HBO and boxing are at a crossroads. The first draft of the network’s overall budget for 2010 was presented in July. It called for a US$15,000,000 reduction for HBO Sports; a cut in excess of twenty percent. Then, during the first week of September, Michael Lombardo (president of HBO’s programming group and West Coast operations) further signaled senior management’s displeasure with the status quo by instructing HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg to cut several million dollars from the budget for the last quarter of 2009.
The key players in the drama that’s unfolding are HBO CEO Bill Nelson, co-president Richard Plepler, and Lombardo. Sources say that these three men have been frustrated by the absence of a coherent overall plan for boxing at HBO. Plepler (who has an extensive background in public relations) is said to have taken particular notice of the publicity that Showtime received when it announced its 168-pound championship tournament. He wonders why HBO Sports, with a far larger budget, has stirred so little media interest in its own boxing programming.
At an early stage of the budget discussions, the powers-that-be asked Greenburg for a comprehensive plan that outlines his vision for the future of boxing at HBO. In making their request, they told him that simply saying HBO intends to buy better, more competitive fights in the future doesn’t constitute a plan. That’s what HBO should have been doing all along. They want a plan.
During the week of September 21st, Greenburg and his staff rehearsed the presentation of their case for restoration of the cuts from next year’s budget. That presentation was made to Nelson, Plepler, and Lombardo on Thursday, September 24th. Sources say that senior vice president for sports operations and pay-per-view Mark Taffet, HBO Sports senior vice president Kery Davis, HBO Sports executive producer Rick Bernstein, and HBO Sports senior vice president and chief financial officer Barbara Thomas were also present.
“It’s surprising how short the meeting was,” says a source with knowledge of the gathering. “It lasted less than thirty minutes. Ross was the presenter on behalf of HBO Sports, but he didn’t fight the cuts. He knows he has problems with senior management. His main concern right now seems to be not making waves.”
HBO’s budget will be finalized by Bill Nelson in late-October or early-November. Then it will be presented to Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes for approval. Nelson, Plepler, and Lombardo are unlikely to tell Greenburg where to cut $15,000,000 from his 2010 budget. That will be his decision. But if the $15,000,000 cut stands, most of it is expected to come out of boxing. There will be lower license fees, fewer fights, and, most likely, layoffs. It’s possible that Boxing After Dark will be discontinued.
“The problem,” one source says, “is that any plan Ross puts forward will be met with skepticism because, when it comes to boxing, his biggest initiatives have failed. His plan to hitch HBO’s wagon to Golden Boy and the Golden Boy output deal have been a disaster. And the idea of anointing Victor Ortiz, Alfredo Angulo, James Kirkland, Robert Guerrero, and Chris Arreola as HBO’s stars of the future doesn’t look so good.”
For some of Greenburg’s bosses, the lasting symbol of the network’s relationship with Golden Boy is a $100,000 party that HBO had planned for the night of Oscar De La Hoya vs. Stevie Forbes. A few days before the fight, HBO Special Events realized that the list of attendees was devoid of big names and cancelled the party.
“Ross has lost a great deal of credibility with senior management because of his dealings with Golden Boy,” a source says. “It goes back to when he convinced them to invest heavily in the license fee and marketing for De La Hoya-Forbes on the premise that it would be a big event. It wasn’t. Now Ross goes into the meetings and tries to sell boxing. And they tell him, ‘Ross, look at the ratings.’ For $15,000,000, Mike Lombardo can develop two new series and maybe deliver the next *** and the City or The Sopranos.”
The future of boxing at HBO is more contingent now than at any time since former HBO Sports president Seth Abraham took over the reins more than two decades ago. With that in mind, let’s look at what HBO has done in boxing this year, starting with its flagship offering.
HBO World Championship Boxing got off to a good start in 2009. It’s first two shows were Antonio Margarito vs. Shane Mosley on January 24th and a February 28th doubleheader with Juan Manuel Marquez vs. Juan Diaz and Chris John against Rocky Juarez. Everybody understood going in that those were likely to be exciting fights.
