Apparently there’s going to be a Mayweather/De La Hoya rematch. If you recall, the first time around was a huge spectacle but a pretty boring fight, with both boxers trying to do the minimum possible to not lose. While keeping their faces clean.
But it made a ton of money, so this was inevitable:
Backed by five-months of promotion, which included an 11-city cross-country tour and HBO’s reality series “De La Hoya/Mayweather 24/7,” the first fight broke boxing box office records including total gross ($165 million); pay-per-view subscriptions (2.4 million); pay-per-view gross ($134.4 million) and live gate ($18,419,200).
Boxing is dead? Even counting corruption, the biggest problem for the sport in the US is the lack of good, indigenous heavyweights. Throw us a couple of those and everything else comes together.
a robot, piece of sloan 
January 17, 2008 at 2:42 pm |
I agree boxing isn’t close to dead. However, it definitely lacks the mainstream appeal that it once did. Largely because of what you mentioned above. All of that money is being made on subscription or pay-per-view channels. So boxing as a revenue generating industry if alive and well. But boxing as a sport in the mainstream consciousness of America is not exactly booming.
A couple of charismatic, talented heavyweights would help. But so would having an occasional big time fight on regular tv.
January 17, 2008 at 2:52 pm |
Yeah, but if people are willing to drop 50 dollars on a bigtime fight, it’s impossible for them to get away from that model. And, it’s interesting, apparently two and a half million people bought the thing, but I wonder how many people saw it. I don’t think most people spend the fifty bucks and then watch it alone.
I’d watch boxing every week if they had a way of getting good fights on there all the time. It’s hard to build mainstream interest because there’s not a lot of regularity to it.
January 17, 2008 at 3:56 pm |
Do they somehow include the replay of the fight int he revenue generated? I know a lot of poeple wait and watch the fight when HBO or whatever will show it like a a few days later or the next day or whatever they do. Also, if not, how many of the 2 and a half million are bars where they are virtually required to buy the thing to satisfy customers?
January 17, 2008 at 4:36 pm |
i waited till it was on regular hbo. takes a week or so. i knew who won but wanted to see the actaul fighting. i wouldnt get a ppv boxing unless it was split among some people.
January 17, 2008 at 6:14 pm |
yeah me too, though people always lame out on the split and the host gets screwed.