Comments Thread For: Paramount Global To Shut Down Showtime Sports; Network Will No Longer Broadcast Boxing

[Slimjoe]

Pirated streams are killing the sport

I slightly disagree. UFC, premier league, bundesliga are still making money. Boxing kills itself. Promoters don't want to work with each other . Also , the best fighters are not fighting each other. At the amateur level, the board, they are all fighting each other instead of developing the sport. Yes, I don't want Show to go and it is sad , but they f'cked up bigly by not helping with the expansion of the sport.

[El_Mero]

When the knife was to their throat, Al/pbc finally put up good/great fights! But they took too long and this is what happens when you bulls.hit

[jqSide]

Paramount execs are probably scratching their heads how such a sport as a business could flourish with only 1 fighter or 2 taking the large chunk of the budget with very little profit for the investors. And the paying public is essentially only buying one fight, the main event. It does sound crazy.

[Bob Haymon]

Overpaying fighters is not a sustainable business model. It’s why every few years they have to find a new network when the old network decides it’s not worth it to keep paying 7 figures for guys like the Charlos to beat up cab drivers from Tijuana.

[tomhawq]

Overpaying fighters is not a sustainable business model. It’s why every few years they have to find a new network when the old network decides it’s not worth it to keep paying 7 figures for guys like the Charlos to beat up cab drivers from Tijuana.

Then Eddie Hearn came and made it even worse by raising the prices. And now Deontay Wilder, Ruiz, etc. don't want to fight unless they get retirement check.

[DClefthook]

been watching boxing since the 80s. HBO, Showtime, ESPN tuesday night fights, USA boxing, ABC wide world of sports, NBC, Spike, BounceTv. Now I guess Amazon prime. Its a new day so it is what it is. Good thing about it is PBC aint going nowhere. They've had three 100 million dollar fights this year so someone is going to pick them up. I know everyone is saying they're going to Prime but my dream scenario would be Espn. PBC and TR with no more sides of the street on the world leader in sports. Damn I hope that happens.

[SUBZER0ED]

This is good news. I loved HBO and I love Showtime. They’re the only two subscriptions I have, and I’ll keep them because boxing was always secondary to their tv shows, movies, and documentaries.

Boxing needs a shake up. Going to DAZN or Amazon is a great look. Preferably Amazon as it is likely to be more affordable.

Fuck DAZN! They raised their price earlier this year from $99/yr to $239, with their current lackluster fights. What will they charge if they get premium fights like Showtime aired?

[Pigeons]

Remember when Crawford said no one bought the Porter fight because it was on an app?

I got bad news for you buddy.

[James Hunt]

and to finish what we started in 2023, perhaps the best year in our department’s history.

Yup!
As if someone was trying to save PBC/SHO boxing. Who?
If PBC, that could mean they (still) don't have a new broadcaster or a potential one is not as lucrative as SHO.

[SUBZER0ED]

I slightly disagree. UFC, premier league, bundesliga are still making money. Boxing kills itself. Promoters don't want to work with each other . Also , the best fighters are not fighting each other. At the amateur level, the board, they are all fighting each other instead of developing the sport. Yes, I don't want Show to go and it is sad , but they f'cked up bigly by not helping with the expansion of the sport.

Good point! It used to be that good prospect fighters would first build themselves up by fighting each other, THEN the best of the best would put on PPVs. Now, you have these divas win a couple of decent fights, then waste most of their remaining prime years waiting for a huge PPV payday. I get that fighting is a tough business and more fighters want to have their faculties after their careers end. But this is the hurt business. They can't expect to get rich from fighting, yet barely fight. Maybe they should rethink their career choice.