, is to feature more of the in-the-ring story that has lead up to the two fighting... At least a total of 1 episode, even spread out over the 4, should be dedicated to working through the highlights and recent lowlights of each fighters careers and what this fight is going to mean in their career....

I mean, that is why we love these fighters and want to watch them bout against each other... Not because of how they train or what they eat or where the live or their conversations with trainers and managers, but the drama and journey that has gone on for them in the ring!

But that aspect is completely ignored, obviously on purpose because it was decided 24/7 was to be strictly about their month leading up to the fight, but like you said, time for a change! And some focus back on their inside ring exploits to get you pumped for the inside ring action to come is exactly what this series needs to get me interested again...

[mafiajoey]

So maybe you guys are just excited to hear someone other then HBO hype a Pac fight? Typical Pac nut huggers. I guess Showtime will have fresh ideas on how to sell everyone on Mosley when in reality he's a punching bag. But they have already distracted you and now you focus on the excitement "Showtime" brings when in reality it's not HBO we are bored with...It's Pac

[iamasadlittleboy]

I think the Top Rank v GBP rivalry will grow even bigger, showtime v HBO cards will probably become a regular thing too...

[Dench]

I think HBO's losing the grip on boxing, and that boxing is slowly becoming a sport that can reach not only the hardcore fans but the regular viewers and sport lovers. If Top Rank's move for Pac-Sugar to be handled by CBS will be successful, then it will empower the promoters and fighters to make good, exciting fights in the future without being tied to HBO's demands. For a fact, HBO turned down a couple of good fights, and that hurts boxing fans. But now, CBS is opening up an alternative to HBO PPV. If this will be successful HBO will be forced to create more intriguing fights, more competitive bouts. generally, this is good for boxing.

[fan johnny]

I think HBO's losing the grip on boxing, and that boxing is slowly becoming a sport that can reach not only the hardcore fans but the regular viewers and sport lovers. If Top Rank's move for Pac-Sugar to be handled by CBS will be successful, then it will empower the promoters and fighters to make good, exciting fights in the future without being tied to HBO's demands. For a fact, HBO turned down a couple of good fights, and that hurts boxing fans. But now, CBS is opening up an alternative to HBO PPV. If this will be successful HBO will be forced to create more intriguing fights, more competitive bouts. generally, this is good for boxing.

Dude... The bottom line is, it is all about money. The laws of supply and demand are in effect in boxing just as it is everywhere else.

There is only a small chunk of budget networks have set aside for Boxing. HBO and Showtime have been bidding on fights for years. Showtime is just being a little more aggressive with its budget in an effort to boost it's profits with some salesmanship from Arum on this particular fight. Arum plays these two against each other whenever he has somebody to sell. Since nobody else has the budget to win the purse bids for mega fights these two are usually in the lime light of boxing. Sometimes if the promoter can put together a package, he will buy the time from the networks to put on the show himself. The magic that makes it all possible is ratings. When boxing personalities draw in advertisers there are alternatives for Promoters. One major factor of why boxing is not on the front page is because most of boxing's promoters are crap. There two most prominent promoters in the game right now are Top Rank and GBP. When it comes to money, don't really even look at a fighter unless he is a champion or obviously championship material. If the promoters were better at selling a fighter, boxing would be more main stream. One problem promoters have is that fighters often don't back up what the promoter sells in the ring and another problem is the ranking system (ah... there isn't a definitive one! There are like six primary ranking organizations). It's not an easy job for a promoter. The 1 Million plus PPV fights do a lot of damage to HBO and Showtimes budgets so they are only capable of doing it so many times in a year.

Where these networks could do a lot for boxing is help build cross-over stars, by talking about the fighters while telecasting other sports shows. It takes exceptional people with a lot of foresight to be able to market that way. CBS is certainly in a better position that HBO to do that But HBO does a pretty damn good job of putting on a show!

rambling....

[TigerFan]

Here's a good article on to move to Showtime/CBS

Max Boxing - Main Lead - How HBO Lost Manny Pacquiao