Ken Hershman’s Silver Linings Playbook

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    Hopefully tempers have begun to settle and fans can start to rationalize the logic behind HBO President Ken Hershman’s decision to cease any further business activity with Golden Boy Promotions. The initial reaction from fans seemed to suggest that people who watch boxing don’t watch Game of Thrones because the outcry was complete with empty threats of cancelled HBO subscriptions.

    I’m not suggesting fans willingly digest this news and take the possible consequences without protest because God knows we’ve suffered plenty of irrational injustices in the past, but I think everyone should keep an open mind to the entire situation because there are plenty of grey areas surrounding these circumstances and how they came about.

    Michael Woods of TheSweetScience.com was a guest on last week’s edition of Thaboxingvoice.com’s twice weekly radio show/live YouTube stream and he discussed at length the subtleties that exist in moves like these and reminded us all that big business decisions shouldn’t be trivialized.

    It was fortunate for our listeners that “Woodsy” was our guest because not only is he super knowledgeable and really down-to-earth, but he spared listeners from hearing cheesy metaphors involving comparisons between HBO’s business model and that of a soda company or a clothing manufacturer.

    Woods spoke adamantly about not jumping to conclusions on which demographic loses out the most and staying optimistic on the possibility of positive ramifications that HBO can present fans.

    “We’re always tempted to give an immediate opinion on who will be the winners or losers, but maybe there will be an upside to this and maybe we’ll get clarity. Who knows, maybe it’ll be better but I’m just not prepared to say now that the fans will be the losers. Let’s have this conversation in 3 months and then will go back and see,” Woods said.

    I don’t want to pretend that I’m smart enough to throw out realistic implications that allow the fans to benefit from HBO’s ban of Golden Boy fighters, but competition is never a bad thing in these types of scenarios. I’m a huge fan of pro wrestling and the overused example that has been floating around refers to the “Monday Night Wars” between the WWF (at the time) and WCW. Those two companies pulled out every trick available to them in their respective bags and it made for compelling TV. You have to believe that with HBO and Showtime trying to outdo one another on a monthly basis it could only be beneficial for fans.

    Some will argue that there has always been competition between the two rival networks, but how healthy was that competition? I feel that competition is flawed when there is a perpetual number 1 and number 2 is content with putting on “number 2 fights” (no pun intended). When one network assumes the responsibility for being number 1 and the other is financially committed to being the runner-up then you’re faced with a lack of urgency and little motivation to compel you to strive for more.

    Now, the general consensus is that Showtime is making a run at number 1, if they haven’t already taken the spot, but I assume HBO isn’t ready to relinquish that role without a fight (pun intended). If HBO is going to remain in the illustrious position they’ve come accustomed to then they will have to compete with Showtime’s upcoming schedule, specifically fights involving Floyd Mayweather. Most assume that Floyd is the fuel behind Hershman’s decision, but there are so many other factors and most of them are probably unknown.

    Woods acknowledged that “Money May’s” influence in HBO’s decision wasn’t coincidental, but also reminded us that the trend of Golden Boy fighters moving to Showtime has been apparent for some time.

    “It’s not just Floyd; you’ve seen all the [Golden Boy] fighters that were fighting on HBO and then seeing them being moved over to Showtime. I don’t begrudge guys using other people to leverage against each other, but neither do I really begrudge HBO saying ‘We don’t want to be party to that anymore, we want you to be all in with us’ and everyone understands that it’s a business.

    “But can you really blame HBO for saying ‘No, we don’t want to see that happen and we want arrangements that we know are solid’ and I don’t blame them because these guys are just trying to make the best deals they can,” Woods said

    Woods is absolutely correct and his sentiments speak volume. What I could infer from Woods’ rational is that we can’t persecute Ken Hershman because we have no idea just how difficult Richard Schaefer had been over the past few months, possibly years. Business leveraging is one thing, but blatant threats are another and you have to consider putting yourself in Hershman’s shoes. How bad did things have to get for Hershman to conclude that severing ties was the only answer?

    People can believe that HBO is simply putting Golden Boy in the position to find a home for their richly talented roster and forcing them to work with a fixed budget over at Showtime. However, I don’t think that the “new guy” at HBO would make a decision in haste without fully considering the consequences it could have on his reputation and employment.

    Hershman is responsible for following HBO’s time-honored strategic goals for creating captivating fights. In order for Hershman to do his job he has to be in a position to be completely uninhibited and he can’t do that without working variables.

    “HBO loves to build their storylines, they talk about building those narratives and that’s hard to do if we see a guy 3 times and then he jumps ship to Showtime. They like that continuity and if they’re not getting continuity then they have to make sure they’re getting continuity and that’s what this is all about,” Woods said.

    In the end, it is really appalling to see the political indifferences between promoters affect the networks and it’s even worse when they take an active role in the problem. Perhaps remaining optimistic is merely a result of the abuse we as fight fans have had to endure over the years and the numbness it has caused us. Still, I believe we haven’t seen the last of Golden Boy promoted fight cards on HBO and maybe this will set a constructive precedent necessary for these two companies to work together in a positive manner sometime in the future.

     

    For Full Audio of the Woods Interview click here: http://thaboxingvoice.cogito24.com/11521/11521