Theory on why TV is turning its back on boxing

Out of my 10 closest friends, only 1 has a casual interest in boxing. All 10 love their football. Thats why it aint on the telly.

 

So many bad matches on TV also.

 

there is money in boxing, the fans will always win

 

Quite possibly right with the BBC, although they have a chattering class Guardianista culture that is all pervasive. Perhaps no coincidence that the head of ITV1 is now Peter Fincham, ex BBC and no fan of boxing. It is supposedly a commercial decision to end coverage, but they threw away six million audiences for Khan at 11p.m. Think what Kotelnik and Barrera might have got with a 9pm start, or if they had organised their own ppv.
The ppv for Hatton and viewing figures on ITV show the audience is still there. It is inconceivable that somebody will not make moves to tap into this, and the major networks will probably be left asking themselves, "why didn't we see that."
Setanta were getting great figures for their boxing, and the bunce show from all accounts. They have gone down the pan because Richard Scudamore had ESPN cosying up to his back pocket when Setanta thought they had a deal in place to keep the network afloat. The tax issue upsetting the backers was a red herring. Setanta were ultimately sent to the wall by Scudamore's intransigence.
Regrettably, we are the ones who suffer as boxing fans. But the sport will continue. Frank Warren and Mick Hennessy have good products, and there are people out there who will realise this.

 

Hey carrotcruncher do you have anymore on this. Thats an interesting view you got there. I always thought it was a bit fishy the way they went bust. When last week they managed to get backing

 

Nonsense, these decision are made off the back of rating and ratings alone. Every ounce of budget gets plunged in obtain prem league matches, everything else is secondary. Boxing is a cult sport now and will continue to be, hence tv bosses wont shell out big bucks for it!

 

Above the line: it's about ratings, boxing just isn't that popular. There are simply too many 'men' who want to watch other, richer, 'men' play with their balls, rather than watching them beat the hell out of each other.

Below the line: boxing isn't popular because as a society we have become increasingly pussified. 'Men' use hair gel & face moisturizer, buy £300 jeans, wear frilly shirts, and copy David Beckham's latest tatoos.

We are programmed to be politically correct, and hyper-sensitive to everything. So the idea that its actually 'ok' to watch two men hit each other in the head until one is unable to continue, just generally sit well with the general public. Therefore, trying to 'sell ' boxing to them, has become an increasingly difficult task.

 

Because - whether people want to admit or not - the sport is in decline and more casual fans have turned off to it. Sports fans are interested in competition so when you have high profile fighters like Hatton and Calzaghe in so many uncompetitive fights, it's going to cost the sport credibility and fans. I'm in no way suggesting these two are the sole reason for the sport's decline, but they are the most obvious illustration of it in this country's recent times.

 

Good post.

Although I dont agree with it all mind to be honest.

I got a bit of hair gel on now just because I felt like today - not every day - but today i have.

Got nothing against £300 jeans either - although I cant afford to splash out that much on jeans - my most expensive jeans are about £80 - some nice dark Levi's.

Although I never wear frilly shirts and pink shirts - its too ***gotry for me.

And this copying David Beckham lark - is sadder than sad.

Who would want to copy that *****?

I'm a different breed than a soft ***** like Beckham and as such I have never been able to idrntify with the posing gimp.

However certain types of men do.

There was this one guy - who I seen walking around town alot - he was quite clearly copying Beckham.

It was a few years back - when Beckham really was at the peak of his media attention.

This guy had decided it was "cool to be a Dad" and had had a kid just so that he could get the tattoo on his back of the kids name and date of birth

and he had that big angel with wings spread on his back too what a complete tooser

now there is nothing wrong with having a kid and being a Dad

but this guy thought he was real cool and only youngish - 20 to 23 yrs old -

if it werent for Beckham having kids and being a superstar

that guy would have put off having kids and just enjoyed being young with the lads

but he decided becasue of Beckham it was "cool to be a Dad"

complete tosser

 

It seems strange when I think about it now, but when I was much younger my Mum and Dad would regularly watch the big fights on Saturday night on ITV.

The last fight my Mum watched was Eubank v Watson. After the events of that night my Mum swore she would never watch a fight again and hasn't.

She has no interest in the sport now whatsover which is why it is strange for me to think that there was a time when she would enjoy watching it.

I don't know if this had the same affect on many women but just thought I'd mention it.

 

edit

 

Its simple, other sports generate more profit than Boxing.

 

All the above points have contributed.

Also the fact that a lot of people these days prefer to watch UFC than Boxing (if they only watch one combat sport).

 

I only wear gel out of all of them, I wouldn't even think of spending more than £30 on a pair of jeans and even that is at a push.