Then, on April 11th, HBO televised Paul Williams vs. Ronald ‘Winky’ Wright and Chris Arreola against Jameel McCline. Williams is near the top of most “pound-for-pound” lists. Wright is 37 years old and has won one fight since 2005. Williams won eleven of twelve rounds (all twelve on one judge’s card).
As for Arreola-McCline, HBO was grooming Chris for a title shot (more on that later). Jameel is 38 years old and has lost four of his last five fights. In fact, McCline had retired from boxing and taken a fulltime job when he was seduced back into the ring to fight Arreola for one last paycheck. He fought scared and bailed out in the fourth round.
Then things got worse. On May 9th, HBO World Championship Boxing paired the rematch between Chad Dawson and Antonio Tarver with a tape-delay of Manny Pacquiao’s second-round knockout of Ricky Hatton. Neither bout, it was suggested afterward, was “live.”
Greenburg’s decision to spend US$3,200,000 plus production and marketing costs on Dawson-Tarver II left a lot of people shaking their heads. Their first fight (on Showtime) had been twelve rounds of tedium that engendered a paid attendance of 911 (a true emergency number). The only reason they were fighting again was that Tarver exercised a rematch clause in his contract.
Dawson-Tarver II typified much of what’s wrong with the decision-making process at HBO Sports. It was summer stock on a Broadway budget. According to records filed with the Nevada State Athletic Commission, 1,426 tickets were sold. The live gate receipts totaled a meager $170,280. Something is very wrong when a network pays a license fee that’s nineteen times the live gate for a fight that can’t sell out a small hotel venue.
At the start of the telecast, HBO boxing analyst Max Kellerman called Dawson-Tarver II “a fight that no one really wants to see.” After the bout, he labeled Dawson a B-plus fighter in a C division.” It’s unclear why HBO paid $3,200,000 (plus marketing and production costs) for a fight between a B-plus fighter and a past-his-prime 40-year-old in a C division.
But as Steve Kim noted, “Nobody can bid against themselves quite like HBO.”
The key players in the drama that’s unfolding are HBO CEO Bill Nelson, co-president Richard Plepler, and Lombardo. Sources say that these three men have been frustrated by the absence of a coherent overall plan for boxing at HBO. Plepler (who has an extensive background in public relations) is said to have taken particular notice of the publicity that Showtime received when it announced its 168-pound championship tournament. He wonders why HBO Sports, with a far larger budget, has stirred so little media interest in its own boxing programming.
At an early stage of the budget discussions, the powers-that-be asked Greenburg for a comprehensive plan that outlines his vision for the future of boxing at HBO. In making their request, they told him that simply saying HBO intends to buy better, more competitive fights in the future doesn’t constitute a plan. That’s what HBO should have been doing all along. They want a plan.
During the week of September 21st, Greenburg and his staff rehearsed the presentation of their case for restoration of the cuts from next year’s budget. That presentation was made to Nelson, Plepler, and Lombardo on Thursday, September 24th. Sources say that senior vice president for sports operations and pay-per-view Mark Taffet, HBO Sports senior vice president Kery Davis, HBO Sports executive producer Rick Bernstein, and HBO Sports senior vice president and chief financial officer Barbara Thomas were also present.
“It’s surprising how short the meeting was,” says a source with knowledge of the gathering. “It lasted less than thirty minutes. Ross was the presenter on behalf of HBO Sports, but he didn’t fight the cuts. He knows he has problems with senior management. His main concern right now seems to be not making waves.”
HBO’s budget will be finalized by Bill Nelson in late-October or early-November. Then it will be presented to Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes for approval. Nelson, Plepler, and Lombardo are unlikely to tell Greenburg where to cut $15,000,000 from his 2010 budget. That will be his decision. But if the $15,000,000 cut stands, most of it is expected to come out of boxing. There will be lower license fees, fewer fights, and, most likely, layoffs. It’s possible that Boxing After Dark will be discontinued.
