Haymon to Bring Boxing Back to Free Television, Aims to Do Away with PPV

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    al-haymonOne of the most influential people in boxing Al Haymon is said to be making a multi-million dollar deal with NBC. According Boxingscene.com Kathy Duva stated, “Al Haymon has promised he’s going to take his fighters off premium cable and put Showtime and HBO out of the puzzle. He is also going to do away with pay per view and create an over-the-top network. He is now currently offering NBC around $20 million dollars for 24 fight dates.”

    Kathy Duva has had her own deal with NBC since 2011. Her agreement is soon to expire, and Haymon is said to be taking over. If Haymon’s plan comes into fruition it would overshadow the news of Alvarez’s transfer to HBO. This would better the sport ‘s popularity exponentially. Showtime and HBO are great quality networks but they cannot reach out to the same amount of people NBC can.

    When great fights are accessible to a much wider audience it brings more income, popularity, and it inspires the younger generation. The general public can only name a few active fighters today. In a boxing class I took a while back, I remember the professor asking who is going to watch the Miguel Cotto vs. Sergio Martinez bout? Hardly anyone in a boxing class knew who they were because they didn’t have premium cable, but still seemed interested in watching the fight. Then the teacher explained it would cost around 60 dollars to watch it, and nobody ended up seeing it.

    The reason why boxing has not elevated its general popularity as other sports have, is due to its accessibility. In other mainstream sports one can just tune in to NBC, ABC, or other basic channels and watch a great football, basketball, or baseball game. One cannot do that with boxing. It’s easier for a young child to get access to a football game and be inspired to be the next Eli Manning than to be the next Keith Thurman. They say boxing is a poor man’s sport, but great fights are only viewable with premium cable in America. This is why Michael King the promoter of King Sports, and Sugar Ray Leonard have constantly praised fights being on ESPN or basic networks due to its’ accessibility to a grander audience. Bringing competitive fights to these networks will offer an opportunity to the sport of boxing to eventually become a mainstream sport in America.