Guide to Running HBO Boxing... for Dummies

mrpain8115y ago

http://i53.tinypic.com/2b77h2.jpg Guide to Running HBO Boxing... for Dummies by John Chavez Nov 05, 2010 - It's been a while since "The Boxing Truth" has printed or even noted any opinions about the boxing world for the month of October. The sport has had one of the longest droughts in terms of high-level action that I can remember. It's the type of thing that happens when you have dummies running the programming at the "Heart and Soul" of boxing. Therefore... I have decided to include a short passage from this new book I'm working on titled... "Running HBO Boxing for Dummies." It's a book I dedicate to Ross Greenburg and Kenny Smith... oops I mean Kerry Davis. (Seriously though... that fool does look like Kenny Smith.) Where do we start? This **** is not complicated my friends. ESPN Friday Night Fight shells out about $25,000 per show as a broadcast license fee to promoters while retaining all rebroadcast rights and international resale. Showtime's Friday night series, Shobox shells out between $40,000 and $50,000 per show as a license fee for broadcast rights. As far as I understand, that is generally the baseline market for television money being offered to American promoters for the rights to showcase their events. I've seen multiple auctions take place over the course of my life both online and offline. The way it usually works is that people bid against each other in increments. This means that if someone wants to own Michael Marley's encrusted Red Sox hat at the baseball historian auction, they continue to bid one dollar more than their competitors. It usually goes from one... to two... to three. Not from one... to two... to twenty-seven. An auction like that wouldn't make any sense to anyone with any semblance of intelligence. Why bid $27 when you can get the same product for $3. Unfortunately boxing doesn't work like this. There is a sickening desperation to unnecessarily offer more money than makes any sort of reasonable sense. As Thomas Hauser stated in his 3-part series, there are strange things occurring within the landscape of HBO Boxing and due to the political nature of certain characters within the sport, the madness continues to ensue year after year. Once again, I will offer my futile attempt to teach all of these imbeciles the simplicity of running HBO Boxing effectively. The sweet science has traditionally taken center stage on Saturday night which is an outdated model. If boxing wonders why it hasn't drawn any new young viewers to the sport, it must use it's miniscule brain to comprehend why this is such. Only weirdos stay home on a Saturday night. Let me repeat this... if you are between the ages of 18-25, you are not entirely the norm if you don't have something somewhat regularly planned for Saturday night. The same thing goes for Friday night. If you attend college, it is most likely that you not only have an agenda for these prime nights of the week but it is also most likely that you do not have HBO in your dorm room or house. HBO is an unnecessary added cost that leads to an overly inflated cable package. So in a futile attempt to reach the younger demographics, I'd suggest that HBO spread their programming around throughout the week to say... Tuesday or Wednesday. Like I stated earlier, ESPN doles out $25,000 and Shobox $50,000. Why wouldn't it make sense for HBO to start programming fights at the $75,000 to $100,000 range? Ok, lets be a little more generous and shell out $125,000 for each Tuesday double-header showcasing the brightest up-and-coming talent in competitive match-ups. Somewhat like Shobox on steroids and PEDs. If HBO Boxing were to offer this series twice a month, that would equate to a total of $3,250,000 per year. Double that cost for production... and you have $6,500,000 of high quality programming. (If you cannot produce a high-quality broadcast for $125,000 in production costs, you are doing something very stupid and wrong.) Fights such as... Andre Berto vs. Freddie Hernandez would be perfect for a series such as this. These types of events should take place in 5,000-8,000 seat venues located in major metropolitan areas such as New York, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, and the SF Bay Area. Since most promoters today are inept at marketing, HBO would be forced to take the reigns and lock down facilities that can offer them a good deal to regularly program boxing events within these areas. This is the base for HBO Boxing programming... 