http://ringtv.craveonline.com/news/...ing-brand-expands-to-live-streaming-platforms Shrewd move by GBP to use the Ring as the chief entity. If any employees of either read this forum out of boredom, my one piece of advice would be to also get on PlayStation and Xbox. App development costs are higher, and certification is a minor pain but it has been worth every penny to other niche streaming service. But seeing GBP really embrace the platform is really exciting, many people may not realize it yet but this is a big step in revitalizing boxing. This will prove to be a much bigger deal in the long run than purchasing airtime on minor unknown cable channels. Hopefully by using Ring as the lead entity they can get other promoters on board as well. If this goes well, and viewership comes as it should, monetization will follow and with it the ability to make compelling matches outside of HBO's budget. By the time fighters get to HBO they will already be marketable commodities. Losing also will not be as big a deal if people will have the opportunity to see fighters perform in legit comeback fights. Lets hope Ring and GBP handle this well, because if they do its the beginning of an exciting new era of boxing and eventually matchmaking. :good
I'm afraid the only people who will get excited and watch will be the same ones who would have found a way to watch before this. I'm not sure it actually increases boxing viewership. Still not complaining at all. Complaining about this is like complaining about PBC. Don't like? Don't watch... More boxing is always good. Still, annoying that The Ring is owned by GBP. Such a conflict of interest that the "Bible of Boxing" is no longer nearly as relevant or wholly trustworthy.
Besides streaming fights with Ring GBP also just signed a new tv deal and is part of 2 big ppv cards this year. Oscar has taken some hits in the past year or so but he hasn't given up, he's being serious about moving forward.
That is true. I'm actually impressed with the recovery after GBP had the rug swept from underneath them.
In the long run viewership will increase because accessibility and convenience will increase. Building streaming brands is a lot more important than getting on niche TV. (BET, Spike, Bounce, TRU) Plus cost effectiveness - it is a LOT cheaper to stream, and incidentally the quality is now also higher if desired. Scheduling is easier, because you are hosting so you can hold an event outside of TV schedule. Revenue can be easier, because in-stream advertising is hard to block or fast forward through and can be directly correlated with geolocation and eye count for advertisers. It will also lead to more PPVs, not $60 but with the 50% to cable carriers cut out and low distribution overhead, a $5 event could produce a HBO BAD level purse just selling to the hardcore. This will end up providing a lot of exposure and financial breathing room. Just being on streaming will not attract a ton of new fans (though if they eventually get on consoles, that will ), rather increasing revenue and exposure opportunities and the ability to make better matches that comes with it is what will attract new fans. This is not just because its boxing by any stretch, this is the wave of future entertainment on the screen period. Cable cutting is increasing, yet many other niche segments have flourished already in this transition. Just for one example, theres a service that has half a million subs at $10/month that just streams foreign cartoons with subtitles. Streaming , particularly to set top devices and consoles is a great equalizer in terms of being able to present and monetize content. Having a legit effort to bring boxing to this platform will pay enormous long term dividends. We will not see the full benefits I speak of for some time, probably 3 years or so. But it is looking like we will get there, which is a great thing for the sport and the fans.
Streaming will be great. I never had cable, and the free TV had no way of purchasing PPV fights. So I'd often find myself looking for any sports bar that had the fight on that night, which is increasingly rare.
Great news, I just hope they make it a reasonable subscription fee rather than per-fight basis, by far the most succesful model for online streaming of content. Look at Netflix and Spotify and the success they're having, if you can give fans access to content they want for a reasonable price that's more convenient/better than through "other" methods, it will pay off in the end.
I think for boxing, sub fees will be difficult due to the nature of the business. Financials are always handled on a promotion by promotion basis, and I think it is difficult to expect that to change. However for lower and mid tier cards, advertising revenue should be sufficient in the mid and even near term to at least match the FS1/FNF level. Plus residuals from replays and VOD will also be not insignificant. I do no think we will have to pay to see prospects square off anytime soon, however I think there is a market for say hypothetically Andrade v Charlo, Jhonson v Stevens rematch, etc to possibly be PPVed and priced accordingly. ($5 or under, think of it like an Iphone app). You dont have to sell a million, just some tens of thousands and you have a purse above FNF and below HBO - which is the mid-market segment that is so instrumental in developing legit names via tough matchups that is currently absent in most divisions. As a general trend, monetization in the modern media marketplace is about increasing monetization towards smaller audiences that genuinely GAF. I have heard reports even of regular TV shows not getting cancelled due to Amazon digital sales, especially expensive to create shows on niche networks. Day 1 digital has already made an impact even for regular TV. The upside, is to compete in this type of marketplace improving quality is of utmost importance. It re-establishes the link between consumer and provider. It doesnt matter if its only $5 , if noone wants it it wont sell period. Also, it opens the opportunity for greater coordination with advertisers. Imagine a boxing card that had a free voucher come with every case of some beer. Easy to imagine how say a Ruslan/Rios matchup might get a lot of viewers in an arrangement like this. Maybe the beer company only pays a couple dollars per voucher. Pretty easy to imagine though, that a million or more people would conceivably buy a case of beer for it. Of course I am getting ahead of myself here, like I said before we wont be seeing more advanced monetization for some time still. But it looks like it will come eventually, and the sooner the better. PBC has proven not to have the matchmaking to be the savior we hoped for, and HBO cannot (or, will not) provide the mid and lower level ecosystem required to keep the sport competitive and healthy.
I don't know man, I think to start off they just need to provide a subscription fee and have all the fights available through that. You need to first build your brand, I think they should maybe even offer a freemium model, say lower-end fights will be available to everyone and the bigger names will be for subscribers only. When they've built their brand and things have kicked off, then they can finally think about charging for individual fights. Just my two cents.
Initially as I understand it, the GBP LA fight club and anything else will be completely free. Anything else I speak of is speculation about future. If there is a market for additional paid content, as long as the infrastructure is there - we will, as inevitably as death and taxes, also get paid content. Eventually. But for now its all free, and I would imagine that things like LA Fight Club and GB Live, and FNF type things will always be free.
Great for us, not great for building commodifiable stars or for casuals who won't seek out anything like this when they already have so much to watch on HBO, Showtime and countless PBC shows.
Who knows? Honestly even out of the gate, I expect it to be less niche than boxing on Spike, BET, or TRU.
I think its the opposite, its actually easier to get new people into a quality product on a set top stream these days than it is to get attention for channel#98757663 I think once this catches some traction , which wont be right away, and then once it gets on consoles we will see a return of the casual fan. Which, honestly I dont think really exists currently in large numbers. Whenever HBO finally integrates live sports into their GO app for consoles, this will help a lot as well.
