Was the Bradley-Rios card the beginning of the end for HBO?

[PKing]

The opening card had an average viewership of 585,000 (Lomachenko-Koasicha) and the main event (Bradley-Rios) averaged 910,000.

That means (585,000 + 910,000) /2 = 747,000 average viewers.

The fact that HBO paid $3 million for it cannot sit well with corporate suits that are way above HBO sports.

$3 million for less than 750,000 viewers for 2 hours of programming on primetime Saturday night. It'd seem that HBO could definitely spend their money better than to waste it on ratings like this. Reruns of old movies generate more viewership for HBO it seems.

[HeroBando]

Those were not good numbers, but its not a disaster like Spike, with millions in purses, and worse numbers despite 3x greater availability

[HeroBando]

Or an epic failure like Showtime, who's lately getting FNF ratings for 100x in purse, see Jacobs Quillin doing 300k for 3m total purse

[PKing]

Those were not good numbers, but its not a disaster like Spike, with millions in purses, and worse numbers despite 3x greater availability

What happens when HBO says, hey we do 6 million viewers with our OWN original series... why are we even broadcasting boxing?

[ИATAS]

Bradley had a guarantee minimum if I'm not mistaken. Sometimes networks are going to run into these issues and taking a small loss like that is usually justifiable if it leads to something better. I do think HBO & boxing in general are going through some tough times right now and the future is uncertain, but I don't think this particular fight is a good example of this.

[ИATAS]

What happens when HBO says, hey we do 6 million viewers with our OWN original series... why are we even broadcasting boxing?

They stop broadcasting boxing. Showtime/others pick up the slack.

[aldo5408]

No I think they started sinking way before by pushing top rank and gg, and broner and berto down our throats

[PKing]

They stop broadcasting boxing. Showtime/others pick up the slack.

Who are the "others"?

[PACnPBFsuck]

But, but, da radings waz gud doe!!!! GTFOH

[Ham Porter]

It's been obvious for a while that HBO are on their way out of the boxing business. The budget has been reduced significantly over the last ten or fifteen years and continues to go down. They barely do cards anymore, and when they do they usually stink.

Boxing is in a terrible state in America. It will be even worse by the start of the new decade.