What are things PBC could do better other than Matchmaking ?

[The Big Dunn]

My point was, football fans will go out of their way to watch football no matter what day/channel/time its on. Football is the country's most popular and most watched sport. Cant say the same for boxing. Sure the boxing diehards will go out of their way to watch a match during the week, but the casuals wont. They'll channel surf and if they come across a fight and if there's no action after a round or 2 they're changing the channel.

PBC needs its own network. Establish themselves as THE go to boxing channel/network outside of HBO and Showtime. If there's an HBO or Showtime fighter fighting 2 saturdays from now, you dont even need to tell me what channel or time the fight will be on. I know for a fact it's taking place either on HBO or Showtime starting at 9pm ET. Tell me Broner or Thurman is fighting next week and I'll have to research to figure out which network PBC is using for that fight and on what day and time.

There's no way that you can honestly say that having cards on a plethora of networks on different dates and times is good for PBC.

How do you know what diehards or casuals will do when given more than 1 option? In the era with 990 channels it's hard to start and grow a network like HBO did 30 years ago.

One network instead of multiple outlets? That makes it more difficult to attract casual fans who have no reason to tune into the channel.

Yes Deveel916, you've been conditioned to watch boxing on a Saturday night. That is a problem, with all due respect. As a young fan I could watch fights on multiple networks, on different days, at different times. I think the additional exposure, especially at times when young fans can watch, is a good thing.

Of course I can say it's good because I have different goals than you. I want to expose my son to boxing. He's in bed when fights come on now. When I was his age, I was watching Sugar Ray Leonard and Tommy Hearns at 4:00 on Saturday or 1:00 on Sunday. I watched young Roy Jones and Floyd Mayweather on Tuesday nights between 8-10. This allowed younger fighters to establish themselves at home as well.

How is that a problem?

I can't believe any hardcore fan would find it a problem to be able to watch good young talent during the week.

[PK3434]

They need to make it more authentic and less elitist. The announcers are frightened to mention anyone in the boxing landscape that isn't affiliated with Haymon, even when it is someone very relevant to the division. As a boxing fan, it is very noticeable and disturbing.

Haymon's strategy of buying time on every network to freeze out other promoters has hurt the quality of the pbc cards. Yes, there should be less cards with a higher quality. I love more boxing, but lets be honest...a lot of us have **** to do on the weekends and are not going to be able to watch every card anyways. I agree that they should've focused on a few networks instead of the 10 or so that they currently buy time on.

[Deevel916]

How do you know what diehards or casuals will do when given more than 1 option? In the era with 990 channels it's hard to start and grow a network like HBO did 30 years ago.

Yes Deveel916, you've been conditioned to watch boxing on a Saturday night. That is a problem, with all due respect. As a young fan I could watch fights on multiple networks, on different days, at different times. I think the additional exposure, especially at times when young fans can watch, is a good thing.

Of course I can say it's good because I have different goals than you. I want to expose my son to boxing. He's in bed when fights come on now. When I was his age, I was watching Sugar Ray Leonard and Tommy Hearns at 4:00 on Saturday or 1:00 on Sunday. I watched young Roy Jones and Floyd Mayweather on Tuesday nights between 8-10. This allowed younger fighters to establish themselves at home as well.

How is that a problem?

I can't believe any hardcore fan would find it a problem to be able to watch good young talent during the week.

Again, you're a diehard fan like myself. We will tune in to watch a fight regardless of what channel its on. My point is, the casuals wont and as a result the PBC brand will continue to struggle if the casuals arent on board. It's hard to capture the casual fans interest in these PBC cards if they're all over the place. Go ahead and ask any casual fan when is the next PBC fight and on what channel. Guarantee you they wont know. I dont even know and if wasnt for this site that advertises the PBC cards, I would have to actually do a google search or log onto the PBC website to find out. I'll do that because I'm a boxing fan. Casuals wont go to those lengths though.

Like I stated...."consistency is the key" Even if you're a street hustler. You build your brand and have your territory. So long as you're consistent the customers will always come. Why? Because they know where to find you. Now try moving your spot every 3 days and see how business falls off once these customers get tired of trying to find out where you're located this week.

[Deevel916]

I'll give you an example Dunn.

This past Sat I was out all day and got in at 9pm. My brother in law texts me that the fight is about to start. I asked..."what channel?" because I tuned to NBC and CBS and saw no boxing on the schedule. He tells me its on ESPN. Now it took my about 7 minutes to find out what channel is ESPN as I rarely tune to the channel to watch anything as I'm not a sports fanatic and secondly because Verizon fios in my area has over 1000 channels! I asked the wife to do a search for ESPN and when she found it the pre fights were on. She's a casual fan as she watches boxing when I watch it. Her first reaction was..."ESPN? Why is this on ESPN?"

[The Big Dunn]

Again, you're a diehard fan like myself. We will tune in to watch a fight regardless of what channel its on. My point is, the casuals wont and as a result the PBC brand will continue to struggle if the casuals arent on board. It's hard to capture the casual fans interest in these PBC cards if they're all over the place. Go ahead and ask any casual fan when is the next PBC fight and on what channel. Guarantee you they wont know. I dont even know and if wasnt for this site that advertises the PBC cards, I would have to actually do a google search or log onto the PBC website to find out. I'll do that because I'm a boxing fan. Casuals wont go to those lengths though.

Like I stated...."consistency is the key" Even if you're a street hustler. You build your brand and have your territory. So long as you're consistent the customers will always come. Why? Because they know where to find you. Now try moving your spot every 3 days and see how business falls off once these customers get tired of trying to find out where you're located this week.

