Comments Thread For: PBC Names Barclays Center as Official East Coast Venue

[The Big Dunn]

I am a corporate lawyer (general, but I'm primarily focused in Private Equity). I have a JD/MBA from a top NY school.

I was in Vegas on a trip affiliated with my school network where I had the chance to talk with both Fertitta and Epstein. After those talks (which focused around the early time buys by Zuffa, dealing with the NSAC, and refining the UFC business model), I knew that PBC was actually ahead of the curve in terms of its potential as a combat sports property. (I talked about this with you a bit in the past)

My assumption was based on the roster, the attendance numbers, and the ratings (data points) they had collected across all those random channels. People thought Al was being silly by putting the fights everywhere. It was actually the opposite. He was proving that boxing has a committed core of fans. It was more genius in that than many here realize. A lot of people in TV had no idea.

After that, all he had to do was wait for WME to finish it's UFC negotiations. PBC was getting north of a $100 million from somebody. And that's exactly what happened.

Naw homie, you wrong. PBC is dead. Been dead. Haymon failed. He losin, not winnin.

LMFAO!!!!

[Butch.McRae]

Which Law School did you go to?

I'll pass on answering that lol but the use of the word "top" in my description should steer you in the right direction.

[Eff Pandas]

Exactly! The mystery adds to his "Gangsta," and his silence hasn't stopped his movement! King, Arum, and Oscar, are at times bigger than their fighters! Haymon's fighters are in the forefront, and so many seem to understand the business aspects of the sport, which tells me that he's teaching them, and not just profiting from their efforts!

I think Haymon is even BIGGER than King, Arum & Oscar due to him being such a mystery man just not in the typical way boxing business guys get big. He's like the Keyser Soze of boxing...almost a myth. You don't gotta be hugging every camera you see to get big. Being a reclusive hermit like JD Salinger can make you more famous due to the uniqueness of being that type of person.

Definitely noticed several years back all these Haymon guys talking about real estate in their interviews which I eventually realized was a trend that Haymon's relationship with them likely brought on so yea thats definitely a cool lil thing that boxers are making moves outside of this dangerous sport.

And gotta say nothing made me happier then hearing that post-accident Paul Williams was taken care of money-wise cuz of the real estate he had purchased when he was hot in the game & now was collecting rent monthly. And that was cuz of Haymon.

As the saying goes you can give a man a fish & he'll eat for a day, but if you teach a man to fish he'll eat forever. Haymon is definitely helping guys eat forever which is not some sh^t you'll hear about players in boxing doing for boxers.

[slu]

Ha! I've seen your posts so I know you're not a troll.

On a larger note, I think people are missing the big picture here. These TV deals, site deals (Staples Center will likely come soon.), the likely merch deals, etc. are setting the stage for a significant sports property that will be worth billions of dollars in the near future.

Just ask yourself this: If UFC sold for $4 billion (after the original $150 million FOX deal) and now commands $300 million in TV rights, what will the PBC be worth in 3 or 4 years?

Current TV rights are $125 million annually today and things aren't even operating at full capacity.

Wilder, Spence, and Garcia are prime and ready to tackle the PPV front.

If they can get at least two solid (meaning 300k per event sellers), PPV fighters and build out a solid digital marketing team, we might be watching one of the greatest entreprenuerial stories in the history of sports and entertainment.

Spent years here explaining what was painfully obvious to see for anybody with a business mind. Al Haymon a true mogul. I had a long talk with a UFC exec back in January. After, I was certain that PBC was going to cash in big.

Totally agree, Al is formalizing all these informal relationships for a reason......this presser read like a sponsorship deal to me?

[bballchump11]

I think Haymon is even BIGGER than King, Arum & Oscar due to him being such a mystery man just not in the typical way boxing business guys get big. He's like the Keyser Soze of boxing...almost a myth. You don't gotta be hugging every camera you see to get big. Being a reclusive hermit like JD Salinger can make you more famous due to the uniqueness of being that type of person.

Definitely noticed several years back all these Haymon guys talking about real estate in their interviews which I eventually realized was a trend that Haymon's relationship with them likely brought on so yea thats definitely a cool lil thing that boxers are making moves outside of this dangerous sport.

And gotta say nothing made me happier then hearing that post-accident Paul Williams was taken care of money-wise cuz of the real estate he had purchased when he was hot in the game & now was collecting rent monthly. And that was cuz of Haymon.

As the saying goes you can give a man a fish & he'll eat for a day, but if you teach a man to fish he'll eat forever. Haymon is definitely helping guys eat forever which is not some sh^t you'll hear about players in boxing doing for boxers.

Yeah I was just thinking about this the other day about the real estate. Danny Garcia owns a barber shop, a warehouse that he rents to businesses and he's getting into the cannabis industry.

Then Floyd has mentioned that he has prime New York real estate. I think Gary Russel Jr said he was going to retire within a few years due to him being comfortable with his investments outside the ring.

[slu]

Idk about that.

