MMA struck a deal with CBS for primetime exposure...why can't we get boxing back on network television...and i'm not talking about Antonio Tarver against a taxi cab driver...i'm talking about real fights to get the sport national exposure.
That sucks! But hopefully this will lead to MMA fighters getting paid better, because for all the money the sport makes their purses suck. Its good for the fighters but it pisses me off that so many people don't see what's good about boxing.
Oh God, MMA was on 3 different channels at once yesterday. I'm not sure why young white pseudo tough guys like watching sweaty men wrestle around on the ground, but good for them I suppose.
this sounds like the same line of thought that said mma will never be as big as boxing... im afraid, and disgusted, that it is here to stay..
The networks have tried several times over the past 10 to 15 years. the problem is they wanted top fighters for low money. Ill give you an example. NBC offered Vargas a deal for 5 fights at $2.5 million TOTAL in 1998. Now it was before Vargas won a title but he was just about to get his shot. No smart boxer would ever make that deal, not with a fighter like Vargas that was about to blow up. The Networks wouldnt settle for the Shobox concept that was actaully shopped to at least two networks before landing on Shotime. But in all honesty, who cares??? No one watches Network Tv anyways, which is the reason that CBS went after MMA. MMA is HOT with the 17-30 year old males and CBS has never been able to draw that group. CBS is the channel that my Grandmother and her friends watch
Fools! This is good for boxing, as it will force the sport to compete with MMA for market share, either that or it will die a sad death.
That likely won't happen, each MMA org is run by itself like UFC or Elite XC. So it can govern itself, when promoters control the show it all becomes about them and not the sport. Alot of people hate Dana white because he can be a ***** but he vowed to not let happen to MMA what has happened to boxing.....in other words the promoters sucking the life out of the sport to line their own pockets.
yes... but that very thing IS happening. More organizations will pop up and each will have their own champion, at least thats one good thing coming from the rise of mma, it is fracturing and i hope that leads to somewhat of a downfall....
This is what so many people don't realize. If boxing feels directly threatened by another sport for viewers, then the product will improve. A lot of people speculate one of the reasons so many great fights were made last year was because boxing realized it had to step up the quality of it's product. I hope boxing continues to feel threatened. Would you rather that boxing promoters, networks and organizations felt like they had a lock on viewership and didn't have to raise the bar since they're the only show around?
