The Empty Seat Dilemma: Why So Many Top Fighters Can’t Sell Tickets

[Imhotep]

Well since Im a part of the AA community I'll answer this.

Its true we as a whole...dont.

Why?

Because we come from **** holes and look to the NBA and NFL for escape. Those are the sports African Americans support.

82% of the NBA is black

65% of the NFL is black.

Those are the sports we follow the most. Everybody knows who Chris Johnson is very few know who Chad Dawson is. Its just how it is. Mexicans are more into Soccer, Baseball, boxing, etc.

No disrespect bruh but just because you may come from a ****hole does`nt mean we all come from ****-holes.There is a large Black Middle-class out there.But if you never went outside the ****** and traveled to certain Areas you would`nt know this.

[Horus]

Those other guys weren't draws outside of Jones and Mayweather and those guys only became "draws" late in their career after years of money being invested in them by HBO.

Not because they were ever draws on their own or properly developed.

Mayweather couldn't even draw in Michigan.

Devon Alexander: Draw Averaged 10,000 last fight
Andre Ward: Draw 10,000 averaged

The problem is not African American Fighters..The problem is Promoters running to vegas and Los Angeles instead keeping their fighters home.

Devon Alexander and Andre Ward do local TV news interviews,
They are in the community' they train in the community, they live in the community, they fight in the community. Therefore the community supports them.

Devon Alexander just had the St. Louis rams come watch him play... why?
Andre Ward was all over Oakland newscast before his fight with Green and they came out to support him..


Devon Alexander and Andre Ward are not brawlers or sluggers. They are boxers.

when Mayweather fought in michigan

Phillip N'dou
Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States
Attendance: 9,200

Carlos Hernandez
Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States
Attendance: 9,600

Carlos Alberto Ramon Rios
Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States
Attendance: 12,696


This tells me that Michigan Supported Floyd whenever he fought there.
**** dont make me bring up Jermain Taylor and Arkansas.

[NesNY]

And none of these promoters want to spend the money to Promote the sport either.They are content with the one or few big name fighters they have.


Dana White has done a great job Promoting MMA and making it bigger then Boxing.He always load the PPV under-cards up with exciting Fighters while boxing promoters generally load up the PPV under-cards with Crap fighters which is not helping the sport grow.

it's the simplest rule in all of business.

Invest wisely, and ye shall reap the benefits. Expose the fighters to more media outlets. Promoters would rather keep whatever pennies they make than invest it in promoting their fighters on Radio/TV/internet outlets.

[Pin Galarga]

In the words of Uncle Bob, they have not been promoted correctly. Their promoters have not invested much money for marketing etc.
That's Uncle Bob's excuse not to match his boxers with other promoter's fighters.
He has invested his money and doesn't like the idea of other promoters benefiting from his money.
I don't agree with his doubledipping, but He has a point which explains your concern.

[Imhotep]

it's simple really

you build an audience by staking claim to an area people will relate to the fighter

you don't fight PWill 8 times in So Cal, you fight him in the DC or ATL area where he is from and still frequents.

you don't fight Berto in So Cal 4 times no you fight him in Florida and keep him there. That way once people in his area see they have a champ on their hands they can relate to him and want to see his fights. It was sad seeing Berto draw less than 3000 people for his Quintana fight especially considering it was for the Haitian relief fund his is driving

why do you guys think Fernando Guerrero is a big gate draw than both Berto and PWill combined but as of yet has never graced HBO?

why do you think Tomasz Adamek draws 8-10k people in NJ without any TV date?

most big time promoters have become lazy relying solely on TV money to get them by. Fighters too. If they had to rely on their gates to get paid best believe they would promote their fights better

the hardest thing for a promoter to do is keep their fighter fighting in their fanbase as they grow. Most promoters make the mistake of thinking their fighter no longer needs that fanbase as they now have a major network interested in them.

Your right and was thinking about this months ago.I noticed Jermaine Taylor did Very well in ticket sells in Arkansas where he`s from,I noticed Floyd did near sellouts or sellouts in his Hometown of Grand rapids Michigan(now he lives in Vegas),I noticed Devon Alexander,did pretty well in his hometown last week,Cory Spinks did well in his hometown when he fought Judah.



