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Hear me out here.
This is the era of "I want it now." You survive and stay relevant by providing content and providing merchandise. In other words, in order to keep people interested, they need to be able to spend their money and time on you, or they find somewhere else to go spend it.
This, in my opinion, is part of the reason Boxing doesn't generate as much interest anymore.
Most boxing fans are boxer fans. They have the guys they like and want to watch, and aren't too interested in watching fighters they don't know/like get it on. But how is boxing keeping fans interested? The guy you like comes out once or twice a year to fight, and that's all you see of him? What else do they offer to keep you, as a fan and consumer, satisfied? Nothing.
Compare that to the NBA. Those guys are in your face every weekend for months and months each year. And if you want more? Well, the Boston Celtics have 13 DVDs at their online store. Every year you can buy the Superbowl, NBA finals, and All kinds of Nascar **** on DVD to relive any time.
What if you have a band you really like, but the only time you get to hear them is when they have a new song on the radio? You hear it the few times it plays, and if you want to hear it again you have to go through some complicated, illegal method of acquiring it? Would you even bother?
Every awful show on TV has a season boxset on DVD mere months after the season ends. Why doesn't ESPN release a collection of the best fights (or every fight!) from each Friday Night Fights season the way TV shows release box sets?
And HBO? I know their fights aren't on DVD because they don't retain the broadcast rights or whatever, but why can't they change that? Many HBO fighters are already grossly overpaid. By releasing individual broadcasts or yearly best-of DVDs all they'd be doing is giving fighters more exposure and encouraging people to be more interested in the the sport.
What if, in the weeks before a Floyd Mayweather PPV match, someone could walk into Best Buy/Suncoast/WalMart and pick up a DVD of Floyd Mayweathers best fights? Wouldn't that raise their interest in seeing the match? UFC has already taken note; they release every UFC event shortly after it airs on DVD.
And why the hell isn't 24/7, an Emmy winning series, on DVD??
Boxing needs to get it together. Networks are still doing things exactly the way they did them 15-20 year ago, and if they don't adjust the sport will continue to see it's base shrink smaller and smaller.
EDIT: I would like to add: How much would boxing benefit from the exposure of having Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather, Paul Williams, Erik Morales, ect in every Wal-Mart and Best Buy in America on DVD?
I'd be willing to bet a lot.
This is the era of "I want it now." You survive and stay relevant by providing content and providing merchandise. In other words, in order to keep people interested, they need to be able to spend their money and time on you, or they find somewhere else to go spend it.
This, in my opinion, is part of the reason Boxing doesn't generate as much interest anymore.
Most boxing fans are boxer fans. They have the guys they like and want to watch, and aren't too interested in watching fighters they don't know/like get it on. But how is boxing keeping fans interested? The guy you like comes out once or twice a year to fight, and that's all you see of him? What else do they offer to keep you, as a fan and consumer, satisfied? Nothing.
Compare that to the NBA. Those guys are in your face every weekend for months and months each year. And if you want more? Well, the Boston Celtics have 13 DVDs at their online store. Every year you can buy the Superbowl, NBA finals, and All kinds of Nascar **** on DVD to relive any time.
What if you have a band you really like, but the only time you get to hear them is when they have a new song on the radio? You hear it the few times it plays, and if you want to hear it again you have to go through some complicated, illegal method of acquiring it? Would you even bother?
Every awful show on TV has a season boxset on DVD mere months after the season ends. Why doesn't ESPN release a collection of the best fights (or every fight!) from each Friday Night Fights season the way TV shows release box sets?
And HBO? I know their fights aren't on DVD because they don't retain the broadcast rights or whatever, but why can't they change that? Many HBO fighters are already grossly overpaid. By releasing individual broadcasts or yearly best-of DVDs all they'd be doing is giving fighters more exposure and encouraging people to be more interested in the the sport.
What if, in the weeks before a Floyd Mayweather PPV match, someone could walk into Best Buy/Suncoast/WalMart and pick up a DVD of Floyd Mayweathers best fights? Wouldn't that raise their interest in seeing the match? UFC has already taken note; they release every UFC event shortly after it airs on DVD.
And why the hell isn't 24/7, an Emmy winning series, on DVD??
Boxing needs to get it together. Networks are still doing things exactly the way they did them 15-20 year ago, and if they don't adjust the sport will continue to see it's base shrink smaller and smaller.
EDIT: I would like to add: How much would boxing benefit from the exposure of having Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather, Paul Williams, Erik Morales, ect in every Wal-Mart and Best Buy in America on DVD?
I'd be willing to bet a lot.
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