I think the point you are missing, respectfully, is the different times and different networks allow you to possibly expand the audience and get younger fans that will stick around.

If you only have boxing on Sat nights at 10:30, you will never get new young fans and the audience will eventually die out as fans get older. You also alienate fans that can't afford to subscribe to HBO ort SHowtime on top of cable.

OK, so the issue you detailed is marketing, communications and promoting, not too many networks. They have issues that any new business/network has. You do not scrap the plan after 6 mos just because you are not doing 2 million viewers out the gate.

Again, I pointed out to you how boxing aired on TV when I was a young fan. If you have a good product, people will come find you.

Putting it on different stations allows you to get your product shown by a diverse group of people that also may help expand the fanbase.

Respectfully, your suggestions are good, but they would not expand the fanbase. What is wrong with re conditioning new fans to be able to see boxing on multiple channels at multiple times, like in boxing's heyday?

Why do you want the sport to limit itself to Saturday nights?

[The Big Dunn]

I'll give you an example Dunn.

This past Sat I was out all day and got in at 9pm. My brother in law texts me that the fight is about to start. I asked..."what channel?" because I tuned to NBC and CBS and saw no boxing on the schedule. He tells me its on ESPN. Now it took my about 7 minutes to find out what channel is ESPN as I rarely tune to the channel to watch anything as I'm not a sports fanatic and secondly because Verizon fios in my area has over 1000 channels! I asked the wife to do a search for ESPN and when she found it the pre fights were on. She's a casual fan as she watches boxing when I watch it. Her first reaction was..."ESPN? Why is this on ESPN?"

OK, I understand this. Again, the issue you are highlight is marketing and promoting. I agree, PBC and ESPN should have advertised the show better.

Again, you and your wife grew up in the "boxing on sat night only " era so I completely get what she said. One network is convenient, I get that.

On the other hand, if PBC establishes a another Tuesday Night Fight on USA, then you will start to watch that just like FNF was on ESPN.

[boxinghead530]

I don't know if anyone has said this yet, but besides matchmaking. I think the biggest issue they have is bouncing around their shows from network to network and in different time slots(day to night). It's just hard to follow when it's on and where it's on. In order for PBC promotions to be a success on network TV and get good consistent rating they need to stick to maybe two networks, say ESPN on Friday nights then nbc on Saturday nights . Start a tradition fans can follow. Plus in order for this to be a success they are going to need the fringe fans and they are struggling to follow with all this jumping from network to network and in different time slots. I think if they did a Friday night show on ESPN and showcase all their good up and comers and showcase them in good tough fights people can really start to connect. Then on Saturday nights on nbc or cbs(one of those) only showcase their top stars in good tough matchups. Start a tradition where people will know that boxing will be on at this time, on this certain channel. Do that with good matchmaking and then I think they can really have something on their hands.

[Deevel916]

I think the point you are missing, respectfully, is the different times and different networks allow you to possibly expand the audience and get younger fans that will stick around.

If you only have boxing on Sat nights at 10:30, you will never get new young fans and the audience will eventually die out as fans get older. You also alienate fans that can't afford to subscribe to HBO ort SHowtime on top of cable.

OK, so the issue you detailed is marketing, communications and promoting, not too many networks. They have issues that any new business/network has. You do not scrap the plan after 6 mos just because you are not doing 2 million viewers out the gate.

Again, I pointed out to you how boxing aired on TV when I was a young fan. If you have a good product, people will come find you.

Putting it on different stations allows you to get your product shown by a diverse group of people that also may help expand the fanbase.

Respectfully, your suggestions are good, but they would not expand the fanbase. What is wrong with re conditioning new fans to be able to see boxing on multiple channels at multiple times, like in boxing's heyday?

Why do you want the sport to limit itself to Saturday nights?

I'm not suggesting that they limit it to Saturday nights only. All I'm saying is that they should make it easier to follow. Some casuals may have caught the fight this past sat and think they can now tune to ESPN sat nights to watch boxing, only for PBC to host a fight on BounceTV or spike next on a different day and time. It's all too confusing for the average viewer.

[Deevel916]

I don't know if anyone has said this yet, but besides matchmaking. I think the biggest issue they have is bouncing around their shows from network to network and in different time slots(day to night). It's just hard to follow when it's on and where it's on. In order for PBC promotions to be a success on network TV and get good consistent rating they need to stick to maybe two networks, say ESPN on Friday nights then nbc on Saturday nights . Start a tradition fans can follow. Plus in order for this to be a success they are going to need the fringe fans and they are struggling to follow with all this jumping from network to network and in different time slots. I think if they did a Friday night show on ESPN and showcase all their good up and comers and showcase them in good tough fights people can really start to connect. Then on Saturday nights on nbc or cbs(one of those) only showcase their top stars in good tough matchups. Start a tradition where people will know that boxing will be on at this time, on this certain channel. Do that with good matchmaking and then I think they can really have something on their hands.

Thank you. My point exactly.

[The Big Dunn]

I'm not suggesting that they limit it to Saturday nights only. All I'm saying is that they should make it easier to follow. Some casuals may have caught the fight this past sat and think they can now tune to ESPN sat nights to watch boxing, only for PBC to host a fight on BounceTV or spike next on a different day and time. It's all too confusing for the average viewer.

I understand this completely. Its a tough choice-go to 1 network and hope you catch on or get on multiple stations and get exposed to diverse people and hopefully make them fans.

I guess it was easier to follow on multiple networks hen there were 14 rather than 990.

Maybe then the best compromise is Bounce TV is always Tuesday. Friday is always ESPN and then weekend afternoons is CBS and primetime is NBC.

You think this would meet your nee for consistency?