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by David P. Greisman - Saturate the market. Get names in newspapers, segments on screen. Remember that all publicity is good publicity.
The Sept. 19 pay-per-view featuring Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Juan Manuel Marquez is not a hard sell. But with less than three weeks to go, it is being sold hard.
The sweet science largely takes a hiatus in the summer months. The desert of Las Vegas is too hot. Television viewership drops. And network executives tighten their purse strings, saving up so as to end the year with a ****.
Since June, HBO has aired just three boxing broadcasts, as many as it put on in May alone. In the past three months, Showtime, too, footed the license fee for a trio of shows, along with picking up domestic rights to rebroadcast a fight staged overseas.
Attention turns, then, to the fall and winter slates. First up to the plate: Mayweather-Marquez.
Mayweather-Marquez was once set for July 18. But Mayweather injured a rib in training camp, postponing their bout. Conspiracy theorists suggested another reason: low ticket sales due in part to the economic downturn, in part to poor scheduling.
The new date takes advantage of Mexico’s Independence Day, which falls just three days prior. Major pay-per-views featuring Mexican fighters have become a regular occurrence in recent years. [details]
The Sept. 19 pay-per-view featuring Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Juan Manuel Marquez is not a hard sell. But with less than three weeks to go, it is being sold hard.
The sweet science largely takes a hiatus in the summer months. The desert of Las Vegas is too hot. Television viewership drops. And network executives tighten their purse strings, saving up so as to end the year with a ****.
Since June, HBO has aired just three boxing broadcasts, as many as it put on in May alone. In the past three months, Showtime, too, footed the license fee for a trio of shows, along with picking up domestic rights to rebroadcast a fight staged overseas.
Attention turns, then, to the fall and winter slates. First up to the plate: Mayweather-Marquez.
Mayweather-Marquez was once set for July 18. But Mayweather injured a rib in training camp, postponing their bout. Conspiracy theorists suggested another reason: low ticket sales due in part to the economic downturn, in part to poor scheduling.
The new date takes advantage of Mexico’s Independence Day, which falls just three days prior. Major pay-per-views featuring Mexican fighters have become a regular occurrence in recent years. [details]
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