We have all talked about how certain fighter are draws and other fighters are virtually unknown. We argue about who makes the big PPV dollars and who sells out arenas. In the end, what is the point of us talking about it? Does it really matter? We say that it is important b/c it will affect the casual fan and whether or not they buy the fights, which in turn may be bring back more fans, etc.... Perhaps, I'm beng pessimistic, but i've come to accept the fact that Boxing is never again going to be a major sport. I dont think a boxers popularity in the mainstream is ever going to change the face of boxing for any extended period of time. Sure, there will be fighters that capture a little bit of national attention. but in the end, the only people who are going to care are us true boxing fans. i say this b/c in order to enjoy a fight, particularly the boring ones, you have to understand boxing. I'd say on average, 70% of fights are not that exciting. So its hard to really attract new fans to become permanent fans. Great fights are too far and in between. it's not like football and basketball which are pretty much exciting most of the time. it's not hard for a random person to watch a football game. of course, i love to watch most fights, but i can understand why non boxing fans dont care for it. if it is going to cost them $50 to watch an entertaining fight, then why bother. boxing has clearly lost its national luster and it most likely will never regain it for any extended period of time. if these casual/nonboxing fans dont want to watch a fight, the hell with them. one fight is going to change things for a grown man. if you want new fans, you have to get them from child hood. so with all that said, who cares how many PPV sales there are or whether an arena is sold out? whether a fight sells 50K PPV's or 500K PPV's, what is guaranteed is that we will all be part of those sales. all that money talk shouldnt matter to us fans who dont benefit. boxing is never going to die, the fighters will always get paid and we'll always be here no matter how popular or unpopular a fighter is. i know this thread is a bit wordy and all over the place but what do you guys think?
The bolded area is spot on. This is a pretty nice topic I think. I think it is kind of silly to worry about draws, buyrates, attendances and so forth...but it's what you gotta do nowadays. Boxing fans are in the somewhat new spot of recognizing that it's sport is struggling...and any sort of sales information is vital to them at least. I know that even though I think it's stupid, I still put heavy interest in buyrates....just because it gives that false hope that someone could break out and make boxing an in thing again. Only because I want to see the sport surge and go on and it needs to make money in order to do so. It's sad that we've come to this...but I think that sales numbers are becoming as vital to SOME boxing fans as pure ability.
I feel you man. I suppose I'm just thinking more short term when in reality this topic is very important in the long run. I guess we have to ask ourselves is it possible that within 2 or 3 generations from now that boxing fans will be down to literally less than 10% of the US population (if it is not already). Honestly, I believe it will be up to us to make sure our children are huge boxing fans so they can carry on supporting the sport. But realistically speaking, it does seem that in the next 50 - 80 years or so, the number of hard core fans will go down drastically, while other major sports will continue to flourish. As for now, while our generation is around, nothing is going to change. So I suppose my argument is only valid for our present situation, but not for the future.
I don't care about sales . . . I don't care where it happens . . . I don't care about purses and I don't care if it's PPV or not or mow much it cost . . . . . . all I care is to see exciting fights happen. :yep
. . . . my only problem is when good fights happens in places where they are not covered by any big network and we can't see it as it happens . :|
Fans should care about sales. A steady decline in sales, signals a steady decline in popularity. This will, of course, lead to the sport steadily generating less and less money. This means, less fights non ppv fights, a drop in the quality of fighters, and a resulting drop in the overall quality of the sport.
you're right reg. i mentioned that in another post above. i think my original post is mostly for our current generation. however, i can definitely see your point being extremely important in as little as 1 or 2 generations from now.
This is like the media looking at rap sales to tell you whats hot or not. Nothing is stopping me from watching fighters that I want to watch. Cotto, JuanMa, Israel Vasquez, Edison Miranda, Manny Pacquiao. If they kick ass, Im watching. At the same time, Im not going to purchase PPVs like Pacman/Diaz or Casamayor/Marquez when they shouldnt be PPV.