Why are boxing promoters so averse to actually promoting?

[Lou Cipher]

It's ****ing embarrassing how utterly inept and lazy these promoters are. You've got the single most significant and compelling matchup in boxing in god knows how many years taking place tomorrow night, the winner of whom should be catapulted to superstardom, yet it barely even feels like a regular fight week.

This is as big a problem in boxing as the best matchups not happening on a regular basis and why boxing is failing to capture a younger audience: lack of marketing and hype. Promoters who are content to sit on their fat arse and twiddle their thumbs rather than actually trying to do their jobs .

Probably because every fighter now thinks they are a promoter ever since Oscar took over the sport, and their real promoters want to teach their corny asses a lesson. Or maybe because they go for the money up front rather than with a proven promoter.

Exhibit A:

[Eff Pandas]

This is why boxing needs a elite level athlete league like virtually every other sport on the f#cking planet. There is no one looking out for boxing like the NFL looks out for football, the NBA looks out for baseball or the MLB looks out for baseball.

Boxing on the promoter end is more like running a business than being part of a sport. If it doesn't make dollars it doesn't make sense to these name brand promoters. Meanwhile the NFL, NBA, MLB, UFC & all kinds of other sports are f#cking machines churning out events after event all the time that has a certain level of minimal promotion & the big stuff & important stuff tends to have great promotion.

[Eff Pandas]

regardless of who is the lead promoter, its Jay-Z who has the $5 mil guarantee to Ward. It would serve his financial interests to help promote the fight, regardless of who's logo is getting center placement on the light grid..........

Anyone who's getting back end money has a vested interest in actually promoting this event. Hell anyone who has any intention of continuing in the boxing business after Nov. 19 has a vested interest for future events to be promoting this fight cuz sometimes you are playing for future gains vs immediate gains at this level of the game.

But yea for sure Jay Z should be tweeting & just general social media whoring this & other of his fights out & I can't believe him not doing this isn't costing him money which is really the part that makes no f#cking sense to me.

[Ham Porter]

I think some of these promoters need to think outside the box a bit more, don't get me wrong its probably harder than it looks from the outside and they are all still very intelligent people, but the way they are trying to reach people is the main problem I see at the moment.

It's honestly not that difficult, especially in the times that we live in. Literally your entire promotional operations can be done online nowadays and still reach a wide audience, and it can be done within a few seconds on your phone. There's absolutely zero excuse for such laziness and incompetency in this day and age.

You're right about Hearn, by the way. He's the one promoter who actually gets it, and he himself has bemoaned and derided the piss poor jobs American promoters do.

[OnePunch]

Not saying I agree with Roc Nation not doing much to promote but that seems to be the reason or who's to say Duva even wants them involved? She has made comments about how hard it is to work with them so that could also be why they been hands off

This isnt new behavior for Roc Nation. They were the same way for Cotto-Canelo, pretty much indifferent and in the backround.....

[sicko]

This isnt new behavior for Roc Nation. They were the same way for Cotto-Canelo, pretty much indifferent and in the backround.....

I don't know WTF Roc Nation way of business is but they don't seem to be struggling to pay their fighters Good Money

[OnePunch]

I don't know WTF Roc Nation way of business is but they don't seem to be struggling to pay their fighters Good Money

yeah, when your CEO is a billionare who is only doing fights as a vanity side project, a few million here or there doesnt seem to matter......lol

[Scipio2009]

It's ****ing embarrassing how utterly inept and lazy these promoters are. You've got the single most significant and compelling matchup in boxing in god knows how many years taking place tomorrow night, the winner of whom should be catapulted to superstardom, yet it barely even feels like a regular fight week.

This is as big a problem in boxing as the best matchups not happening on a regular basis and why boxing is failing to capture a younger audience: lack of marketing and hype. Promoters who are content to sit on their fat arse and twiddle their thumbs rather than actually trying to do their jobs .

Because, in the US tbh, selling tickets doesn't matter as much as it should; you look at the promoters who are recognized as being really good promoters (Lou DiBella, Eddie Hearn, Sauerlands, etc) and the one unifying point, to me, is that all of the guys know and understand that moving the tickets matter; Floyd, Broner, Andre, Terrence Crawford, Jose Ramirez, and a host of other fighters seem to also recognize that point.

For a lot of other folks, they're either just not good promoters or they're simply taking the rights fee from TV, the site fee from whomever wants to stage the fight, budgeting out what needs to be paid to the fighters, and simply keeping the remaining balance like a utility.

I'm not in Las Vegas, but the fight sold 9k tickets in the first week, and has likely continued to sell tickets throughout the run-up. HBO didn't go to the mattresses for the event, but the two promo packages (that aired/are airing on HBO, but most importantly available to everyone on video sharing sites) turned out pretty good.

Main Events leading the event may have something to do with it (Kathy Duva and media savvy have never been a good fit to me), but let's not act like nothing's been done.

[Scipio2009]

It'd cost nothing for Jay Z to give a single mention to the fight on one of his social media accounts. It's his company involved in promoting this, ffs.

And making a profit is difficult when your audience is so small. This fight will flop massively on ppv, primarily because few know that it's happening.

Jay-Z's not the lead for the event; Main Events is.

Simply compare Roc Nation's efforts behind Cotto-Alvarez (where they were the lead promoter) to Kovalev-Ward (where they are a co-promoter).

Jay-Z's not getting any upside on the event, so why put his social media muscle behind someone else's work.

DJ Khaled reached out an put Jay-Z on his lead single for his album; I'd bet you all the money in my pocket that Jay-Z wasn't on social media, pushing folks to go onto Itunes and purchase an album that he saw no points on.

[Scipio2009]

he's still co promoter he shouldn't leave it all to duva .jay z should be going on radio and tv talking up this fight like crazy jay z has connections in the media this is a no brainer.they dropped the ball big time.

Andre Ward/Roc Nation seem to have apparently gotten a fee for the fight (with some upside if the event does magnificently), with Kathy Duva controlling the actual event.

Not that hard to understand