Ward on BET gets 325K viewers

[Barcham]

Minor point? Had HBO used its programming touting Ward's return and a fight with GGG it surely that fight would be more anticipated. That's how HBO has garnered interest in all its fights for years.

If HBO had used the fight game to push this fight I'm sure fans would be more excited.

So I get you like to talk about "profitability" in a vacuum, but then you call HBO using its shows to hype this fight a "minor quibble that doesn't affect anything".

Very confusing opinions from you.

Why would HBO promote a fighter who is fighting on BET and who may never fight on HBO again? If Ward becomes more reasonable after seeing these numbers, he may decide to fight on HBO in his next fight for around $1 million for his next tune up. If he fights on BET again, chances are that his days on HBO may well be done.

my point is the fight may NEVER be a PPV fight because both guys are not able to sell on PPV. that doesn't mean the fight shouldn't happen.

In that case, the fight will probably never happen. GGG's primary goal is to unify the titles at 160 and Ward does not fit into that plan. Down the line, if Ward was to unify all the titles at 168 and GGG at 160, then we would have a hell of a PPV to promote, wouldn't we? It would be a first in boxing history, two undisputed champions going up against each other. Or it could be an undisputed Ward facing an undisputed Kovalev. Who knows? There is no reason at all to rush things. Everything in it's time. Another year or so will not kill anyone.

Wasn't it loeffler himself who said that the fight doesn't make financial sense???

Yes, and so did Ward and his camp. And so did HBO. And they were all speaking the truth.

a ppv fight doesnt have to sell 1 mill ppvs to make a profit out of it, but if on top of that we also bring the weight excuse then it will really be hard to make..
again even on regular hbo fights you can make big purses... plus you can try to sell ppvs on the UK "ggg vs the man who outclassed froch" ...
profit for this fight should not be an excuse , but then again i understand ggg if he fights a lesser opponent for less money...

Moving to SMW to fight Ward is pointless and does not advance GGG's primary goal, to unify the MW titles. The only reason that fight happens is for a PPV and to make money. Otherwise, Ward hangs around until Golovkin moves up to SMW permanently and the fight happens then, if Ward is still around at that weight.

[bigjavi973]

No expectations for the fight were ever made public. Anything Roc Nation was to say now I would take with a grain of salt.



So you are comparing Ward with Bradley?

Ward and GGG are irrelevant to HBO's long term profitability. HBO will be around long after both fighters are retired and being brought out for the occasional special event. Short term, GGG will continue to be just as popular as a middleweight even if he was to lose to Ward. If Ward was to lose to GGG on the other hand, his value would plummet. It would be almost as bad as GGG losing to Cotto. Not quite as bad because no one gives Cotto the slightest chance that Cotto could win while about half give GGG a chance of beating Ward. But it would still cause him serious damage. Ward would have to fight Kovalev immediately after if he lost to Golovkin. And losing both back to back would basically send Ward into retirement.

What!?

No way, that is a terrible comparison.

Cotto is an ex Super Lightweight in his 4th weight class.

Ward is just ONE weight class above.

[ИATAS]

That's exactly right. I like GGG. I like his take no prisoners, come forward fighting style, but some of these GGG fans, dare I say, are a tad bit worse than pacquiao fans.

They are just very passionate, not unlike you Cotto fans

[SlySlickSmooth]

What I'm saying is that I highly doubt BET put up more money than HBO. Roc Nation would have to make up the difference by paying the vast majority of the purse out of pocket eitherway. Ward would have still brought decent ratings to HBO had HBO paid whatever amount BET paid for the fight. All I can think of is that Roc Nation wants to start his own thing outside of HBO like Haymon, and turned down the HBO offer thinking it would pay off in the long run.

HBO would of taken more of Roc Nation's and Ward's profits than BET did probably.

Plus it gets Ward out in the public eye than premium television. There's literally no need for a return tune up against a journeyman on HBO.

[icha]

Why would HBO promote a fighter who is fighting on BET and who may never fight on HBO again? If Ward becomes more reasonable after seeing these numbers, he may decide to fight on HBO in his next fight for around $1 million for his next tune up. If he fights on BET again, chances are that his days on HBO may well be done.



In that case, the fight will probably never happen. GGG's primary goal is to unify the titles at 160 and Ward does not fit into that plan. Down the line, if Ward was to unify all the titles at 168 and GGG at 160, then we would have a hell of a PPV to promote, wouldn't we? It would be a first in boxing history, two undisputed champions going up against each other. Or it could be an undisputed Ward facing an undisputed Kovalev. Who knows? There is no reason at all to rush things. Everything in it's time. Another year or so will not kill anyone.



Yes, and so did Ward and his camp. And so did HBO. And they were all speaking the truth.




Moving to SMW to fight Ward is pointless and does not advance GGG's primary goal, to unify the MW titles. The only reason that fight happens is for a PPV and to make money. Otherwise, Ward hangs around until Golovkin moves up to SMW permanently and the fight happens then, if Ward is still around at that weight.

you have a valid point here, but you made this thread to prove that ward is not financially viable , and thats not the case, hbo can make the fight and pay ward and ggg 2 mill if they want..

[ИATAS]

NSB is going to have to create a GGG vs Ward master thread pretty soon here. That's how you know Golovkin is becoming a big star. 5-10 threads a day and 24/7 GGG vs Ward discussion.

[Barcham]

Lol exactly. And he doesn't even hide that he is happy when a PBC show or a fighter he doesn't like gets bad ratings. It's bad for the sport but whatever, he is happy because he chose his side set it in stone and don't care about the sport in general. A Golovkin fan first not boxing fan.

PBC itself is bad for the sport and I keep hoping that if the ratings continue to drop that someone over there will smarten up and bring it back to traditional boxing standards. If not, then yes, I hope it crashes and burns. I think PBC is boring, dull, disrespectful to the history of the sport and to the fighters, the titles they have trained their lives to win, their teams and the fans.

I am also a huge hockey fan and years ago when a US network started showing games with Peter Puck and the ****** laser trails on the puck so that lost American fans could follow the game which was too fast for them, I could not wait for them to cancel the show. It was finally cancelled and was off US television for years. Now the NHL has a huge contract by hockey standards and the games are done properly without the ****** effects and other crap.

Maybe one day, the same will happen with boxing. All it takes is someone with respect for the sport. Al Haymon is not that person.

[bigjavi973]

They are just very passionate, not unlike you Cotto fans

I wouldn't go that far now

[Barcham]

you have a valid point here, but you made this thread to prove that ward is not financially viable , and thats not the case, hbo can make the fight and pay ward and ggg 2 mill if they want..

Those amounts are not financially viable as far as the fighters are concerned. Why would Ward fight Golovkin for $2 million when he can fight Smith on BET for the same money? Why should GGG fight Ward for that amount when he can fight Lee or Lemieux soon for the same or more?

Ward's viewer numbers do not deserve a purse of $2 million. They do not deserve a purse of 500k for that matter. They certainly do not instill confidence in HBO that he could deliver high numbers for either a regular broadcast or a PPV.

I think my point was made quite solidly.

[Barcham]

I wouldn't go that far now

Yeah! GGG can beat Ward, Cotto could never come close to beating GGG or even lasting the distance.