Sixty million dollars sure sounds like a lot of money. Being that this is the relative figure that HBO spends on boxing on a yearly basis, you?d expect them to be able to churn out some truly great match-ups throughout the year. While some are very good, there are others that fall relatively short in terms of competitiveness and overall intrigue. In looking over past figures in regards to the programming on the ?Heart and Soul of Boxing?, there seems to be some sort of inconsistency as it pertains to the regularity of boxing on the premium network over the past decade.
Here are some facts and figures for you mongrels:
2000 ? 28 Boxing Cards – 3 or 4 Pay-Per-View 2001- 29 Boxing Cards ? 6 Pay-Per-View 2002 ? 23 Boxing Cards ? 4 Pay-Per-View 2003 ? 23 Boxing Cards ? 6 Pay-Per-View 2004 – 21 Boxing Cards ? 5 Pay-Per-View 2005 ? 22 Boxing Cards ? 6 Pay-Per-View 2006 ? 32 Boxing Cards ? 9 Pay-Per-View 2007 ? 28 Boxing Cards ? 8 Pay-Per-View
According to various sources, HBO?s Boxing Program utilizes upwards of about $60 million in order to fund their events. Minus the Pay-Per-View shows, they averaged about 19 shows per year.
Based on my calculations, should the figure of $60 million be correct in terms of projected spending budget, there is plenty more that the ?Heart and Soul of Boxing? can potentially offer to their subscribers. Here is the list of how one might go ahead and break down the budget.
12 HBO Boxing After Dark Shows at $500,000 a piece = $6 million total
12 HBO World Championship Boxing Shows at $2.5 million a piece = $30 million total
4 HBO ?Premium? World Championship Boxing Shows at $6 million a piece = $24 million total
Maximum of Two HBO Pay-Per-View Cards = First Week of May and Second Week of September
One must remember that showcasing rising stars on Boxing After Dark cards creates much more exposure than pitting them on Pay-Per-View undercards by leaps and bounds. Even the lowest rated HBO boxing program tends to average about 1 million viewers which is at least twice to three times the amount that tune into the Pay-Per-View shows. Should each Boxing After Dark card be mandated to offer three bouts, it produces plenty of available slots for some of the top prospects that boxing has to offer.
Why not regularly schedule a ?B.A.D.? card for every third week of the month throughout the year? In fact, the bouts themselves don?t even have to fall on a Saturday. Friday or even Sunday afternoons would be just fine.
Next we have twelve World Championship Boxing shows which should be showcased once a month involving champions within boxing?s most exciting divisions. These cards should always televise two bouts in which the undercard combatants compete within the same division as the headliner in order to assist the viewer in tying in potential match-ups in the future. The money for the card is already preset so that there will be no bargaining at the table in terms of these events. The budget has already been laid out and fighters, promoters, or managers can take it or leave it.
Where else might they go, an independently produced and promoted Pay-Per-View? ESPN? Versus? Showtime?
Let them go ahead with it… they’ll eventually come back to the network with the deepest pockets.
The final piece within the budget is showcasing fights that might originally be seen on HBO Pay-Per-View. Bouts such as Miguel Cotto vs. Antonio Margarito or Manny Pacquiao vs. any live opponent would now be able to be seen by the masses. Spread them out evenly throughout the year and it would give boxing fans something to look forward to every three months or so. Once again, if the fighters feel as though they deserve more, let them and their promoters produce and market their own Pay-Per-View shows.
In regards to the two HBO produced Pay-Per-View shows per year, it should comprise of a main event voted in by the BWAA. For the most part, the Boxing Writers Association of America has a solid grasp of what fights provide an intriguing storyline in addition to providing historical significance as it pertains to fight importance. For each May and September bout, nationwide press tours and 24/7 shows could be utilized to create the necessary atmosphere to stir a boxing buzz that should last throughout the year. Allowing these members to vote in the headline match-up for these mega events would guarantee positive press leading up to each extravaganza which might only assist in the promotion.
While this layout is obviously somewhat primitive being that it?s a general outline that could potentially be followed, it would provide some systematic way for the premium cable network to allocate their funds. With a preset amount of spending for each show, there would be no questioning as to why a certain promoter might be receiving more than their peers. Spread it out evenly and force the participants to make due with what is on the table.
HBO is the player that has the power position and they should act like it.
28 shows on regular HBO and two Pay-Per-Views per year sounds pretty reasonable to me?
Thoughts, ideas, questions?
