By Brian Weber: PBC boss Al Haymon is offering a behemoth roster of top-level fighters as part of a new broadcast deal, now that Showtime is not expected to renew his contract after it expires. We are in talks to bring them to Amazon Prime.
It’s unclear at this point whether Amazon Prime is aiming to become a “Showtime-like boxing provider,” as Chris Mannix points out, or if this is just a one-off event. Amazon already pays huge amounts of money to broadcast NFL games, so it can afford boxing.
It is important that PBC utilizes a provider that is not already occupied by other promotional companies in boxing.
For example, DAZN has Golden Boy Promotions and Matchroom. ESPN uses Top Rank to provide boxing. Given the constant competition for dates, it would not be a good situation for PBC to go with either of these companies.
PBC is negotiating with Amazon Prime
Can Amazon Prime be realized on PBC?
“I know PBC has negotiated with Amazon. I believe that is their desired destination. They want a deal with Amazon,” said Chris Mannix. podcastwe’re talking about a possible destination for the premier boxing champion.
“My take on Amazon: If they want to be in boxing, don’t sign exclusive deals with anyone. I think exclusivity has been a big problem in boxing for a long time because it’s a big problem in the boxing world because it’s a big problem in boxing. This is because the frame has been reduced.
“If you’re Amazon, Amazon’s boxing budget isn’t that big, but let’s just say.” They’re going to put $200 million a year into boxing. It’s nothing. They pay the NFL billions of dollars for Thursday Night Football.
“If they say they have $200 million a year in boxing, they can hire someone to oversee it and say, “Look, if you’re a promoter and you want a fight on our streaming service, make the fight.” . Just because you have to give us a 10, 12, 14 match, don’t let us have a bad match.” That doesn’t work. It has been proven to be ineffective.
“I think Amazon has an opportunity because… They can afford to spend millions on boxing. And do some good things, some big things. I would love to see them try something new. Because they are one of the few organizations that have the budget for it. Let’s see what Amazon does next. I think they’re players to watch in all of this. ”
Could Amazon replace Showtime boxing?
“I don’t know what Amazon is trying to do, but… Become a boxing provider like Showtime, Or are you looking for a one-off show? I don’t know the answer to that question. “There are conversations going on between Amazon and PBC officials,” Mannix said.
“It’s kind of depressing. Here are the people celebrating the end of Showtime. [blank]. Showtime has done a great job of broadcasting boxing for over 25 years. It would not be good for boxing if such a provider was discontinued.
“It’s depressing that boxing doesn’t work on American television. It seems like they’ve found a model that’s sustainable and works and thrives, but I know they’re two different entities, and that’s why it’s so important to me. It’s weird, but sports broadcasting is golden right now,” Mannix continued.
“The NBA is going to collect millions of dollars. The NFL just collected. The NHL is going to collect billions once their contracts expire. Meanwhile, in boxing over the past five years, HBO has pulled out and Showtime withdrew, and FOX withdrew.
DAZN is still a work in progress, but they have raised their prices and are certainly trying to make as much profit from their subscribers as possible at this point. Let’s see what ESPN, which has to pay this much money for NBA rights and UFC rights, does in a few years.
“I’ve heard a lot that boxing is in a good place with events this year. That may be true, but if it was in a great location, there would be networks and streaming services trying to pick up the business. But the cracked nature of it is not good and there are no providers who want to do business with this sport, so it’s not a good situation for boxing right now and I think that’s the problem.”