26 Tuesday shows a year in major metropolitan areas at a total cost of $6,500,000. Being that HBO's budget exceeds $50 million, we still have plenty of money leftover to play with. Next, we'd look to schedule 12 World Championship Boxing events per year at a cost of $2 million a piece... nothing more and nothing less. If Tim Bradley or Joe Hipp scoff at the notion of fighting for such a wage, gladly encourage them to take a different route of broadcast dollars. Being that the WCB series would showcase nothing but meaningful double-headers, yes... I stated double-headers, not this one fight crap that we get now... HBO would agree to produce a 30 minute countdown show to each main event on the broadcast. The cost are as follows: $2 million fee per event, $200,000 production costs, and $300,000 30-minute countdown preview. This equates to $2.5 million multiplied by 12 which equates to $30 million a year. So where are we... $30 million plus the $6.5 million equals $36.5 million dollars in total programming and production costs. This would equate to 38 HBO boxing shows per year showcasing a total of 76 fights. How difficult is that? Not very. Now for the most important part of the guide for dummies... a cap on Pay-Per-View events in which HBO puts it's stamp of approval on. This should be limited to four per year in March, May, September, and December. HBO would incur the cost of production and 24/7 series which would equate to $6 million per year on direct PPV expenses. (Four-part 24/7 series = $1.3 million in production plus $200,000 on broadcast production.) Now we sit at $42.5 million in total spending for HBO programming which leaves us with $7.5 million leftover. What do we do with this extra money? Spend it on lots of booze, drugs, high-priced hookers, and diamond-encrusted Bentley's? Only if you're Michael Marley. But seriously though... $7.5 million should be strategically contracted to Clear Channel's arm of outdoor advertising in the form of billboards. God forbid any of the promoters who receive their inflated license fees of today actually spend $20,000 or $50,000 to buy multiple ad spots on the freeway. The UFC isn't flourishing by some stroke of luck. They put serious marketing muscle behind their promotions and reap the rewards because of it. Let's say $5 million was spent annually on billboard advertising. I've done enough research in this field to understand the the cost vary widely in terms of where they are placed and the size of the advertisement. The average monthly cost of a decently placed billboard near, not in a major metropolitan area can run about $10,000 a month. I've seen them as low as $2000 to as high as $75,000. With a packaged deal I believe that HBO could work out a 50 billboard a month deal strategically placed across the country to raise awareness of the major fights taking place on HBO. (No need to buy radio or television commercials as they are dead in terms of effectiveness.) Now $2.5 million is leftover from the budget that must be reinvested into the infrastructure of the sport here in America. Due to the economic recession, many grants and funding in order to keep boxing gyms open has all but dried up so being the dummy... err I mean, visionary that you are, it's understandable that boxing at it's most important level needs some assistance. From my own interaction, alot of these boxing gyms need only the basic assistance when it comes to rent, equipment, and maintenance in order to keep the facilities open. If $100,000 per year was allocated to 25 of the more active boxing gyms in the states, it would help their programs immensely ensuring that the next crop of home-grown fighters would have a place to perfect their craft. Expecting boxing to take care of itself at it's grass roots level is absurdly stupid as there is no incentive for anyone to open or run a boxing gym for financial gain. Our only purpose would be to aid those passionate characters within the sport to keep it going ensuring that they have the financial means to do so. So there you have it. $50 million dollars spent on HBO Boxing. 26 Tuesday double-headers. 12 WCB double-headers with a 30-minute countdown show. 4 Pay-Per-Views a year with a 4-part 24/7 series for each. 50 monthly billboards purchased strategically placed across the country each month. Invest in 25 boxing gyms across America to ensure their success each year. Forget all this madness, let's pay $3 million for Bradley-Alexander while guaranteeing both guys $3 million dollar paydays should they win, lose, or quit. Let us continually engage in useless negotiations with powerless promoters in order to pat oneself on the back for a job well done. Let us continue being stupid and cry when observers call us such. Guide to Running HBO Boxing for Dummies... buy it at your nearest brothel. truth@theboxingtruth.com http://theboxingtruth.com/article.php?id=1912 What u guys think?

