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Pay-Per-View: A Love Story
I often see people saying that they don’t care about PPV sales, etc. That’s fine. That is your opinion. Although I personally view that as a narrow-minded approach. But here is why Pay-Per-View is important
Money drives Matchups:
What is the single biggest driver (or obstacle) to why premier fights get made – or don’t get made? Money. And at the highest level of the sport, we are very often talking about that fight being on PPV. Whoever your favourite fighter may be - Pacquiao, Hatton, Mayweather, Hopkins, etc – at some point, he turned down a fight because the money wasn’t enough . Some examples?
After Guzman beat Soto, Bob Arum said that Pacquiao wouldn’t fight Guzman because he needs to do 350K buys with Pacquiao, and Guzman wouldn’t facilitate/generate that.
The Jones/Hopkins rematch should have happened much earlier. When it actually mattered. But the guys couldn’t get an agreement on the money. Avid fans will remember “60-40, I whup yo’ ass”.
Shane Mosley’s career would have looked much different if he had opted to fight the Delahoya rematch, instead of going to Winky. But Shane was unhappy with the purse offer, and turned down what (at the time) would have been his biggest payday.
Shane asked for a $10 million purse to face Mayweather at 137 pounds when Shane was a lightweight and Floyd was a SFW. In truth, other contributing factors included Shane’s struggle to make 135 much longer, and his desire to unseat Oscar’s primacy at 147.
Mayweather felt that he deserved pay parity with Oscar on the discussed rematch to ‘The World Awaits’. It begs the question of whether (or how) Floyd would have actually ‘retired’ if he was able to negotiate that fight.
These examples are meant to illustrate that almost all top fighters have monetary objectives in the sport. After all, as a famous man once said: It’s called prizefighting. Duh. You hear the term risk/reward…well, what reward do you think they are talking about?
Nothing is Free
HBO is the benefactor is the sport. It’s that simple. HBO pays the highest purses, puts on the most fights, has the most viewers, and has the most pull/influence with managers and promoters. Now, HBO has given you terrific fights on “free HBO” – their B.A.D. and WCB series (and let’s not forget KO Nation). But those programs don’t generate revenues for the channel. HBO basically pays big license fees to make these fights happen. Did you pay for Pavlik-Martinez?
So, understand that HBO’s parent company is in the business of making money for its shareholders. They are not in the business of entertaining the small boxing community for free. As such, they need to make money. The way they make real money for both themselves, and their affiliates, is to put on big, successful PPV events.
Did you enjoy watching the Angulo-Julio and Arreola-Adamek doubleheader last week? Well, who and what do you think funded that?
When HBO Boxing puts on big, successful PPV’s, they generate money for TW Corporation, and can then request and be allocated a bigger budget. Without those PPV’s, the corporate parent looks at a dying sport and decides to instead invest in “John from Cincinnati” or some other drivel. The same way that TWC got rid of Lou Dobbs because he was more trouble than it was worth, the very same way they can end their association with boxing.
Think of it as a nightclub that has no cover charge because they sell a ton of drinks at the bar. That bar is what keeps the cover charge and price of wings down. These people are in business, and the money has to come from somewhere.
What happens when a business isn’t making money?
Ratings, Ratings, Ratings
As a sports fan in general (as many of you are – I see the discussions in the Lounge), you often hear about ratings. The NBA doesn’t want to see a Utah Jazz vs. Charlotte Bobcats Finals. The Super Bowl was the highest rated ever. The Yankees vs RedSox draw the most viewers. Etc. It is the reality of sports. And of television overall. Ratings are so important that they are reported the very next day (“overnights”). TV executives stress out over this stuff.
Well, HBO isn’t a broadcast network, and doesn’t report to Nielsen in the traditional way. They are a subscription service. In business, in life, in everything, you measure what you value. And the way that you measure ratings for those big boxing events is via PPV sales.
One of my favourite shows of all time was Arrested Development. Why did they cancel it? Not enough ratings.
........
There are a few more reasons…but I’ll stop now. The reason that some (many?) people get so upset about the PPV sales is that their favourite fighter may not sell as much as some rival fighter. But guess what? A rising tide lifts all boats. When Floyd or Pac sell big, it benefits Andre Berto and Lucian Bute also. Just like Tiger Woods’ ability to draw a big crowd and additional sponsors ultimately benefits Stewart Cink or the guy who is 93rd on the money list.
If the reporting or discussion of PPV sales hurts your feelings or makes you angry, then stay out of those threads. Those threads are usually clearly labeled. And then ask yourself why you would view an important and fundamental part of the boxing business so negatively. If you are honest with yourself, I think you will find that particular emotion is not rooted in the purity of your love of the SPORT.
If you love the SPORT, you want these fights (all of them) to sell big. Huge. Mammoth.
Thanks for reading…enjoy the fight.
