By Cliff Rold

Before 2015 is over, boxing will have been seen on US network television in prime time five times on NBC. 

Let that roll around in the ol’ noggin for a minute.

While it’s rolling, consider this: last year, HBO televised the fight with the single largest amount of live households viewing of any network.  The rematch between Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Brian Vera pulled somewhere in the neighborhood of 1.4 million.

That was the best number for boxing in the US in 2015.

That is not a good number.  As boxing’s best, it was horrific.  The last time a live premium card topped two millions viewers was the 2009 Heavyweight battle between Vitali Klitschko and Chris Arreola.  The 2013 pay-per view battle between Floyd Mayweather and Canelo Alvarez did more than two million buys.

Plenty of money.

Not enough eyes. 

Boxing is doing well globally.  The myth that it’s dying is absurd.  That the audience in the US is dying is not a myth.  We’ve seen a steady erosion of audience in the last thirty years.  Every once in awhile there will be a spike, or a leveling off, but the overall trend has been gradual decline.

Wednesday’s announcement of an Al Haymon-backed series on NBC is not the return of the sport to network TV.  Boxing has dipped their toe in the water a few times in recent vintage.  How much does free network TV matter?

As BoxingScene’s Jake Donovan pointed out yesterday:

Main Events had announced its plans to air a rematch between Tomasz Adamek and Steve Cunningham live on NBC, and in fact hit the airwaves late in the afternoon on the December 22, 2012, the last Saturday before Christmas.

Shortly after the announcement, Golden Boy decided to alter its December 15th show—with the heart of it slated for Showtime—in order to present a portion of it on CBS. Leo Santa Cruz was chosen to appear on free TV, pulling in more than 1.6 million viewers for his 12-round decision over Alberto Guevara. The Adamek-Cunningham rematch similar ratings, along with a peak audience of 3.2 million on the afternoon.

3.2 million is more than twice what Chavez-Vera did even at it’s peak of around 1.5 million. 

Chavez is more famous, and worth more money, than Santa Cruz.

More homes in the US saw that Santa Cruz fight.

A so-so bantamweight fight can organically mean more eyeballs than one of the sports biggest name draws.

Network matters.

Before 2015 is over, boxing will have been seen on US network television in prime time five times on NBC. 

Six more cards will air on Saturday afternoons.  Nine more shows will air on basic cable network NBC Sports.  All of this will be cross-promoted. 

There is always talk of big fights being able to attract casual fans.  Numbers in recent years suggest that not only is the general boxing audience shrinking.

The casual fan audience is as well. 

Casual fans used to number in the millions.  Now, boxing is lucky if they can find a casual million for a one-off.  Potential casual fans have to see the product to give a damn.

This is a chance to make something of that potential. 

Maybe it will work.  Maybe it runs into a new reality.  UFC went to network and its numbers haven’t left the stratosphere.  We may find out combat sports, in today’s US marketplace, have a ceiling.  Boxing, MMA, whatever.

We may find out there are just only so many people willing to watch fighting right now.

But boxing, more than MMA, has cultural cache in the US that is hard to measure.  Its legends weren’t just sports figures.

They were national figures. 

In places where boxing is thriving right now, that’s still the case.  The Klitschko brothers have sway in Ukrainian politics and are iconic in Germany.  Carl Froch has grown into a bona fide celebrity in the UK.  Manny Pacquiao moonlights as an elected official in the Philippines.

It’s a little too pie in the sky to hope we can one day have another Louis or Ali, or even a Tyson, to enflame public acclaim. 

It’s not too much to think there is a chance for renaissance here. 

Much praise has been heaped on the first two big NBC shows.  They look good.  Keith Thurman-Robert Guerrero and Adrien Broner-John Molina is a quality doubleheader.  Danny Garcia-Lamont Petersen is one of the best fights that can be made at 140 lbs. 

Those men are already known in boxing circles and can get bigger.

They aren’t the best part of this deal.

The best part of this deal are the fighters that eyeballs without HBO and Showtime, or enough interest to seek out premium cables sports shows, can attract.

The best part of this deal is someone like Errol Spence.

Spence (15-0, 12 KO) was a 2012 Olympian jobbed out of the Games, brought back, and then arguably jobbed out again before he could medal.  That’s a hell of a story.  It comes with a hell of a lot of talent.  Boxing needs new stars. 

Spence, a 25-year old Texas product, will have a better chance to become one with regular network access.

The best part of this deal is someone like Deontay Wilder.

Wilder (32-0, 32 KO) fights for a Heavyweight belt this weekend against Bermane Stiverne.  If he loses, it’s no surprise.  He’s been well protected.  But if he wins…

…if Wilder wins this weekend, a huge punching, talkative puncher will be a no-brainer for a title defense on NBC.  Over 3 million at some point tuned into a non-title affair between Adamek and Cunningham in the late afternoon. 

What could Wilder do against, say, Haymon stablemate Chris Arreola?  Boxing heads will fairly want to see Wilder face legitimate Heavyweight king Wladimir Klitschko for all the marbles unification.  They’ll probably have to wait.

The accountants of both Klitschko and Wilder would likely be okay with that.  Network really could marinate a showdown. 

Fans who have felt burned by Haymon’s matchmaking in the past have every reason to feel skeptical.  The 2014 Showtime schedule, particularly in the second half, was mediocre and worse at times.  Haymon fighters were at the heart of that.

It looks now like a long game was being played.  They’re coming out of the blocks hard on NBC.  If they can continue to try to push the pace, boxing will grow.

How much?  Time will tell. 

There are plenty of questions about inter-promotional clashes down the road.  Time will tell there too. 

For now, we have this.  We have five prime time network slots for boxing.

If boxing is ever going to produce audiences to be excited about again, audiences that make less than two million as frustrating and sad as it is, it has to start somewhere. 

Is this it?

Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene, a founding member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com