Comments (20)

mrpain81

It's a good read and brings up interesting points. I'm not sure that changing Saturday boxing to Tuesdays or a different weekday is a good fix but the spending of money is certainly something that needs to be changed. One thing that certainly needs to be fixed is HBO VS SHO. There should never be a weekend that these two are going head to head. Yes, you are competitors but you also need to be smart about it as well. There is enough weekends to have fights on each network, every weekend. Look at the last two months and the lack of boxing, that should never happen. That's a great point. They should be working together not to cannibalize the small fan base but that would make too much sense.

15y ago

TheKza

This motherfcuker is calling me weird...this article loses all credibility.

15y ago

Bastian_Loc

Why do that though, there is no business reason for them to do that, how much does boxing actually bring HBO. To continue on with a sport that is in decline as you show just seems like a waste. If I was a stock holder that is how I would think. **** stockholders. That's the kind of thinking that put boxing on the backburner in the first place. There is actually a business reason to do that. If they grow the sport organically with small shows like the guy suggests, they will not only sow the seeds for their boxing future, but they'll reinvigorate the stagnant culture that they have there now. Nobody views Hbo boxing like they once did. Hbo is now viewed with contempt and derision because people have rightly figured out that they're the ones destroying the sport and sacrificing its integrity for political reasons and by showcasing one overpaid hypejob at a time when there is no good reason for them to do so. I can't see how you could argue against taking that 1.5 million they waste on Berto (and others like him) who most people hate and who can't sell a damn ticket and use it to fund weekly shows featuring vibrant young talent and developing it.

15y ago

mrpain81

That is why I disagree with this specific article this is a bottom up approach, but if the leadership is no good what good is that. If HBO is going to make changes it has to be top down, because I think most peoples problem with HBO is the leadership. If the head is rotten there is no hope for the rest of the body. That's a fair point. I don't think people really care what happens at the top if they stay or they go. They just want to see competence at HBO and the best fights possible to get value out of that $15 a month.

15y ago

The_Gambler1981

Change needs to happen, HBO needs to be the boss and tell the promoters what the deal is not the other way around. I think they should start from and start over, gotta get some new ideas in there. That is why I disagree with this specific article this is a bottom up approach, but if the leadership is no good what good is that. If HBO is going to make changes it has to be top down, because I think most peoples problem with HBO is the leadership. If the head is rotten there is no hope for the rest of the body.

15y ago

mrpain81

I just don't think these articles really make them want to change, I am sure thay want to spend their money better but the guys in charge do things the way they have been done for a long time hard to see them grasping a big change. If they bring in a couple real good boxing men to head the boxing department and someone to be a matchmaker of sorts, they will be fine. To me that is all they need to do though and that is the kind of change I think could occur. Once such a team was in charge tough to say which directions they would go but some of those ideas might get tried, but with who they have in place now doing that is wasting capital. Change needs to happen, HBO needs to be the boss and tell the promoters what the deal is not the other way around. I think they should start from and start over, gotta get some new ideas in there.

15y ago

The_Gambler1981

According to Hauser's last article they might already be thinking of scraping the HBO sports department. Just need to hire a few boxing head consultants that actually know the sport and they will be alright, something needs to change though. I just don't think these articles really make them want to change, I am sure thay want to spend their money better but the guys in charge do things the way they have been done for a long time hard to see them grasping a big change. If they bring in a couple real good boxing men to head the boxing department and someone to be a matchmaker of sorts, they will be fine. To me that is all they need to do though and that is the kind of change I think could occur. Once such a team was in charge tough to say which directions they would go but some of those ideas might get tried, but with who they have in place now doing that is wasting capital.

15y ago

mrpain81

Like I said I don't think it is that big a deal for HBO, but all this scrutiny makes them look bad, what is simplier fixing it or just scrapping something that doens't really bring that much to the table anymore. If they want to fix it simply hire a real boxing man to run their boxing and everything else will fall into place. According to Hauser's last article they might already be thinking of scraping the HBO sports department. Just need to hire a few boxing head consultants that actually know the sport and they will be alright, something needs to change though.

