Good article on the possibility of boxing going back to network/terrestrial tv

**generalbulldog** · 05-01-2011 06:01 AM

An excerpt of the article and I agree on it. Something I've talked about before on here.

“What happened to boxing is that it went off terrestrial TV and it was put onto the likes of HBO and Showtime and so it went away from mainstream TV,” McKelvey said. “That means it went away from advertisers’ interests. They’re most interested in reoccurring schedules, sports like NFL and NBA, Tier One sports that are on in every day homes.

“So unfortunately for boxing, it went off mainstream TV and it got put on these [premium cable] channels, where it became a niche. The advertisers don’t want to buy into that as much.”

CBS gives Pacquiao-Mosley a prime-time push - Boxing - Yahoo! Sports
Hardcore boxing fans has criticized the Pac-Mosley fight and so have I, but what hardcore fans are not paying attention to is that a boxing program (fightcamp 360) is helping to promote the match and the sport itself on network tv (CBS) where boxing was once a major sport. If the match itself is successful or does good numbers, advertisers and tv executives of these networks may try to have boxing matches itself return to network tv in the US. That itself is good for the sport.

The bottom line for Top Rank is to use Pacquiao as sort of a Trojan horse to get fans who haven’t watched boxing regularly and lure advertisers who drifted away in the 1980s back to the sport.

If the May 7 fight is as successful as Arum believes it will be, it will open the doors for a return to network television.

**0james0** · 05-01-2011 12:55 PM

PPV has and is killing boxing.

Every fighter wants to be the headline and so you end up with crap cards with one decent fight.

**Master** · 05-01-2011 09:38 PM

I wish it goes back to free TV just so a new generation of fans can come to the sport we all love.

**marbleheadmaui** · 05-02-2011 02:21 AM

Originally Posted by 0james0

PPV has and is killing boxing.

Every fighter wants to be the headline and so you end up with crap cards with one decent fight.

Yup. TV took the first chunk out of it in the 1950's shrinking the sport dramatically, putting the local fight clubs out of business and PPV has concentrated the dollars among the top what? 5-10 guys in the sport?

It's a huge problem, but I don't know what can be done about it. Our culture has changed and I'm just not sure what consumer products companies would want to handle the blowback from the doo-gooder-activist world if they sponsored a sport where men die at the hands of another several times a year.

I mean if people went crazy about Michael Vick and dogfighting...

**marbleheadmaui** · 05-02-2011 02:21 AM

Thanks or the article. You're right, ANYTHING that gets boxing back in people's minds is a good thing for the sport.

**0james0** · 05-02-2011 11:12 AM

The biggest sporting event in the world is probably the super bowl or maybe the world cup final. Imagine if they decided that they were the biggest events and so decided they would be PPV. It would cause uproar!

Yes the sports would still make lots of money, but the advertising structure means it is not needed. If only boxing could take a leaf out of that book.

**Master** · 05-02-2011 02:20 PM