I think if he talked it'd be highly interesting & insightful + be good PR for his product, PBC. The fact he's an international man of mystery isn't a plus at all...well outside of for him cuz him preferring to take that approach with his public persona seems like a calculated move cuz cats just trying to live life don't avoid the public like he does with these back room sightings that seem Bigfoot-ish.

I think it's a huge plus. Look like a promoter clown where you are out in front of your fighters all the time ranting and raving or shut up and make them rich. Floyd vs. Manny here. Al is masterful at this. These other promoters act like if it werent for them the sport would be dead, why do I have to watch the bobfather or eddie or Oscar or Schaefer? No one cares about these dudes at all. The Fertitas were the same way, let Dana run around and shoot his mouth off while they built the business.

[slu]

Boxing is more fractured but it isn't as fractured as many want to believe. PBC/Haymon has almost all of the valuable US talent. Matchroom has the same (if not, bigger) footprint in the UK.

If you look at the US market, there are maybe a dozen or so true fighters/brands that fans will follow here outside of PBC guys. GBP has two guys (Canelo and Mungia), TR has two guys (Loma and Bud), and GGG. The rest of the major names are PBC affiliates who fight on other platforms via fight deals (Jacobs and Millerl and on loan (Prograis and Farmer)

Yeah the infrastructure is different, but it's not completely apples to oranges.

Not apples and oranges by any stretch. UFC didn't have all the top talent when they were building (remember Pride, WEC, K1, Strikeforce) it was highly fragmented. What the UFC did was become the "brand" for MMA. Consistent programming, network deals and building stars. I'd argue this is exactly what Al has to do and can do. UFC didn't have Fedor, Cormier, all the lightweights and they still got mind share. Al is attempting to do the same with WAY MORE TALENT. So he doesn't have Joshua, Canelo and Bud. Those guys are going to be fighting NO ONE next year unless they get to Al's guys. As Butch points out, the roadmap is super clear here, build a brand (there was no "PBC" three years ago) now use a consistent network partner for regular shows and shoulder programming. Use PPV for REALLY big fights. If Al is willing to put up great fights, this will work.

[Eff Pandas]

I think it's a huge plus. Look like a promoter clown where you are out in front of your fighters all the time ranting and raving or shut up and make them rich. Floyd vs. Manny here. Al is masterful at this. These other promoters act like if it werent for them the sport would be dead, why do I have to watch the bobfather or eddie or Oscar or Schaefer? No one cares about these dudes at all. The Fertitas were the same way, let Dana run around and shoot his mouth off while they built the business.

First off Al isn't a promoter so he shouldn't be all out in front of cameras like that anyway. But the thing is he's a notable manager & notable managers historically haven't been so deep undercover like Haymon is. That Cameron Dunkin TR boxer manager guy did interviews when he was hot. Its kinda f#cking weird at this point a guy everyone is talking about talks to no one else. I mean Haymon talking anytime in the last decade would be more likely to be a 60 Minutes episode than a random podcast interview. Thats how big he is despite not being a "clown" as you say.

[slu]

First off Al isn't a promoter so he shouldn't be all out in front of cameras like that anyway. But the thing is he's a notable manager & notable managers historically haven't been so deep undercover like Haymon is. That Cameron Dunkin TR boxer manager guy did interviews when he was hot. Its kinda f#cking weird at this point a guy everyone is talking about talks to no one else. I mean Haymon talking anytime in the last decade would be more likely to be a 60 Minutes episode than a random podcast interview. Thats how big he is despite not being a "clown" as you say.

True but I think about it this way, in most sports the athlete's are front and center most of the time (sans Jerry Jones?). In boxing the promoter (and your right Al isn't a promoter) wants to be the most important guy in the room. From what I've read (again don't know) Al was really out in front of his music business back in the 80's and 90's. You can find interviews he used to do back then, pics, etc. He totally changed his MO when he teamed up with Floyd. I'm sure part of that was Floyd had the ability to promote himself but I also would guess that the traditional promoter role had no attraction for him and then it becomes almost mystique to be the man behind the curtain. He has let others be out in front like the Watsons and some of his PBC guys. I just appreciate the style, lethal and quiet.

[lanker rom]

True but I think about it this way, in most sports the athlete's are front and center most of the time (sans Jerry Jones?). In boxing the promoter (and your right Al isn't a promoter) wants to be the most important guy in the room. From what I've read (again don't know) Al was really out in front of his music business back in the 80's and 90's. You can find interviews he used to do back then, pics, etc. He totally changed his MO when he teamed up with Floyd. I'm sure part of that was Floyd had the ability to promote himself but I also would guess that the traditional promoter role had no attraction for him and then it becomes almost mystique to be the man behind the curtain. He has let others be out in front like the Watsons and some of his PBC guys. I just appreciate the style, lethal and quiet.

Interviews from his concert promotion days are still very hard to find to this day I can only find four or five quotes from the guy. People said he did an interview with USA today a long time ago but you cant find that anywhere and he spoke about his personal life.
Thomas hausers story one haymon said that in the early 2000s or late 1990s he was going through something like a depression because he was so successful maybe that's why he stepped back.
But once again he was never really the interview type