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

[-Antonio-]

Crawford and Lomachenko on ESPN is HUGE.

[Mitchell Kane]

not a time buy. it's a barter. ESPN not paying a license fee, but not being paid for the time either.

bob will lose money on the ESPN fights, but he got a hedge fund to invest. the idea is that the ESPN shows will promote the OTT service and eventually the ESPN fights will have fewer big names and you'll need to subscribe to the top rank network to see the big stars.

This makes sense.

Top Rank needed a new way to keep their fighters active....HBO didn't have the money and dates, and PPV wasn't bringing in much money, and limited their fighters exposure, making it harder to build them up.

The investor money should help to keep Crawford and Lomachenko more active.

Gilberto Ramirez and Oscar Valdez should do well on ESPN/ESPN Deportes.

Getting those fighters active on ESPN should help build their name recognition up.

This should also benefit the new wave of Olympians like Shakur Stevenson and Michael Conlan.

Getting a young boxer like Stevenson on First Take and those shows could do a lot for his exposure.

[Eff Pandas]

From Dan Rafael:

http://www.espn.com/boxing/story/_/i...ve-espn-july-1

Good stuff.

Downloading the ESPN app now in anticipation.

Hope I don't gotta hustle a fake cable provider info to watch stuff live on there doe.

[The Gambler1981]

I think HBO were the ones who decided to change that path AWAY from boxing is the thing. I don't think they let it get worse. They made a conscious decision to un-invest in boxing over the last 2 decades more & more.

But yea you aren't wrong about them still trying to maintain the boss role doe. Its like the reverse of the baby elephant tied to the pole all grown up & still believing he's too weak to pull the pole out of the ground story. Most think HBO is super strong so they let them get away with more & retain control more despite evidence of the opposite being all around.



Thats the way I'm feeling pretty much 100%. There is more going on or there is a endgame/goal to this if all the info put out thus far is all the info there is.

Certainly HBO has made a clear decision to move away from boxing. Maybe at first they felt they could skimp and get away with it then they just kept cutting and cutting until there was no other way forward than to either refocus on boxing or move away. They have pretty clearly gone the later route. Which is fair enough to them they have put a lot into the sport so it is sad to see them go out but seeing them hang on acting like they are as they were in the past is even more sad. I guess that is not just a story of boxers but of boxing in general.


If I had enough assets under management to make a deal with Top Rank and think about starting and over the top service, I think they need to buy out PBC, and some other players like Roc Nation. The only problem is I don't think Oscar wants to sell GBP, so basically getting everything that isn't GBP then leaning hard on them. That is a lot of money plus actually making the service viable, but if you can get Top Rank and PBC under the same umbrella the battle is almost won.

[Eff Pandas]

so it is sad to see them go out but seeing them hang on acting like they are as they were in the past is even more sad. I guess that is not just a story of boxers but of boxing in general.

Good analogy.

If I had enough assets under management to make a deal with Top Rank and think about starting and over the top service, I think they need to buy out PBC, and some other players like Roc Nation. The only problem is I don't think Oscar wants to sell GBP, so basically getting everything that isn't GBP then leaning hard on them. That is a lot of money plus actually making the service viable, but if you can get Top Rank and PBC under the same umbrella the battle is almost won.

Yea absolutely if someone who knows how to promote, Top Rank, locks up with someone with a roster, PBC, + adds some new technology/means to watch fights thats gonna knock some sh^t over for sure in the boxing world.

And honestly thats probably the #1 thing boxing needs is a main pool of elite fighters that a bunch of big fights can be made via + entice outsiders to wanna be involved with to make the most money/be seen as the best fighter. You can fix most of the stupid abc problems via that sorta super pool of elite fighters & even have more pull with the commissions, as the UFC has shown with a major restructuring of MMA rules this year, to improve the sport & move it forward into the future. Good all around if you can just get it all together in the first place.

[BWC]

Certainly HBO has made a clear decision to move away from boxing. Maybe at first they felt they could skimp and get away with it then they just kept cutting and cutting until there was no other way forward than to either refocus on boxing or move away. They have pretty clearly gone the later route. Which is fair enough to them they have put a lot into the sport so it is sad to see them go out but seeing them hang on acting like they are as they were in the past is even more sad. I guess that is not just a story of boxers but of boxing in general.


If I had enough assets under management to make a deal with Top Rank and think about starting and over the top service, I think they need to buy out PBC, and some other players like Roc Nation. The only problem is I don't think Oscar wants to sell GBP, so basically getting everything that isn't GBP then leaning hard on them. That is a lot of money plus actually making the service viable, but if you can get Top Rank and PBC under the same umbrella the battle is almost won.