15y ago

The_Gambler1981

HBO is not losing money with with boxing. You have to understand that they have 31 million subscribers, if they are getting 1 million live viewers on average and another 1 million on demand on replays that's a good chunk of people. Lets not forget that Time Warner the parent company is one of the biggest cable companies in the country. When HBO PPV does a Boxing PPV they get half the revenue from the ppv sales when it is sold through their cable service. Not every show on HBO gets True Blood type ratings. Chris Rock had his first Comedy special in 5 years on HBO in 08. It was a big event for HBO on Saturday night, Saturday nights are usually the lowest ratings of the week that's why Boxing gives HBO nice value. Chris Rock Special - 1,583,000 - Live - Biggest Comedy special of the year by far. American gangster was a big movie that HBO premiered, a movie like that is the reason why people get HBO. Ofcourse movies has a lot more replay value but it's at the top of the food chain when it comes to mainstream HBO viewers. American Gangster - 1,700,000 - Live viewers. Now Mosley vs Mayorga of that year was a decent fight for HBO but wasn't even a top 5 boxing card when it comes to ratings. The live ratings were 1,258,000 - When you compare the ratings of Boxing to true blood or Boardwalk empire it looks like the ratings for boxing are weak and HBO is getting no value but it's all about what day of the week it's being played also. HBO ain't going to be dropping boxing any time soon, they just need to implement some tactics to help grow the sport instead of it shrinking little by little or just being stagnant. Like I said I don't think it is that big a deal for HBO, but all this scrutiny makes them look bad, what is simplier fixing it or just scrapping something that doens't really bring that much to the table anymore. If they want to fix it simply hire a real boxing man to run their boxing and everything else will fall into place.

15y ago

mrpain81

Why do that though, there is no business reason for them to do that, how much does boxing actually bring HBO. To continue on with a sport that is in decline as you show just seems like a waste. If I was a stock holder that is how I would think. HBO is not losing money with with boxing. You have to understand that they have 31 million subscribers, if they are getting 1 million live viewers on average and another 1 million on demand on replays that's a good chunk of people. Lets not forget that Time Warner the parent company is one of the biggest cable companies in the country. When HBO PPV does a Boxing PPV they get half the revenue from the ppv sales when it is sold through their cable service. Not every show on HBO gets True Blood type ratings. Chris Rock had his first Comedy special in 5 years on HBO in 08. It was a big event for HBO on Saturday night, Saturday nights are usually the lowest ratings of the week that's why Boxing gives HBO nice value. Chris Rock Special - 1,583,000 - Live - Biggest Comedy special of the year by far. American gangster was a big movie that HBO premiered, a movie like that is the reason why people get HBO. Ofcourse movies has a lot more replay value but it's at the top of the food chain when it comes to mainstream HBO viewers. American Gangster - 1,700,000 - Live viewers. Now Mosley vs Mayorga of that year was a decent fight for HBO but wasn't even a top 5 boxing card when it comes to ratings. The live ratings were 1,258,000 - When you compare the ratings of Boxing to true blood or Boardwalk empire it looks like the ratings for boxing are weak and HBO is getting no value but it's all about what day of the week it's being played also. HBO ain't going to be dropping boxing any time soon, they just need to implement some tactics to help grow the sport instead of it shrinking little by little or just being stagnant.

15y ago

elgranluchadore

never gonna happen helping out the local gyms? are u high?

15y ago

The_Gambler1981

You're just being a nihilist. "Certain" fighters is supposed to be a distinction, not a pejorative. If hbo considers Berto hbo level in the traditional sense, they've miscalculated again. They are killing the sport with this. HBO is far from killing the sport no matter how poor of a job they do. Money equals life, even if you think they are wasting it is is still investment into the sport. Without investment (of any kind) the sport would die.

