Top Rank/ESPN To Announce Big New Deal

[Scipio2009]

All speculation but it's pointing at a multi-year big $$$$$ partnership.

UFC got $115 million a year from fox, if Top Rank can get $20-$30 million from ESPN a year that would be good for them imo. HBO last had maybe $25m-$30m budget. That's like Top Rank getting the whole HBO budget.

I don't know what type of deal they are signing but UFC was looking for $450 million a year on it's new contract. ESPN probably saw the big Pac ratings and decent Crawford ratings and is jumping on board.

In what world is ESPN going to pay Top Rank $20m a year, with Pacquiao on the way out, Bradley/Marquez already gone, and Top Rank basically only having prospects at this moment (Crawford, Lomachenko, and Zurdo are the closest to stardom of the fighters he has left, but even they are a bit away from drawing money)?

Unless they're getting 15-20 dates for the price, it doesn't make sense.

[al-Xander]

Anything that makes fighters become more active is always good news. PBC getting new investors, HBO increasing its budget, you name it.

[mrpain81]

In what world is ESPN going to pay Top Rank $20m a year, with Pacquiao on the way out, Bradley/Marquez already gone, and Top Rank basically only having prospects at this moment (Crawford, Lomachenko, and Zurdo are the closest to stardom of the fighters he has left, but even they are a bit away from drawing money)?

Unless they're getting 15-20 dates for the price, it doesn't make sense.

When compared to other sports it's really not a lot of money. The TV deals keep going up, if ESPN can lock down a 4-5 year tv partnership with exclusive rights it's actually very reasonable.

The dodger 1 MLB team have a 25 year deal worth $8.35 billion, that's $334 million a year.

Top Rank has a track record of building superstars, they could easily spin the DLH/Mayweather/Pac history recent history into "The next boxing superstar we make is going to be exclusive to ESPN".

Lomachenko is being pushed hard by Teddy Atlas as P4P #1 in the world with Crawford and Ward in the top 3. Basically they are selling ESPN the top 3 fighters in the world to fight exclusively on their network.

Of course, all the numbers I'm throwing out are speculation but I have a feeling they will be close when all the details come out.

[BWC]

All speculation but it's pointing at a multi-year big $$$$$ partnership.

UFC got $115 million a year from fox, if Top Rank can get $20-$30 million from ESPN a year that would be good for them imo. HBO last had maybe $25m-$30m budget. That's like Top Rank getting the whole HBO budget.

I don't know what type of deal they are signing but UFC was looking for $450 million a year on it's new contract. ESPN probably saw the big Pac ratings and decent Crawford ratings and is jumping on board.

I think PBC will get signed by Fox as well once they see ESPN investing. Boxing definitely on the upswing.

[Death_Adder]

Not really good news anymore. That shit ESPN pulled with the Asian and his last name being Lee really turned me and a lot of people off. Sports should be politics free but I guess not.

ESPN, being owned by Disney have been a bunch of ******* cucks for a while. Look at what ESPN did to Curt Schilling for saying he didn't want to send his daughter into a restroom with grown men, or what ABC did to Tim Allen, pulled his show for his political beliefs yet didn't do anything to that Grey's Anatomy actor after his racist rant against whites and negative comments about police officers.

Disney and it's affiliates are nothing but a bunch of ******* cucks pushing the gay and PC agenda when it suits them.

[Pigeons]

Two fights in and ESPN is ready to sign a long-term agreement.... that is how you do a successful time-buy.

See "PBC" for a contrasting example.

Three fights in, but that was my immediate reaction too. What's weird is that PBC did really well ratings wise in their first 3 fights with ESPN. They did 800K, 1M, and 1.2M. Top Rank did 2.9M, 700K, 900K.

[stiff_back]

Isn't this just the announcement they delayed at the start because they couldn't agree terms quick enough - and the three fight dates that we've seen already were coming up - so they just put them on ahead of the official announcement?

According to Hauser, the investment company that was providing part of the backing for this pulled out, so maybe that caused the delay? The question now is I guess who's providing the rest of the money? Is it ESPN,
another investment firm or Top Rank themselves? i.e. it's a time buy if it's one of the last two.

[Sweet Jones]

It doesn't.

Mayweather-McGregor is happening, ESPN/Top Rank have no piece on the fight, and Arum is using the old tactic of using someone else's heat to draw some interest to his own company.

Arum's likely going to announce Pacquiao-Horn 2, tease that the fight may end up on ABC (it won't), and hope that the assembled press (in town for Mayweather-McGregor) will bother with talking to him.

This right here.

[Sweet Jones]

When compared to other sports it's really not a lot of money. The TV deals keep going up, if ESPN can lock down a 4-5 year tv partnership with exclusive rights it's actually very reasonable.

The dodger 1 MLB team have a 25 year deal worth $8.35 billion, that's $334 million a year.

Top Rank has a track record of building superstars, they could easily spin the DLH/Mayweather/Pac history recent history into "The next boxing superstar we make is going to be exclusive to ESPN".

Lomachenko is being pushed hard by Teddy Atlas as P4P #1 in the world with Crawford and Ward in the top 3. Basically they are selling ESPN the top 3 fighters in the world to fight exclusively on their network.


Of course, all the numbers I'm throwing out are speculation but I have a feeling they will be close when all the details come out.

In other words: the same ole sport killing Top Rank business model, with ESPN replacing HBO.

[Mitchell Kane]

Has anyone confirmed with Top Rank that their boxing show will be a part of Disney's new streaming platform that's supposed to be showing some ESPN sports?

That'll be a huge thing for TR if so.

That was the plan according to the Coppinger article.

The recent Hauser news about Top Rank possibly losing an investor certainly raises questions...but it seems like Top Rank is still moving forward with scheduling for ESPN, so you figure something's been worked out.

Perhaps the loss of an investor is why there was a delay in announcing the full deal...which Coppinger had speculated would come in late June (but that ended up just being about Pacquiao-Horn, not a bigger ESPN/Top Rank dal).

Given Disney's recent moves, announcing they'll acquire majority of BAMTech, leave Netflix, start their own streaming service, and launch an ESPN streaming service next year with thousands of hours of sports, it makes sense that boxing would be a part of it.

Going back to that Coppinger article, a WWE-styled OTT network was always planned....and maybe the loss of an investor just changes part of the deal...

It’s expected Top Rank will also roll out an over-the-top network in the vein of WWE Network where fans will have digital access to the company’s massive fights library, built over 50-plus years, with a slew of Muhammad Ali bouts.

https://www.******.com/501951-manny-...-new-platform/