Or PBC could buy out TR. Right now its a race to a big TV deal .Whomever gets it first owns US boxing. PBC will have been on CBS, FOX, and NBC by the end of the year. TR probably ESPN and maybe some fights on ABC.

Maybe they both get deals. Who knows. It's just great boxing is getting out from under the thumb of premium channels and out in front of more eyeballs..

[The Gambler1981]

Or PBC could buy out TR. Right now its a race to a big TV deal .Whomever gets it first owns US boxing. PBC will have been on CBS, FOX, and NBC by the end of the year. TR probably ESPN and maybe some fights on ABC.

Maybe they both get deals. Who knows. It's just great boxing is getting out from under the thumb of premium channels and out in front of more eyeballs..

The big thing is aligning the interests of several groups in boxing that have been working against each other for years. No matter who is running the show really.

That is kind of what needs to happen for the sport to really move forward on a high level. If everyone just moves forward with their own deals nothing really changes and there is little incentive to really work together.

The good thing about getting away from HBO is they never wanted to work with anyone, other networks may not want that and think they are the best but when it comes to sports all those networks understand that working together to a degree works better because the pie gets bigger for everyone and everyone is eating better.

[The Gambler1981]

Good analogy.



Yea absolutely if someone who knows how to promote, Top Rank, locks up with someone with a roster, PBC, + adds some new technology/means to watch fights thats gonna knock some sh^t over for sure in the boxing world.

And honestly thats probably the #1 thing boxing needs is a main pool of elite fighters that a bunch of big fights can be made via + entice outsiders to wanna be involved with to make the most money/be seen as the best fighter. You can fix most of the stupid abc problems via that sorta super pool of elite fighters & even have more pull with the commissions, as the UFC has shown with a major restructuring of MMA rules this year, to improve the sport & move it forward into the future. Good all around if you can just get it all together in the first place.

It is kind of funny, how Roy Jones was the face of HBO boxing for so long and the trajectory of their power in the sport have mirrored one another.

If this investor can pull it off and get it all together they have something and they then do have the content because there are enough guys and people with interests in those guy to produce shows focusing on those talents. I still say Boxing Wives is a winning concept that would fit perfectly in that medium.

[BWC]

The big thing is aligning the interests of several groups in boxing that have been working against each other for years. No matter who is running the show really.

That is kind of what needs to happen for the sport to really move forward on a high level. If everyone just moves forward with their own deals nothing really changes and there is little incentive to really work together.

The good thing about getting away from HBO is they never wanted to work with anyone, other networks may not want that and think they are the best but when it comes to sports all those networks understand that working together to a degree works better because the pie gets bigger for everyone and everyone is eating better.

That's true to an extent. I would say when the fights are big enough (Crawford v Spence Jr for example in a year or two), people will work together. The money just has to be there. They will be PPV anyway. The smaller fights will still be on Network TV.

[Sweet Jones]

Good analogy.



Yea absolutely if someone who knows how to promote, Top Rank, locks up with someone with a roster, PBC, + adds some new technology/means to watch fights thats gonna knock some sh^t over for sure in the boxing world.

And honestly thats probably the #1 thing boxing needs is a main pool of elite fighters that a bunch of big fights can be made via + entice outsiders to wanna be involved with to make the most money/be seen as the best fighter. You can fix most of the stupid abc problems via that sorta super pool of elite fighters & even have more pull with the commissions, as the UFC has shown with a major restructuring of MMA rules this year, to improve the sport & move it forward into the future. Good all around if you can just get it all together in the first place.

In theory, this makes sense.

IMO the disconnect is in the objectives of the two orgs. One of PBC's strengths (at least with the fighters who agreed to be apart of the effort) has not just been with the TV exposure, it also been with the INCREASED cut/income the fighters by greatly reducing the splits and the false caps that promoters can put on them.

Clearly, Top Rank has no such objective.

I also find it interesting that we have yet to really see any analysis on how this deal impacts the fighter's purses/income. We know PBC raised purses for their guys (whether artificial or not, it made sense for the fighter financially beyond just TV exposure). Does Top Rank's deal do the same? Or does it just the same ole same ole 'slave deals' with only Top Rank benefitting?

Hopefully we'll hear more details soon. Because so far I see is a (potential) boon for Arum/Top Rank, with no idea how a Terrence Crawford or Loma gets more money from this.

We shall see.