15y ago

Shadow_boxer_3

It's pretty much everyone involveds fault though to be honest. even fighters. who once they reach a certain level think they are too elite. this is a big problem IMO. fighters like bradley and berto think the deserves X amount of dollars win its not the case

15y ago

The_Gambler1981

So if MMA schedules on the same night as boxing they are competing with a product that is already embraced by the young demographic. The same way HBO has been doing business hasn't been working, the ratings have been going down for years now. I would actually like HBO to start having the Tuesday or Wednesday night fights on TNT or TBS. Just $hit can B.A.D build up stars on a smaller platform then have the 12 WCB events a year. Make every WCB a top fight between top fighters. If the fighters or promoters ain't willing to put their fighters tough they don't fight on HBO. Simple. Why do that though, there is no business reason for them to do that, how much does boxing actually bring HBO. To continue on with a sport that is in decline as you show just seems like a waste. If I was a stock holder that is how I would think.

15y ago

Bastian_Loc

It is not a waste though, they already invested in Berto a great deal building him up, cutting bait before they can get a decent fight out of him is a waste, something is always better than getting nothing. Also only certain fighters exist to HBO, so they would not do the fights you are craving anyways you would just get whoever else they want to invest in, even if it is a better fighter it would be the same. You're just being a nihilist. "Certain" fighters is supposed to be a distinction, not a pejorative. If hbo considers Berto hbo level in the traditional sense, they've miscalculated again. They are killing the sport with this.

15y ago

Shadow_boxer_3

BPP, foward this artical to Greenburg ASAP

15y ago

The_Gambler1981

It matters to me because as the article, Thomas Hauser and a handful of others have already written extensively about. When they spend such a large % of the budget on sorry sacks like Berto fighting other bums, we miss out on more fights that could have been bought with the money they're WASTING on Berto and the likes of him. It is not a waste though, they already invested in Berto a great deal building him up, cutting bait before they can get a decent fight out of him is a waste, something is always better than getting nothing. Also only certain fighters exist to HBO, so they would not do the fights you are craving anyways you would just get whoever else they want to invest in, even if it is a better fighter it would be the same.

15y ago

The_Gambler1981

Also to be blunt again this road is only leading to one place, all the scrutiny on HBO boxing pretty much means it will be going the way of the dinosaurs before long. 50 million why pay that money when in no way does boxing bring back that kind of subscriptions bump and seriously how many customers would dump HBO due to lack of boxing, a handfull maybe who will move over to Showtime but HBO is still going to be a much bigger network. I love boxing but you can't tell me that is worth it to them, so the only question is when does HBO get tired of the bad press and jsut do away with it.

15y ago

Bastian_Loc

Why does that matter to you? Fighters come and go he will be gone soon enough, so why get hung up on that. I enjoy HBO's boxing programming so why bug about fights here and there that may not be wortht eh money HBO is paying. I am not a Time Warner stock holder and if I was I would vote for getting rid of boxing because it ain't worth it. It matters to me because as the article, Thomas Hauser and a handful of others have already written extensively about. When they spend such a large % of the budget on sorry sacks like Berto fighting other bums, we miss out on more fights that could have been bought with the money they're WASTING on Berto and the likes of him.

15y ago

mrpain81

I don't think it is that simple, they could go that route but I don't know if the end results is all that different. I don't think the nights they air fights is an issue either since MMA broadcasts on a similar schedule and they are popular with younger people. Most youngs peoples weekend nights don't end at 12:00 am which most fights are over by. So if MMA schedules on the same night as boxing they are competing with a product that is already embraced by the young demographic. The same way HBO has been doing business hasn't been working, the ratings have been going down for years now. I would actually like HBO to start having the Tuesday or Wednesday night fights on TNT or TBS. Just $hit can B.A.D build up stars on a smaller platform then have the 12 WCB events a year. Make every WCB a top fight between top fighters. If the fighters or promoters ain't willing to put their fighters tough they don't fight on HBO. Simple.

15y ago