How viable is the PBC model?

[Motorcity Cobra]

(If there's a post somewhere that has the information consolidated, a link to it would be appreciated)

Tuned in for Fonfara-Smith and, as has been the case for a while now, the vast majority of the in-between-the-rounds spots seem to be selling through, the event sponsorships beyond Corona (Vivid Seats and Mobile Strike tonight) are coming through, the venues have been better positioned to sell tickets, and the ratings aren't bad either.

How big the business could be is still in doubt, but folks who deny that there's a business there are deluding themselves.

I said this a while ago. Networks want to know one thing. Can we sell advertising? They aren't as ratings obsessed as fans are. For starters they know sporting events ads sell better than TV shows because sporting events are watched live. If any network decides to buy the PBC series they're going to put money behind it to push it. The only thing PBC has to do is prove to the networks that advertisers are willing to buy ad time. They've done that so far. I think it's a foregone conclusion that PBC will get a deal with Spike/NBC-NBCSN/FS1-FOX/ and some type of arrangement with Showtime-CBS. I don't think ESPN will buy it.

[Cinci Champ]

It's fair to say what the pros and cons have been so far, though.

thats true but the whole idea is to lose money until they get their tv contracts. people make it seem like the business model is jsut to buy tv times pay fighters and have no income thats the part i just dont understand like they think the business model is just spend money not make any

[Motorcity Cobra]

And another thing. Boxing fans live in a bubble. They complained about Joe Smith Jr. They said "who's going to tune it to see Joe Smith Jr"? But what they don't realize is that casual fans don't know who Fonfara is either. Casuals aren't tuning in to watch Fonfara or Smith. They're tuning in to watch PBC boxing. Do you think the casual fan who watched tonight knew that Fonfara was supposed to win and hopefully fight Stevenson? Or hat Joe Smith Jr had never fought outside the eastcoast and was basically a no name? No. All they saw were two men fighting and an exciting KO. The average casual fan can probably only name Pacquiao, Floyd, Canelo, and maybe GGG. The biggest mistake PBC can make is to cater to the hardcore boxing fan. There aren't enough of us. GGG had the full support of the hardcore fans and media and was only able to sell 150,000 PPV's. If I were in the boxing business I would never cater to hardcore boxing fans. Most of them are miserable ****s who complain about everything.

[R_Walken]

I think it's viable

Will it work I don't know. But people acting like they know don't and just hoping that it fails going with what anti -PBC journalist are throwing into the public just come across as f@gots

This thread is a perfect example of what POS boxing fans are. Complaining just to complain

First off boxing fans have way access to watch decent fights / names then 2 years ago and it's showing all levels from guys on the come up to boxing stars and this is a bad thing?

As far as the FNF argument. Mares /LSC trumps anything FNF has ever shown add to it the other ESpn cards and the Spike cards and boxing in a better place now then having 2 f.ucking no names that no one cares about fighting on a regular Friday. Here's a suggestion go outside on Friday nights and do something if there's no boxing if that's not a option watch some old fights that you haven't watched yet. It's better then the dog sh.it espn was putting on. FNF was mostly garbage quit romanticizing it.

As far as the other complaint I hear of I don't know the schedule. Go and get the PBc app or go to the website they'll let you know when the fights are happening. It'll take literally 2 min of your time that excuse is just pure fuc.king laziness.


As a fan for me boxing is in a better place then 2 years ago. There's literally weeks where fans get 3-5 interesting in part because of the PBc. I remember 2 summers ago there was like a 6 week dry spell with no boxing on Show/HBo that doesn't happen anymore. There has been at least a couple good fight every week for the last 3 months and some of you b.itches still want to complain and hope that it fails.

[Scipio2009]

Essentially, I think it's weakness stems from the fact PBC doesn't encompass the best fighters in the world so match making is horrid. It gives fans the false perception of the boxing landscape from a personnel perspective.

The idea in essence was great, just poorly executed. The card of late have STANK, and their on regular cable..

PBC doesn't have every fighter, but I'd be willing to argue that they have most, and possibly near all, of the fighters that matter.

No different, imo, than the conversations that were had when you had UFC and PrideFC both operating and thriving; UFC had the main US exposure and could tell the stories that the public believed, but it didn't take until Pride folded, and the consolidation largely happened, that the UFC no longer had to shill.

Haymon's orbit is soon to have the top heavyweight, top cruiserweight, top super middleweight, top junior middleweight, top welterweight, access to top lightweight, top featherweight, and top bantamweight fighter (with a large hold on the talent running through those divisions). You add the possibility of Andre Ward crossing back over the street with the belts at light heavyweight, and I don't see where any such delusion is coming from.

