GRAPEVINE, TEXAS – The man with the biggest grin on his face Tuesday at the Gaylord Texan and again at today’s final press conference was easily HBO’s President of Pay Per View Mark Taffet.
“It’s was only Tuesday, I couldn’t believe it,” said Taffet as he watched well over a thousand avid boxing fans fill Ballroom E to watch Manny Pacquiao go through a public workout in advance of Saturday’s near sellout fight against Joshua Clottey from nearby Cowboys Stadium.
“This is the kind of statement that creates a groundswell of support for HBO coming back to Dallas – Fort Worth on a more regular basis,” said Taffet. These are knowledgeable fans. Many drove hours to get here and missed work. Then had to wait in line for three hours just to see Pacquiao shadow box and jump rope.
“We have done 166 pay per view shows in our history and Saturday’s fight is the first PPV from a stadium.”
Taffet said Dallas is regularly among the top pay per view cities in the country for big fights as far as its buy rate.
Dallas – Fort Worth is the fifth largest TV market in the country. The fight will be available via pay per view for residential viewing but not the sports bars and restaurants that normally buy the closed – circuit broadcast. This is HBO standard procedure but it gets input from it’s local cable systems that know what is going on locally in its community.
Taffet is normally on all big fight media tours through major cities to represent the media giant regarding how the fight will be available on HBO; the suggested retail price; and any innovations or new concepts or promotions to help promote the event.
The HBO staff will be checked into the Gaylord and having production meetings by early Thursday, along with putting out fires until Saturday night.
“I can just sense the excitement and anticipation of these fans for the fight Saturday night. I welcome Dallas to the big leagues of professional boxing,” added Taffet.
“Our presentation Saturday night will be very exciting,” Taffet said.”
