Ward gets paid more than every PBC fighter there is.

I disagree. If the budget dropping was a recent change I might agree with you, but I believe the budget has been dropping pre-Manny & Floyd becoming superstars to during Manny's & Floyd's boom to now almost post-Manny & Floyd. The budget has been dropping for about two decades give or take. They had ~$100M around the late 90's, they had ~$60M around the late 00's & now they got ~$25M from most accounts in 2016. This suggests HBO boxing isn't pulling its own weight or HBO is slowly but surely getting out of the boxing business to me. Or maybe both. Hbo doesn't need to slowly but surely get out, they can do it anytime they want to. There just isn't enough quality fighters for larger budgets anymore. And boxing doesn't do those kinds of ratings anymore anyway. Guys like Naseem Hamed were putting up HUGE numbers back than. The stars today don't do that anymore, and there is a lot less stars. So, really, little reason to have a large budget. It says more About the sport than hbo. Even a replay of a Oscar De La Hoya fight would have bigger ratings than any fighters today do live.

Good for ward what's the point?

Kovalev did not make 3 million. I heard he made 750k. You mistook Pascal for Nadjib. http://www.boxingscene.com/forums/showthread.php?t=670686

*****s love using the race card but forget boxing NEVER HAD a specific race, there has ALWAYS been that dominant black champ and everyone else was the "white hope". Then the fact that there has been world champions from every corner of the planet. I cant stand when *****s wanna ride haymon or floyd like its the pro black thing, them *****s are the ones juicing you coons.

Good for him? Seems like a poor use of meager resources, but that is HBO's issue not Ward's.

I have heard a couple of writers mention that this years HBO budget cuts are mainly due to Time Warner's losses, they but back across the board. Time Warner laid off about 10 percent of their workforce.

Yea but surely in theory one coud come up with some $ value each viewer for a HBO boxing show & ultimately each fighter represents. And the PPV pie is getting split with the provider, promoter & fighter taking their piece so its not like its all HBO's money. There is probably a lot of figures & math involved in coming up with a figure that represents HBO's profit or loss each year, but its there. And like I said I gotta believe HBO boxing is losing money year in & year out just cuz of their shrinking bankroll year after year. It just doesn't seem to me that the budget would go from $120M to under $30 over the last couple decades if they were making HBO money. Well there's less Interest and less boxing stars in the sport today. A lot of HBO's financial gain was through ppv. Without the stars the budget is going to drop. If you give them guys they think can be the next Pacquiao or next Floyd, they'll raise there budget. Quite frankly I don't Kniw how any if these promoters, or networks are going to operate without having big ppv number stars. It's first time we have seen this kind of situation. But hbo clearly knows which fighters they are sticking with, and that's what there budget is designed for. Those fighters and thats it.

Its easy to overpay a fighter when you only have one fighter Rocnation's whole future rests on Ward

Anyone got any concrete numbers or estimates on how much HBO boxing is making or losing for HBO? I'd assume you'd need to come up with a formula how many HBO subscribers are sticking around due to HBO boxing. I've always figured HBO boxing was losing money with their dwindling budget year after year, but maybe HBO is just dropping the budget for other reasons like to focus on creating shows. You don't really need a formula, viewership = subscribers. Subscribers = $ And in Wards case, hbo is betting on a future ppv event. As for PBC, no long term sponsorship deals, no long term tv deals, almost all expenses are out of pocket. There's really no comparing the 2. One has a proven business plan that has been profitable, one is basically burning $ with no positive results to show for it.

Kovalev got paid 2.5mil for the first fight with Pascal lol. Yeah but that had Canadian ppv and an actual gate to support the fight.

If you take HBO's boxing budget in 2016 ($24 million) and use that to produce an original series that makes $200 million via ratings, syndication etc. and boxing makes them $50 million... that means HBO is actually losing $150 million a year on boxing. That's pretty bad lol As a network, you need to diversify your portfolio. A successful series is rare, and generally only has a lifespan on 3-8 years. Boxing is a low earner, but consistent and long lived.

What is your point? Who cares how much he gets paid? He earned the right to get paid $1.8 million by beating the best fighters in and around his weight class. The fact that Ward is being paid $1.8 million is a definitive statement on why Kovalev should change promoters. Kovalev has never been paid this much for fighting much better fighters than Barerra. Kovalev got paid 2.5mil for the first fight with Pascal lol.

Anyone got any concrete numbers or estimates on how much HBO boxing is making or losing for HBO? I'd assume you'd need to come up with a formula how many HBO subscribers are sticking around due to HBO boxing. I've always figured HBO boxing was losing money with their dwindling budget year after year, but maybe HBO is just dropping the budget for other reasons like to focus on creating shows. If you take HBO's boxing budget in 2016 ($24 million) and use that to produce an original series that makes $200 million via ratings, syndication etc. and boxing makes them $50 million... that means HBO is actually losing $150 million a year on boxing. That's pretty bad lol

kovalev made 3 million to fight pascal. still think he shou switch promoters? I think he should make a trilogy with Pascal.

Name one PBC fighter who makes more than Andre Wards $1.85 million tomorrow. Who overpays now? Well.... Keith Thurman’s purse as reported to the Florida State Athletic Commission in conjunction with his July 11, 2015, PBC fight against Luis Collazo was $1.5 million. But Thurman told Dan Rafael of ESPN.com that Haymon gave him a check for an additional $1.2 million. http://******.craveonline.com/news/415577-what-we-know-about-al-haymon-part-ii That's not looking at what Al's guys get paid on Showtime. DeGale made almost $2mill vs Dirrell, then did make $2mill vs Bute. Chavez got like $5mill vs Fonfara.

What is your point? Who cares how much he gets paid? He earned the right to get paid $1.8 million by beating the best fighters in and around his weight class. The fact that Ward is being paid $1.8 million is a definitive statement on why Kovalev should change promoters. Kovalev has never been paid this much for fighting much better fighters than Barerra. kovalev made 3 million to fight pascal. still think he shou switch promoters?

Ward is more accomplished then everyone on PBC

Name one PBC fighter who makes more than Andre Wards $1.85 million tomorrow. Who overpays now? What is your obsession About this? Besides, you do realize that PBC doesn't make any $ right? Hbo does. Big difference in comparing the 2. PBC loses $ on almost every event.

Name one PBC fighter who makes more than Andre Wards $1.85 million tomorrow. Who overpays now? What is your point? Who cares how much he gets paid? He earned the right to get paid $1.8 million by beating the best fighters in and around his weight class. The fact that Ward is being paid $1.8 million is a definitive statement on why Kovalev should change promoters. Kovalev has never been paid this much for fighting much better fighters than Barerra.

Andre Ward is an Olympic gold medalist and is listed near the top of most pound for pound lists. Nobody on PBC's roster comes close to the quality of Andre Ward, most of them are complete bums. PBC fighters are overpaid, Ward is not.