Why Did HBO Stop Broadcasting Boxing?

Discussion in 'World Boxing Forum' started by Nigel_Benn, Oct 29, 2022.


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  1. Nigel_Benn

    Nigel_Benn Well-Known Member Full Member

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    What happened?
     
    Nigel_Benn, Oct 29, 2022
    Nigel_Benn, Oct 29, 2022
    #1
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  2. OldSchoolBoxing

    OldSchoolBoxing Boxing Addict Full Member

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    OldSchoolBoxing, Oct 29, 2022
    OldSchoolBoxing, Oct 29, 2022
    #2
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  3. Marcus S.

    Marcus S. Member Full Member

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    I feel like it's mainly because the game passed them by. HBO Boxing kind of lost its luster when streaming services were starting to make their advent into sports programming.

    I know he has his detractors, but boxing matches haven't felt the same without Jim Lampley on the PBP.
     
    Marcus S., Oct 29, 2022
    Marcus S., Oct 29, 2022
    #3
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  4. fencik45

    fencik45 Well-Known Member Full Member

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    Time has passed boxing by, in this country at least. Bordering on totally irrelevant now.
     
    fencik45, Oct 29, 2022
    fencik45, Oct 29, 2022
    #4
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  5. bandeedo

    bandeedo Loyal Member Full Member

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    game of thrones took up all the budget. there wasn't enough money for a boxing section. they made more investing in the series.
    now boxing is too fractured for hbo to be what it once was. everybody wants to be a promoter and they all have contracts with various networks.
     
    bandeedo, Oct 29, 2022
    bandeedo, Oct 29, 2022
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  6. jaytxxl

    jaytxxl Well-Known Member Full Member

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    HBO had decided after the millions they wasted on Andre Berto tuneups that they were finished doing business with Al Haymon. Leaving them only working with Top Rank until ESPN gave him a bigger budget. Then they did a deal with Oscar for GB and K2 for GGG. Ratings wasn’t what they were before and the emergence of PBC made fighters start expecting unrealistic purse demands for lesser comp. At that point they bowed out. I still see them coming back eventually but they’ll wait until the market resets.
     
    Last edited: Oct 29, 2022
    jaytxxl, Oct 29, 2022
    jaytxxl, Oct 29, 2022
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  7. tinman

    tinman Loyal Member Full Member

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    Crawford Spence is supposed to be this absolutely massive once in a generation fight and in 1999 that was a bimonthly regular cable fight on HBO. **** you not, hell you probably remember it, fights like that were made every other month.
     
    tinman, Oct 29, 2022
    tinman, Oct 29, 2022
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  8. drenlou

    drenlou VIP Member Full Member

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    HBO was the best hands down.
     
    drenlou, Oct 29, 2022
    drenlou, Oct 29, 2022
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  9. bandeedo

    bandeedo Loyal Member Full Member

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    yes. boots vs Ortiz would have already happened on a boxing after dark special.
     
    bandeedo, Oct 29, 2022
    bandeedo, Oct 29, 2022
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  10. drenlou

    drenlou VIP Member Full Member

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    Bull**** . Spence-Crawford would have definitely been a TVKO fight.
     
    drenlou, Oct 29, 2022
    drenlou, Oct 29, 2022
    #10
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  11. navigator

    navigator "Billy Graham? He's my man." banned Full Member

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    navigator, Oct 29, 2022
    navigator, Oct 29, 2022
    #11
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  12. kirk

    kirk l l l Staff Member

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    I find it a bit amusing how the forums would always be filled with people talking about how bad HBO was managing its boxing budget, and they always had their defenders.

    Keep in mind, at the time they were the biggest boxing game in town, with their chief rival being SHO at a distant second. So they had the power to play the game how they wanted, for the most part. But they continuously overpaid for garbage fights. So much so that it was legitimately puzzling what they were doing, from a business perspective.

    The forum would be in discussions about it, and there were always people defending the networks, pulling the 'professional' card ("Ya, Im sure joe shmoe on a boxing forum knows how to operate their business better than the actual, professional executives.")

    In the end, is there any doubt that their gross mismanagement of funds played a major role in their exiting the sport.

    What I dont get, is how some ambition and business savvy executive over there hasnt been motivated enough to try and operate the boxing division in the right way. Theres tons of money to be made in boxing if its done properly. Done properly starting with, not overpaying for garbage fights, paying appropriately for good ones, forcing the best and or biggest fights to get made as much as possible.
     
    kirk, Oct 29, 2022
    kirk, Oct 29, 2022
    #12
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  13. tinman

    tinman Loyal Member Full Member

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    Crazy how during the ex-Soviet invasion of the mid to late 2010s that the boxing networks backed all the wrong men.

    They went ALL in on GGG and Loma. Absolute chips on the table risking it all. And then we found out that the fighters they shafted turned out to be the best of the bunch. Kovalev wasnt even getting paid, literally speaking. Beterbiev couldnt get a fight if his life depended on it. Usyk made every concession a man could make. Meanwhile those two guys rode a gravy train and were fed a silver spoon and turned out to be lesser fighters. They backed the wrong men.
     
    tinman, Oct 29, 2022
    tinman, Oct 29, 2022
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  14. Saintpat

    Saintpat Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    Dazn/Eddie Hearn did as much to inflate the market as anyone, probably more. Grossly overpaying for some fights and fighters to try to gain a foothold and ‘corner’ the market.

    Good plan. Didn’t work.
     
    Saintpat, Oct 29, 2022
    Saintpat, Oct 29, 2022
    #14
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  15. Bubba

    Bubba I have no concern whatsoever toward TKO boxing Full Member

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    Showtime might stop broadcasting boxing in 2023.
     
    Bubba, Oct 29, 2022
    Bubba, Oct 29, 2022
    #15
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