GOLDEN BOY PROMOTIONS confindent of getting BOXING on NETWORK TV
DAN RAFAEL:
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It's all about the networks
posted: Thursday, March 20, 2008 | Print Entry
Boxing back on network television.
It is the Holy Grail for many in the fight game.
Promoters long for the days of regular coverage, when it was the norm to find weekend boxing cards on ABC, CBS and NBC, sometimes competing against each other.
The fighters got great exposure, which helped them become attractions and it provided a middle class of license fees below the millions paid by HBO and Showtime.
Fans got a lot of excellent bouts that weren't on pay-per-view, or even on the premium cable networks, which cost a monthly fee.
But those days vanished in the mid-1990s with only the occasional fight landing on free TV since, such as the handful that NBC aired as part of an ill-fated deal with Main Events a few years ago.
Perhaps that could change. That's what Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions is actively working on, according to CEO Richard Schaefer.
If anyone can do it, Schaefer and De La Hoya probably can. At the very least, they have been able to bring several mainstream sponsors aboard to support Golden Boy's fights, such as Tecate, Southwest Airlines and Rockstar Energy Drink.
Bringing boxing back to network television would be another huge accomplishment, one that Schaefer believes they can pull off.
"There is an opportunity," he said.
He said that during a recent trip to New York "we had some conversations with several networks which are available and interested in boxing and in doing something with Golden Boy."
Schaefer didn't want to go into the specifics but he sure sounded confident.
One thing that Schaefer did several months ago was hire Bruce Binkow as Golden Boy's chief marketing officer. Binkow, for those unfamiliar with him, has quite a bit of experience in the field. Among his accomplishments, he was heavily involved in bringing the beach volleyball tour to network television a few years ago.
"We selected him because he is experienced. They were able to attract major sponsors, McDonalds and Ford, for the volleyball tour, big time mainstream companies," Schaefer said. "That's what we need in boxing. That's why we hired him."
Schaefer acknowledged that boxing on network television might have to begin as a time buy, but he said it would be possible with strong sponsors behind it. It is Binkow's task to line them up.
"We are actively working with a couple of networks to see how we can structure a deal on how we can bring boxing back on network television this year. Bruce has worked with several networks and is evaluating where we can structure the best deal. I feel pretty comfortable with it. It's a lot of work, but it's a perfect environment."
Schaefer knows how important network fights can be for the future of the sport. He looks no further than his own boss, De La Hoya, who gained tremendous exposure on network television when he won the 1992 Olympic gold medal and fought some of his early pro bouts on network TV before going on to become the biggest star in the sport.
"This is 2008, an Olympic year, and there's the fact that Oscar's career is coming to an end and Oscar's first fight was on network television," he said. "It would be a nice thing for Oscar to go full circle and be able to provide an opportunity for some of these young kids to be on network television."