I often see people saying that they don’t care about PPV sales, etc. That’s fine. That is your opinion. Although I personally view that as a narrow-minded approach. But here is why Pay-Per-View is important
Money drives Matchups:
What is the single biggest driver (or obstacle) to why premier fights get made – or don’t get made? Money. And at the highest level of the sport, we are very often talking about that fight being on PPV. Whoever your favourite fighter may be - Pacquiao, Hatton, Mayweather, Hopkins, etc – at some point, he turned down a fight because the money wasn’t enough . Some examples?
After Guzman beat Soto, Bob Arum said that Pacquiao wouldn’t fight Guzman because he needs to do 350K buys with Pacquiao, and Guzman wouldn’t facilitate/generate that.
The Jones/Hopkins rematch should have happened much earlier. When it actually mattered. But the guys couldn’t get an agreement on the money. Avid fans will remember “60-40, I whup yo’ ass”.
Shane Mosley’s career would have looked much different if he had opted to fight the Delahoya rematch, instead of going to Winky. But Shane was unhappy with the purse offer, and turned down what (at the time) would have been his biggest payday.
Shane asked for a $10 million purse to face Mayweather at 137 pounds when Shane was a lightweight and Floyd was a SFW. In truth, other contributing factors included Shane’s struggle to make 135 much longer, and his desire to unseat Oscar’s primacy at 147.
Mayweather felt that he deserved pay parity with Oscar on the discussed rematch to ‘The World Awaits’. It begs the question of whether (or how) Floyd would have actually ‘retired’ if he was able to negotiate that fight.
These examples are meant to illustrate that almost all top fighters have monetary objectives in the sport. After all, as a famous man once said: It’s called prizefighting. Duh. You hear the term risk/reward…well, what reward do you think they are talking about?
Nothing is Free
HBO is the benefactor is the sport. It’s that simple. HBO pays the highest purses, puts on the most fights, has the most viewers, and has the most pull/influence with managers and promoters. Now, HBO has given you terrific fights on “free HBO” – their B.A.D. and WCB series (and let’s not forget KO Nation). But those programs don’t generate revenues for the channel. HBO basically pays big license fees to make these fights happen. Did you pay for Pavlik-Martinez?
So, understand that HBO’s parent company is in the business of making money for its shareholders. They are not in the business of entertaining the small boxing community for free. As such, they need to make money. The way they make real money for both themselves, and their affiliates, is to put on big, successful PPV events.
Did you enjoy watching the Angulo-Julio and Arreola-Adamek doubleheader last week? Well, who and what do you think funded that?
When HBO Boxing puts on big, successful PPV’s, they generate money for TW Corporation, and can then request and be allocated a bigger budget. Without those PPV’s, the corporate parent looks at a dying sport and decides to instead invest in “John from Cincinnati” or some other drivel. The same way that TWC got rid of Lou Dobbs because he was more trouble than it was worth, the very same way they can end their association with boxing.
Think of it as a nightclub that has no cover charge because they sell a ton of drinks at the bar. That bar is what keeps the cover charge and price of wings down. These people are in business, and the money has to come from somewhere.
What happens when a business isn’t making money?
Ratings, Ratings, Ratings
As a sports fan in general (as many of you are – I see the discussions in the Lounge), you often hear about ratings. The NBA doesn’t want to see a Utah Jazz vs. Charlotte Bobcats Finals. The Super Bowl was the highest rated ever. The Yankees vs RedSox draw the most viewers. Etc. It is the reality of sports. And of television overall. Ratings are so important that they are reported the very next day (“overnights”). TV executives stress out over this stuff.
Well, HBO isn’t a broadcast network, and doesn’t report to Nielsen in the traditional way. They are a subscription service. In business, in life, in everything, you measure what you value. And the way that you measure ratings for those big boxing events is via PPV sales.
One of my favourite shows of all time was Arrested Development. Why did they cancel it? Not enough ratings.
........
There are a few more reasons…but I’ll stop now. The reason that some (many?) people get so upset about the PPV sales is that their favourite fighter may not sell as much as some rival fighter. But guess what? A rising tide lifts all boats. When Floyd or Pac sell big, it benefits Andre Berto and Lucian Bute also. Just like Tiger Woods’ ability to draw a big crowd and additional sponsors ultimately benefits Stewart Cink or the guy who is 93rd on the money list.
If the reporting or discussion of PPV sales hurts your feelings or makes you angry, then stay out of those threads. Those threads are usually clearly labeled. And then ask yourself why you would view an important and fundamental part of the boxing business so negatively. If you are honest with yourself, I think you will find that particular emotion is not rooted in the purity of your love of the SPORT.
If you love the SPORT, you want these fights (all of them) to sell big. Huge. Mammoth.
Thanks for reading…enjoy the fight.
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