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About time somebody stood up for the fans and the sport after DAZN surrendered to UFC this past weekend and made the sport look bad.
Stephen Espinoza, president of Showtime Sports, acknowledges that boxing isn’t likely to rise to the level of the NFL, NBA or Major League Baseball any time soon. And, yes, as many have characterized it, boxing is a niche sport.
Here’s the thing, though: None of the above means that the sport can’t thrive. In fact, it does.
“The word niche can be used derisively as something very small,” Espinoza told Boxing Junkie. “Niches can be very good business when you have an engaged, passionate fan base like boxing has.”
Espinoza has used reliable data to support his contentions, including a study of Nielsen TV ratings and census data that was sponsored by Sports Business Journal and a Washington Post-UMass Lowell Poll.
The Sports Business Journal study, as reported by Boxing Junkie, debunked the presumption that the average viewer of boxing is relatively old or older than the typical fan of mixed martial arts.
In fact, the study shows that the median age of viewers of boxing and MMA is exactly the same, 49, which is younger than most major sports.
Another thing that stands out in the Sports Business Journal study is boxing’s staying power among younger viewers. The study found that the average viewer of most major sports aged substantially between 2000 and 2016. Not boxing, in which the average viewer aged only two years.
The Washington Post-UMass Lowell Poll, conducted before the Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor fight in December 2017, found that 28 percent of Americans described themselves as boxing fans, 3 percentage points higher than MMA.
Espinoza, a champion of the sport, certainly knows his audience but even he was taken aback by the findings.
“I was somewhat surprised,” he said. “I think even those of us who have advocated for and are fans of boxing sometimes adopted the mischaracterizations of the sport.”
So where did the mischaracterizations come from? In part, Espinoza said, from Ultimate Fighting Championship.
“It can be traced back to the launch of UFC,” he said. “When UFC launched, they were very aggressive in messaging boxing as dead and that UFC was going to replace it. … And boxing, being somewhat disorganized, did a poor job of responding to that message.
“For that reason, the message is perpetuated today even though data show that boxing still delivers a very valuable multi-generational, multi-ethnic demographic.”
One striking finding of the Washington Post-UMass Lowell poll was the extent to which Hispanic and African-American adults – compared to white adults – are passionate about boxing.
A higher percentage of whites support MMA (22 percent) than boxing (17 percent). The opposite is true of Latinos and African-Americans. Among Latinos, 61 percent are boxing fans and 31 percent are fans of MMA. Among African-Americans, those numbers are 52 percent and 38 percent.
Particularly encouraging for boxing is the age group with the highest percentage of those who describe themselves as fans of boxing: 18-29, 39 percent. Thirty-seven percent in that age group are fans of MMA.
So much for the idea that older white men drive boxing.
“Boxing is so popular in African-American and Latino households,” Espinoza said. “And the Latino fans are young. African-American fans skew younger, too. I think the underappreciation of those markets leads to deemphasizing boxing.
“To the dominant sector of society (whites) boxing is less important. And because it’s not as important, putting a sociological spin on it, it must not be important. The fact is it’s still very prominent.”
Espinoza went on: “The white audience is splintered among a lot of things – college sports to NASCAR to MLB. That’s not to say that African-Americans and Latinos don’t follow them as well, just not as strongly as the white audience. Boxing is among the top two or three sports in most African-American and Latino households.”
And the white audience might be there for the taking if the right fighter comes along.
Boxers like Mike Tyson, Oscar De La Hoya and, more recently, Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao became mainstream stars that appealed to fans of all ages and ethnic groups. If someone like that emerges again, these numbers could change.
“For better or worse, boxing has always been star driven,” Espinoza said. “When you look at the massive business generated by a Mayweather, by a De La Hoya, by a (Roy) Jones Jr., by a Tyson or by a (Ray) Leonard … those type of stars cross ethnic boundaries. They are true mainstream stars.
“That can apply to women’s boxing, too. What women’s boxing needs is a break out star that mainstreams women’s boxing the way Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano mainstreamed women’s MMA.”
The bottom line: Espinoza is optimistic about the health and future of boxing.
