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Mailbag: Network TV bouts are on the way, according to boxing’s top promoters
By Kevin Iole, Yahoo! Sports
11 hours, 48 minutes ago
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Longtime boxing fans frequently lament the lack of a national television contract as one of the reasons for its struggles.
But don’t be surprised if boxing winds up on CBS at some point in 2012. Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer wouldn’t identify a network, but said recently, “I am optimistic, very optimistic,” when asked if there would be boxing on network TV in the near future.
Top Rank president Todd duBoef expressed similar optimism.
Now, though, the rumblings are coming from someone with the ability to influence that decision. Stephen Espinoza, the newly appointed vice president and general manager of Showtime Sports, said he thought boxing could come to network television this year.
“There’s a decent chance of it, maybe even a good chance of it happening, in fact,” Espinoza said. “Boxing, for all of its challenges, still has a very loyal fan base, especially in the Latino and African-American demographics. Boxing has shown that, at its highest level, boxing can capture the mainstream sports, and non-sports, population.
“Whenever you have an event like [Floyd] Mayweather-[Manny] Pacquiao, or [Oscar] De La Hoya-Mayweather, capture the imagination of all sports fans and, to a certain degree, non-sports fans, you’ve got a good recipe for success.”
There is no fight lined up, there’s no date, and there’s not even a deal, but at least for the first time in a long while, there is reason to be optimistic about boxing’s return to free, over-the-air television.
By Kevin Iole, Yahoo! Sports
11 hours, 48 minutes ago
tweet13
Longtime boxing fans frequently lament the lack of a national television contract as one of the reasons for its struggles.
But don’t be surprised if boxing winds up on CBS at some point in 2012. Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer wouldn’t identify a network, but said recently, “I am optimistic, very optimistic,” when asked if there would be boxing on network TV in the near future.
Top Rank president Todd duBoef expressed similar optimism.
Now, though, the rumblings are coming from someone with the ability to influence that decision. Stephen Espinoza, the newly appointed vice president and general manager of Showtime Sports, said he thought boxing could come to network television this year.
“There’s a decent chance of it, maybe even a good chance of it happening, in fact,” Espinoza said. “Boxing, for all of its challenges, still has a very loyal fan base, especially in the Latino and African-American demographics. Boxing has shown that, at its highest level, boxing can capture the mainstream sports, and non-sports, population.
“Whenever you have an event like [Floyd] Mayweather-[Manny] Pacquiao, or [Oscar] De La Hoya-Mayweather, capture the imagination of all sports fans and, to a certain degree, non-sports fans, you’ve got a good recipe for success.”
There is no fight lined up, there’s no date, and there’s not even a deal, but at least for the first time in a long while, there is reason to be optimistic about boxing’s return to free, over-the-air television.
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