How did The Rumble in The Jungle and Thrilla' in Manilla generate hundreds of millions?

So you're unaware of the history of boxing telecasts, and how PPV was preceded by fights shown on closed-circuit, then?

 

...also Manila was simulcast on both closed-circuit and HBO PPV; it was their first one.

 

It was around for over 30 years before "Pay-Per-View" as we know it emerged in the mid eighties. (although PPV was technically born a decade prior, in '75, as noted above)

 

Both fights were also funded by the government of the countries. So no risk to the promoter . I guess it gave Don King a lot of room to do deals around the world.

 

Closed circuit TV involved showing fights on a big screen at movie theaters or in convention centers or any other large gathering place. They set up screens (if they didn't have them). A trailer with all the satellite equipment was brought in. A feed of the fight was sent to those trailers and then wires were strung to projectors aimed at the big screen inside. People bought tickets (like you would a movie ticket) and sat in folding chairs or the seating in a sports arena and watched the fight.

Closed circuit broadcasts tended to make more than PPV broadcasts because each person had to buy a ticket. When PPV began, you could order the fight at home and invite 10 people over. In that case, though, the promoters are collecting one fee instead of 10.

So a fight might only sell 200,000 on PPV in the U.S., but every house watching it has a half a dozen or more people watching.

So when you hear how much a closed circuit sold, it's the global figure and it is how many individual people actually attended the show and watched. PPV totals today usually just talk about the number sold in the United States, and it's how many HOMES bought it, not how many people watched. So the numbers are always MUCH smaller.

Also, closed circuit broadcasts were also shown all over the world. Fighters didn't have TV deals. Back then, promoters could sell closed circuit broadcasts to any establishment anywhere in the world that wanted to see it. That's why old closed circuit broadcasts didn't tend to have commentators from a specific channel that televised sports. You'd often find celebrities calling the fights (because they were promoting an upcoming movie they had that was about to be released).

I attended a couple of closed circuit broadcasts - Ali-Holmes, Leonard-Hagler, Spinks-Cooney, Tyson-Spinks and Leonard-Hearns II.

Sometimes, there would be a closed circuit fight in an arena, and the promoter would show a live card in the arena. And then, after the last fight, a screen would play the live closed circuit fight from wherever. (Like Norton-Quarry took place at Madison Square Garden. After the Norton fight, the lights were dimmed and on the screens in MSG the Ali-Wepner fight live from Cleveland was shown.)

They were a lot of fun. The problem in some locations, though, was if they set up a screen and brought in satellite trucks, sometimes there would be technical problems. When I watched Holmes-Ali, they had audio and no picture. Then they got the picture, but it was only in black and white. People got angry when there was just audio, and grumbled when the picture had no color, but eventually everyone calmed down.

The first PPV I purchased, I believe, was the Holyfield-Douglas fight in 1990. It was nicer watching at home because I could record it. But it's more fun watching at a big arena.

 

^ Excellent explanation, Dubblechin!

When did closed-circuit broadcasts start? Post WW2?
The only one I ever got to go to was Hagler-Duran, when I was 16, at the Municipal Auditorium in Eureka, CA.

 

They started in the 1950s, I believe.

 

I attended the Leonard-Hager closed circuit at Municipal Auditorium the night I moved to Nashville for my first job out of college.

Probably held 4,000 or so with floor seating. And I literally could not find a seat. I finally just sat at the far end on the concrete stairs and after a few minutes a group in the middle of one of the rows noticed me and waved me over because they had an empty seat.

Also saw Duran-Leonard I and Leonard-Hearns and Hagler-Duran and some others this way ... at that time I’d drive with someone an hour each way to Birmingham (living in Alabama at the time) with some people and we’d watch.

It was like going to the fight. Some people cheering for each guy. The entire arena reacting to a knockdown or a big flurry or a big punch. Cool experience.

 

very insightful, thank you.

one question: who did the live commentating during those closed circuit events?
did it come from the event itself (on site)?
or did they have a conférencier in the closed circuit location, who announced from there?

 

I saw Leonard-Hagler, too, on closed circuit. I forgot to add that. I was in college. My roommate was a power lifter. He was asked to work as security. He asked if I wanted to work, too. I didn't look like a power lifter, but I agreed. So I got to go and watch the fight for free.

 

The commentary was part of the broadcast. Bob Sheridan did a lot of them back then. He wasn't affiliated with any network. Don Dunphy, when he was basically retired, did calls on a number of them.

When I saw the Ali-Holmes fight, for some reason Kris Kristofferson (singer/songwriter) was one of the announcers. He didn't know anything about boxing.

If a network was going to show a fight later on TV, they'd often add their own commentary later. Or their commentary team would call the fight live from ringside and they'd just keep the recording until they showed the fight later. But the closed circuit broadcast would have random people because it was being shown all over the globe.

By the late 80s, they tended to stop doing that. I remember the Leonard-Hagler closed circuit had Gil Clancy and Tim Ryan. They were the CBS team.

 

Additionally, they were both kleptocratic dictators (Mobutu and Marcos) who had no qualms about completely looting the country to get whatever they wanted.

 

Great post.