“Sources like the Sports Business Journal and Washington Post, who did their own independent studies with no agenda, arrived at conclusions that indicate the general demographics of boxing and MMA are very similar in terms of size and age, and that the popularity of boxing isn’t dwindling in any way.
“It’s hard to argue with actual facts.”
Here’s the thing, though: None of the above means that the sport can’t thrive. In fact, it does.
“The word niche can be used derisively as something very small,” Espinoza told Boxing Junkie. “Niches can be very good business when you have an engaged, passionate fan base like boxing has.”
Espinoza has used reliable data to support his contentions, including a study of Nielsen TV ratings and census data that was sponsored by Sports Business Journal and a Washington Post-UMass Lowell Poll.
The Sports Business Journal study, as reported by Boxing Junkie, debunked the presumption that the average viewer of boxing is relatively old or older than the typical fan of mixed martial arts.
In fact, the study shows that the median age of viewers of boxing and MMA is exactly the same, 49, which is younger than most major sports.
Another thing that stands out in the Sports Business Journal study is boxing’s staying power among younger viewers. The study found that the average viewer of most major sports aged substantially between 2000 and 2016. Not boxing, in which the average viewer aged only two years.
The Washington Post-UMass Lowell Poll, conducted before the Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor fight in December 2017, found that 28 percent of Americans described themselves as boxing fans, 3 percentage points higher than MMA.
Espinoza, a champion of the sport, certainly knows his audience but even he was taken aback by the findings.
“I was somewhat surprised,” he said. “I think even those of us who have advocated for and are fans of boxing sometimes adopted the mischaracterizations of the sport.”
So where did the mischaracterizations come from? In part, Espinoza said, from Ultimate Fighting Championship.
“It can be traced back to the launch of UFC,” he said. “When UFC launched, they were very aggressive in messaging boxing as dead and that UFC was going to replace it. … And boxing, being somewhat disorganized, did a poor job of responding to that message.
“For that reason, the message is perpetuated today even though data show that boxing still delivers a very valuable multi-generational, multi-ethnic demographic.”
One striking finding of the Washington Post-UMass Lowell poll was the extent to which Hispanic and African-American adults – compared to white adults – are passionate about boxing.
A higher percentage of whites support MMA (22 percent) than boxing (17 percent). The opposite is true of Latinos and African-Americans. Among Latinos, 61 percent are boxing fans and 31 percent are fans of MMA. Among African-Americans, those numbers are 52 percent and 38 percent.
Particularly encouraging for boxing is the age group with the highest percentage of those who describe themselves as fans of boxing: 18-29, 39 percent. Thirty-seven percent in that age group are fans of MMA.
So much for the idea that older white men drive boxing.
“Boxing is so popular in African-American and Latino households,” Espinoza said. “And the Latino fans are young. African-American fans skew younger, too. I think the underappreciation of those markets leads to deemphasizing boxing.
“To the dominant sector of society (whites) boxing is less important. And because it’s not as important, putting a sociological spin on it, it must not be important. The fact is it’s still very prominent.”
Espinoza went on: “The white audience is splintered among a lot of things – college sports to NASCAR to MLB. That’s not to say that African-Americans and Latinos don’t follow them as well, just not as strongly as the white audience. Boxing is among the top two or three sports in most African-American and Latino households.”
And the white audience might be there for the taking if the right fighter comes along.
Boxers like Mike Tyson, Oscar De La Hoya and, more recently, Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao became mainstream stars that appealed to fans of all ages and ethnic groups. If someone like that emerges again, these numbers could change.
“For better or worse, boxing has always been star driven,” Espinoza said. “When you look at the massive business generated by a Mayweather, by a De La Hoya, by a (Roy) Jones Jr., by a Tyson or by a (Ray) Leonard … those type of stars cross ethnic boundaries. They are true mainstream stars.
“That can apply to women’s boxing, too. What women’s boxing needs is a break out star that mainstreams women’s boxing the way Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano mainstreamed women’s MMA.”
The bottom line: Espinoza is optimistic about the health and future of boxing.
“Sources like the Sports Business Journal and Washington Post, who did their own independent studies with no agenda, arrived at conclusions that indicate the general demographics of boxing and MMA are very similar in terms of size and age, and that the popularity of boxing isn’t dwindling in any way.
“It’s hard to argue with actual facts.”
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