But not all black fighters can draw in their hometown but it is better they start at home then move internationally cause you can build up hype better for your fights like you insinuated.

I don`t understand why alot of Promoters do this with their non-black fighters more then their black fighters.

[Devils Advocate]

See, this is exactly what I'm talking about. It's like that in Tacoma, WA too $25-$70 tickets, good entertaining cards (even though there aren't any stars typically) and it sells very well every single time.

I just don't undertsand why ESPN/HBO/Showtime and the promoters don't follow this type of model and go to smaller cities. It pains me to watch Friday Night Fights with nearly completely empty seats when there are venues all over that would be sold out. Plus it looks so bad for the sport. Someone flipping through the channels see's some boxing and sees no one in the stands they are going to automatically think it's a stinker of a fight.

Emerald Queen in Tacoma,Wa is always a sells out, I went there for the Vic Darchinian vs Dmitry Kirillov. Andre Dirrell was on the undercard and after his fight he showed up right next to us in the hamburger line. This guy was so excited I knew who he was, I could barley understand him with the food in his mouth. He's a funny cat afterwards he said "My bad Im just hungry" lol the fact this guy isn't a lightheavy weight is amazing he's a big dude.

[Hallaqsillaq]

Hispanics are awesome.

Boxers are our modern day warriors. We still glorify a warrior.

For us Basketball, Volleyball, Soccer, Baseball etc. are big, but nothing has the emotion of two warriors testing their mettle in a ring, NOTHING.

Down here in bank ads, you'll have a faceless guy wearing a suit with gloves shadowboxing promoting the 2010 Central American games, that's how big boxing is in PR. We have local events sponsored by guys like Cotto's PR Boxing etc.

[Imhotep]

I believe had Don King Promoted Floyd from the Beginning Floyd would have been a big ticket seller quicker outside of Michigan.

I also think Shane Mosley,Paul Williams, Berto and many other exciting black fighters would have been bigger if Don King would have promoted them cause he seems to know how to Promote black fighters the best.

But unfortunately he would have likely ripped them off.

[Imhotep]

Devon Alexander: Draw Averaged 10,000 last fight
Andre Ward: Draw 10,000 averaged

The problem is not African American Fighters..The problem is Promoters running to vegas and Los Angeles instead keeping their fighters home.

Devon Alexander and Andre Ward do local TV news interviews,
They are in the community' they train in the community, they live in the community, they fight in the community. Therefore the community supports them.

Devon Alexander just had the St. Louis rams come watch him play... why?
Andre Ward was all over Oakland newscast before his fight with Green and they came out to support him..


Devon Alexander and Andre Ward are not brawlers or sluggers. They are boxers.

when Mayweather fought in michigan

Phillip N'dou
Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States
Attendance: 9,200

Carlos Hernandez
Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States
Attendance: 9,600

Carlos Alberto Ramon Rios
Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States
Attendance: 12,696


This tells me that Michigan Supported Floyd whenever he fought there.
**** dont make me bring up Jermain Taylor and Arkansas.

No doubt,Promoters really do need to look at Devon Alexanders,Floyd and Jermaine Taylors example of them fighting in their hometown.

[tredh]

In the words of Uncle Bob, they have not been promoted correctly. Their promoters have not invested much money for marketing etc.
That's Uncle Bob's excuse not to match his boxers with other promoter's fighters.
He has invested his money and doesn't like the idea of other promoters benefiting from his money.
I don't agree with his doubledipping, but He has a point which explains your concern.

Arum is full of **** with that statement. Arum makes more money keeping his fights in house. Arum doesn't promote his low level fighters so don't believe that.

If that statement was true and the other best fighter Arum's best fighter to fight was with another promoter but not as known as Arum's fighter. Arum and his fighter could command a bigger split and Top Rank would have top billing as the promoter of the fight. So why would he be against that? Don't make sense thats why that is a bull**** statement. Basically Arum is like if I can sell water to whales why break down my profits and go outside top rank when fools will buy what I sell them anyway.