Top Rank series on ESPN to feature: Pac/Horn, Loma/Salido 2, Crawford/Indongo

[Eff Pandas]

Depends on how it's marketed. If all you do is show Manny, no it won't sell. But if you show Ali, Frazier, Robinson, Hearns, Hagler, Leonard, Trinidad, etc. and find a guy with a voice like Don Lafontaine (RIP) and do it right....

I mean you can make it less nichey I wouldn't disagree with you there. Throw in the voice over guy (did that dude die?) & reduce fights down to about 15-20 minutes or shorter, but with more of a narrative &/or story to them like some sorta ESPN 30/30 for great fights sorta setup maybe.

But its still a small market share vs live boxing. People wanna see live whatever sports more than a old fight, a doc of an old fight or a fictional reenactment or whatever of an old fight.

[OnePunch]

Lotsa interesting sh^t there. Thanks for digging that up.

Does the above mean if say HBO is showing highlights for a fight Crawford was in that Crawford could be getting a check for some amount of money, likely small I'd assume but money all the same, for giving them the ability to show his likeness like I'm thinking it could mean?

Thats cool if so cuz its like a kind of residual income for fighters that have gained some level of popularity or importance in the sport.

It'd be cool if fighters got a legit residual income from there fights being shown on air doe too, despite it not being much of a market for that, that was built into promoter contracts instead of the promoter retaining the main rights to the fights & the main money coming in for those fights.

No. HBO typically retains library rights for every fight they broadcast. As for highlights, they will either use highlights they already have from previous fights on their network, or the fighters team will provide footage to use......

[Mike D]

First off, and yeah I'll f**king say it, I'll be front and center of that TV with the **** on ESPN come the first of next month. F**king Manny could be fighting my MF'n mailman and I'd watch. I bet this **** does excellent numbers, too. A legend like Pacquaio on regular f**king cable?!? Shiiiiiiiittttt.

And dude this is a severe blow for HBO. Crawford and Lomachenko heading to ESPN?? HBO even tried to get the Pacquiao/Horn fight (per reports) and Bob rejected that ****. They're reporting something like 6 fight cards this year on ESPN and a minimum of 18 next year.

Showtime has finally moved ahead of HBO and is actually establishing itself as the premier network of the sport, and now HBO potentially loses Crawford AND Lomachenko. Wow

[Finito2K]

Obviously more boxing for a cheaper price is always better so yay there all around, but I don't understand the balance sheet here. How exactly is this going to work out on the money side doe?

Is this another pure or partial PBC-like time buy situation or what exactly are the details? If not how is ESPN able to afford premium cable & PPV fighters on a basic cable budget? Is this attainable long term or is Bob got his own takeover boxing-like plan here that he's got his fingers crossed behind his back about now, but is the long game he's playing for short money in the immediate future?

It's a time buy, no doubt. Difference is Top Rank is only dealing with 1 network. $50 million over 2 years. I think PBC may have spread itself too thin with the time buys on multiple networks.

[The Big Dunn]

I'm glad ESPN is getting involved with TR. Hopefully this leads to Crawford/Manny if they both win. Only downside is if espn promotes "entertainment" over winning.

Espn should encourage the prospects to fight progressively better competition each time out. It helps me as a fan get a better sense of how good a fighter is and makes me more eager to see him.

[Finito2K]

Top Rank was the primary promoter for that fight, were they not?

"Cotto vs. Mayorga will be promoted by Top Rank, in association with Cotto Promotions, Don King Productions, Tecate and MGM Grand, and produced and distributed live by SHOWTIME PPV®."

http://www.toprank.com/all-news/bob-...mayorga-fight/

Exactly. TR owns the rights to Cotto-Mayorga

[PrBoxing88]

Aren't the fighters gonna have a problem with that? I would think they would & probably should if they are getting bigger money with HBO or could get bigger money with another network.

I'm thinking there gots to be more going on here & mainly curious what it is at this point.



What..lose money for a couple years?

I'm not sure Fight Pass as been proven to be profitable or not, but they do work with other MMA leagues & other combat sports to provide more content to combat sports fans. If this is a TR streaming network & they're showing TR fights on ESPN who's paying for the app? Just cats who don't got ESPN I'd assume. Is there THAT much appeal in TR's roster to pay $7.99/mo or whatever? Or will they work with others?

I gotta figure he's got some better end game here then just doing a boxing version of Fight Pass or WWE Network. Or he'll be busto whenever the investor gets tired of spending money.

My assumption is still that there is some proof of concept here that boxing to a wider audience can be a money maker & that Arum either wants to control a bigger piece of the boxing world off of his own content providing app or he's looking to parlay the success of this plan into a deal with the next generation's go to source of watching sports, the Amazon's, the Hulu's, the whoever else becomes a player there. Or maybe ESPN is looking to become a bigger player there. I know they made major changes recently & there future is dependent on them changing with the times now.

Whatever is happening its bigger then just some sh^tty app & Manny & Crawford on ESPN.

Well somehow the promoters needs to get pay so they can pay their boxers, I actually think it make sense just start paying boxers depends on how much they make on fight night... it will make the sport a lot more competitive because they will not getting pay A LOT to fight bums, instead they gotta fight better opposition...

[Mister Wolf]

Crawford vs Indongo will be a great fight.

[BWC]

First off, and yeah I'll f**king say it, I'll be front and center of that TV with the **** on ESPN come the first of next month. F**king Manny could be fighting my MF'n mailman and I'd watch. I bet this **** does excellent numbers, too. A legend like Pacquaio on regular f**king cable?!? Shiiiiiiiittttt.

And dude this is a severe blow for HBO. Crawford and Lomachenko heading to ESPN?? HBO even tried to get the Pacquiao/Horn fight (per reports) and Bob rejected that ****. They're reporting something like 6 fight cards this year on ESPN and a minimum of 18 next year.

Showtime has finally moved ahead of HBO and is actually establishing itself as the premier network of the sport, and now HBO potentially loses Crawford AND Lomachenko. Wow

HBO just not offering enough time any more. Boxing continues to be secondary to them and Showtime is investing in boxing big-time. I think we may be seeing the end of HBO boxing. Lampley retires, Kellerman moves to ESPN (he's there already). They may put on the occasional fight here and there..

[Mike D]

HBO just not offering enough time any more. Boxing continues to be secondary to them and Showtime is investing in boxing big-time. I think we may be seeing the end of HBO boxing.

If that happens...I'd hate to see it, man. I'm not one of these lame ass network fanboys -- I wanna see all the networks thrive. HBO has been a staple of the boxing scene for...since as far as I can remember. Them not being a part of the landscape would depress me.