Is ESPN happy with Arum?

I think they are happy. TR can make really good fights if Bob wanted to make them or partner with other channels. Start with Crawford/Loma-the modern day SRL/Duran. That IMO would do HUGE business but there is no way Arum would do it . You have Ramirez against the winner of the WBSS which will be a much anticipated fight. Valdez/Frampton. Bieterbiev, Teo Lopez, Navarette and some other really good fighters with great potential fights. ESPN will eventually force Bob to make better fights if the ratings are down and the other companies put on better fights. No it would not. Loma is a nobody in casuals eye. They don’t even know who Bud is either. Fury is Bobs best fighter to grab casuals.

Top Rank has been horrible with the matchups they been giving us but ESPN don't really care about boxing like that, they just want it to accumulate the sports bundle of ESPN plus, but maybe their also banking on Bob to deliver them the big fights like Bud/Spence, Fury/Wilder etc. to get their return and more

Historically there have been many fights where a guy from 135 goes up to 147. I do agree Loma is likely too small to win. It’s still a fight between the two best fighters in the sport . I don’t think Bob makes it but none of you can deny that Loma truly chasing greatness by taking on Crawford in a modern srl /Duran match wouldn’t do huge business and satisfy espn and fans. There’s “chasing greatness” and there’s pure stupidity. I’m not questioning there the two finest fighters in the sport. I’m disagreeing with your Duran/SRL comparison. Duran had already fought several times at welterweight, whilst Loma will likely never fight at welter.

No way is ESPN happy. - Crawford PPV bombed. - Crawford vs. Spence is nowhere close to being made. - With a few exceptions, TR is putting on one-sided mismatches. - Too many foreign fights that no one cares about in the U.S. - ESPN is finding out that Fury is not a U.S. draw. and Wilder fight is still 9 months away. - ESPN viewership is about half of Fox viewership, with ESPN+ even smaller. - Top Rank boxing not generating near the viewership that UFC prelins are drawing.

TR on ESPN ratings has been very respectable it's just that they don't have a deep roster or any real stars no disrespect to Loma and Bud Maybe Teofimo will change that soon

Loma is too small for bud period. Loma is a 135 pounder and I can't see him at 140. Bud is a full 147 pounder. Loma vs bud makes no sense at all Crawford vs Lomachenko would do huge business but real boxing fans know that would be a mismatch. Just like casuals thought Mikey Garcia had a chance against Spence. Weight classes matter. Crawford rehydrates to around 160 while Lomachenko rehydrates to around 145. Nah that’s a terrible comparison. Duran was already a legit Welterweight with wins over guys like Palomino. Loma is a natural Super Featherweight who’ll likely never fight as a high as 147. Historically there have been many fights where a guy from 135 goes up to 147. I do agree Loma is likely too small to win. It’s still a fight between the two best fighters in the sport . I don’t think Bob makes it but none of you can deny that Loma truly chasing greatness by taking on Crawford in a modern srl /Duran match wouldn’t do huge business and satisfy espn and fans.

I think they are happy. TR can make really good fights if Bob wanted to make them or partner with other channels. Start with Crawford/Loma-the modern day SRL/Duran. That IMO would do HUGE business but there is no way Arum would do it . You have Ramirez against the winner of the WBSS which will be a much anticipated fight. Valdez/Frampton. Bieterbiev, Teo Lopez, Navarette and some other really good fighters with great potential fights. ESPN will eventually force Bob to make better fights if the ratings are down and the other companies put on better fights. Nah that’s a terrible comparison. Duran was already a legit Welterweight with wins over guys like Palomino. Loma is a natural Super Featherweight who’ll likely never fight as a high as 147.

I think they are happy. TR can make really good fights if Bob wanted to make them or partner with other channels. Start with Crawford/Loma-the modern day SRL/Duran. That IMO would do HUGE business but there is no way Arum would do it . You have Ramirez against the winner of the WBSS which will be a much anticipated fight. Valdez/Frampton. Bieterbiev, Teo Lopez, Navarette and some other really good fighters with great potential fights. ESPN will eventually force Bob to make better fights if the ratings are down and the other companies put on better fights.Loma is too small for bud period. Loma is a 135 pounder and I can't see him at 140. Bud is a full 147 pounder. Loma vs bud makes no sense at all

I'm sure the Fury fight attracted a lot of subscribers. It wasn't shown on regular cable. BT covered the Warrington fight, but not the Schwarz fight. So I assume many people were forced to buy ESPN+.

How happy can any network be with everything spread so thin?

I think they are happy. TR can make really good fights if Bob wanted to make them or partner with other channels. Start with Crawford/Loma-the modern day SRL/Duran. That IMO would do HUGE business but there is no way Arum would do it . You have Ramirez against the winner of the WBSS which will be a much anticipated fight. Valdez/Frampton. Bieterbiev, Teo Lopez, Navarette and some other really good fighters with great potential fights. ESPN will eventually force Bob to make better fights if the ratings are down and the other companies put on better fights. Crawford vs Lomachenko would do huge business but real boxing fans know that would be a mismatch. Just like casuals thought Mikey Garcia had a chance against Spence. Weight classes matter. Crawford rehydrates to around 160 while Lomachenko rehydrates to around 145.

It depends to what degree they expected these losses. If the goal is just to make money I can't imagine they're happy with him. If they just wanted a piece of the market because they have the money to invest then it's whatever. Fury and Bud looked to have flopped, but who knows maybe a phenom or an actual draw will drop out of the sky one day and they can get more subs.

I can't imagine that they are. The Crawford vs Khan PPV flopped. Tyson Fury vs Schwartz had poor attendance figures. Yet Crawford, Khan, and Fury were all paid handsomely. How long can Top Rank continue to bleed money like this without providing a positive return of some kind to the network? A better question is FS1 happy with Haymon. Despite being in almost the same amount of homes as espn, they don’t even do half the ratings. How long can haymon dontiunie to bleed money like this without providing a positive return of some kind for the network?

The Fury entrance and KO went absolutely viral and everywhere. To us it's bullshit, but ESPN is probably very happy. They don't care about attendance figures or if Bob loses a few bucks of his yearly budget on a PPV, at the end of the day they're looking for content that interests viewers and so far Top Rank has delivered.

Probably as happy as Showtime with Haymon loosing big money on every Wilder fight.

I think they are happy. TR can make really good fights if Bob wanted to make them or partner with other channels. Start with Crawford/Loma-the modern day SRL/Duran. That IMO would do HUGE business but there is no way Arum would do it . You have Ramirez against the winner of the WBSS which will be a much anticipated fight. Valdez/Frampton. Bieterbiev, Teo Lopez, Navarette and some other really good fighters with great potential fights. ESPN will eventually force Bob to make better fights if the ratings are down and the other companies put on better fights.