“The problem,” one source says, “is that any plan Ross puts forward will be met with skepticism because, when it comes to boxing, his biggest initiatives have failed. His plan to hitch HBO’s wagon to Golden Boy and the Golden Boy output deal have been a disaster. And the idea of anointing Victor Ortiz, Alfredo Angulo, James Kirkland, Robert Guerrero, and Chris Arreola as HBO’s stars of the future doesn’t look so good.”
For some of Greenburg’s bosses, the lasting symbol of the network’s relationship with Golden Boy is a $100,000 party that HBO had planned for the night of Oscar De La Hoya vs. Stevie Forbes. A few days before the fight, HBO Special Events realized that the list of attendees was devoid of big names and cancelled the party.
“Ross has lost a great deal of credibility with senior management because of his dealings with Golden Boy,” a source says. “It goes back to when he convinced them to invest heavily in the license fee and marketing for De La Hoya-Forbes on the premise that it would be a big event. It wasn’t. Now Ross goes into the meetings and tries to sell boxing. And they tell him, ‘Ross, look at the ratings.’ For $15,000,000, Mike Lombardo can develop two new series and maybe deliver the next *** and the City or The Sopranos.”
The future of boxing at HBO is more contingent now than at any time since former HBO Sports president Seth Abraham took over the reins more than two decades ago. With that in mind, let’s look at what HBO has done in boxing this year, starting with its flagship offering.
HBO World Championship Boxing got off to a good start in 2009. It’s first two shows were Antonio Margarito vs. Shane Mosley on January 24th and a February 28th doubleheader with Juan Manuel Marquez vs. Juan Diaz and Chris John against Rocky Juarez. Everybody understood going in that those were likely to be exciting fights.
Then, on April 11th, HBO televised Paul Williams vs. Ronald ‘Winky’ Wright and Chris Arreola against Jameel McCline. Williams is near the top of most “pound-for-pound” lists. Wright is 37 years old and has won one fight since 2005. Williams won eleven of twelve rounds (all twelve on one judge’s card).
As for Arreola-McCline, HBO was grooming Chris for a title shot (more on that later). Jameel is 38 years old and has lost four of his last five fights. In fact, McCline had retired from boxing and taken a fulltime job when he was seduced back into the ring to fight Arreola for one last paycheck. He fought scared and bailed out in the fourth round.
Then things got worse. On May 9th, HBO World Championship Boxing paired the rematch between Chad Dawson and Antonio Tarver with a tape-delay of Manny Pacquiao’s second-round knockout of Ricky Hatton. Neither bout, it was suggested afterward, was “live.”
Greenburg’s decision to spend US$3,200,000 plus production and marketing costs on Dawson-Tarver II left a lot of people shaking their heads. Their first fight (on Showtime) had been twelve rounds of tedium that engendered a paid attendance of 911 (a true emergency number). The only reason they were fighting again was that Tarver exercised a rematch clause in his contract.
Dawson-Tarver II typified much of what’s wrong with the decision-making process at HBO Sports. It was summer stock on a Broadway budget. According to records filed with the Nevada State Athletic Commission, 1,426 tickets were sold. The live gate receipts totaled a meager $170,280. Something is very wrong when a network pays a license fee that’s nineteen times the live gate for a fight that can’t sell out a small hotel venue.
At the start of the telecast, HBO boxing analyst Max Kellerman called Dawson-Tarver II “a fight that no one really wants to see.” After the bout, he labeled Dawson a B-plus fighter in a C division.” It’s unclear why HBO paid $3,200,000 (plus marketing and production costs) for a fight between a B-plus fighter and a past-his-prime 40-year-old in a C division.
But as Steve Kim noted, “Nobody can bid against themselves quite like HBO.”
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