[daggum]

PBC doesn't have every fighter, but I'd be willing to argue that they have most, and possibly near all, of the fighters that matter.

No different, imo, than the conversations that were had when you had UFC and PrideFC both operating and thriving; UFC had the main US exposure and could tell the stories that the public believed, but it didn't take until Pride folded, and the consolidation largely happened, that the UFC no longer had to shill.

Haymon's orbit is soon to have the top heavyweight, top cruiserweight, top super middleweight, top junior middleweight, top welterweight, access to top lightweight, top featherweight, and top bantamweight fighter (with a large hold on the talent running through those divisions). You add the possibility of Andre Ward crossing back over the street with the belts at light heavyweight, and I don't see where any such delusion is coming from.

they have zero of the top 10 p4p fighters right now. they don't even have any big money draws if you are going that route. what is your argument? what fighters matter? the ones with slick styles? the ones you like?

[Scipio2009]

And who exactly is tuning in for that barn burner in Fonfara vs Smith Jr? lol.....

The model could work but they were all over the place to start off, too many different networks, not enough advertisement of the schedule,lackluster cards...

I'd be very surprised if any networks bought the rights after the time buys are up. The ratings stink honestly. boxing is just a niche sport nowadays, we are not getting any new fans, UFC has that market cornered.

It's unfortunate but showtime and HBO will still buy fights and who knows maybe Al Haymon could put together his own PPV boxing channel for like $9.99 a month or something and air all the fights on there. Doubtful but you never know.

-I tuned in, and the amount of activity on the boards post-fight seems to also indicate that a lot of folks here tuned in as well. You add that there wasn't much else to compete against it (outside of good weather), and it'll come down to how many folks remembered fights were on TV.

-Phase 1 was about troubleshooting the new venture; finding out what worked, what didn't work, and correcting the the things that needed to be correct; compare the first 20 shows to the 20 shows after, and then compare to the first 20 shows this year and you can see that they've basically figured out how they want to present things.

-Showtime/CBS, imo, will likely end up with the PBC deal, as has been the looks of things since basically six months into the project ($100m-$125m per year for boxing, leveraged across CBS, CBSSportsNetwork, Showtime, and the CBS All Access App isn't outlandish). the shock, though, will come with the number of other networks that keep their own piece of the boxing pie.

Have been saying it for a while, but I see SpikeTV, ESPN, BouneTV, and FS1 all looking for side-PBC deals (though FS1's deal with Haymon will likely compete with the CBSSports portion of the deal, leaving FS1 open as a place that may be open to low-balling Top Rank/Golden Boy on a deal).

[Scipio2009]

One negative is that PBC took ESPN Friday Night Fights away from us and failed to replace it with steady, regular programming.

That was destination viewing for the hardcore fans and we always knew when and where to tune in.

It's been hell to keep up with when PBC fights are scheduled. Too many shows on random dates on random networks.

people romanticize Friday Night Fights so much that it's hilarious; what was the last FNF matchup that was actually worth tuning in for before PBC took over the deal.

The loss of "regular programming" is understandable, but Friday Night Fights has been replaced with better fighters/fights/matchups. I'd rather deal with the scattered, yet consolidating schedule with better fighters than simply be left to sit through **** fights and **** matchups on a regular basis. that's just me.

If the schedule is that much of an issue, which is a legitamate gripe, PBC basically lets you know what the next 3 weeks of fights look like on every show, and the website has the option to get email reminders for fights coming up.

[Motorcity Cobra]

And let me say something else. Arum got his shot last year with Tru Tv and he ****ed it up. Why not put a Nicholas Walters on Tru TV? If Khan can fight on Spike TV, Nicholas Walters can fight on Tru TV.

You have two factions right now. One faction is investing in boxing and bringing boxing fans plenty of content (PBC/Haymon/Showtime). And the other faction is bleeding boxing fans dry for every penny we got (HBO/GBP/TR/). I'll buy the Crawford fight but I know it's not a PPV worthy fight. Crawford vs Postol is on par with Thurman vs Porter and we're getting that fight for free.

[killakali]

Today's broadcast.

1. Orlando
2. Corona commercial featuring Santa Cruz, Garcia, and Wilder!
3. Soft-core counts. Wasn't paying attention on the card rules for standing 8-counts, but PBC is doing responsible regulation and safety from fighters. Perhaps that's one draw back from the brutal fights you'll see on private networks. The general exposure for most of the fighters tonight still provides broader promotion. It's the best card of course, but for free on 4K TVs and having stateside sports just force the broadcast to the public for our sport is still dope.

pbc has nothing to do with responsible safety and regulation. gtfoh smh. that is decided by the state athletic commission. promoters don't make the rules. dumbest post i've seen by far