NBC's attempt to reverse boxing's decline on broadcast television with the 20-card "Premier Boxing Champions" series required "some major creativity -- and a major investment," according to Rachel Cohen of the AP. Al Haymon's management company, Haymon Boxing, "is paying for PBC, betting on NBC's promotional might and the reach of old-fashioned prime-time network television." For NBC, there is "little financial risk." There also is "some precedent: The network didn't pay a rights fee in its first deal with the NHL after the lockout that wiped out the 2004-05 season, but that changed when the sport's fortunes rebounded." The NBC primetime telecasts "will take place during quieter times of year for sports," as well as times that the net would "typically be showing a repeat of a program that aired during the week in those slots." NBC "will be able to promote the series" during its Super Bowl XLIX broadcast next month (AP, 1/14). YAHOO SPORTS' Kevin Iole noted the first show will be March 7 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Keith Thurman will meet Robert Guerrero in "one of the televised bouts that night on NBC, while Adrien Broner will face John Molina in the other." One fight "was announced for the second card, which will be April 11 on NBC, and that, too, is a spectacular match on paper," pitting Danny Garcia against Lamont Peterson. This "will work, and NBC will get ratings, if Haymon continues to deliver these kinds of matches and not the type that feature a star versus a no-hoper." Guerrero-Thurman and Garcia-Peterson are "A-plus-type matches that could easily headline a card on either HBO or Showtime." Also, the fact that a "legendary announcer" like Al Michaels would "get involved suggests it's not going to be a series of mismatches and B-level fights." Iole: "Expect to see NBC do great behind-the-scenes features to familiarize the audience with the athletes" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 1/14).
RING THE BELL: In Las Vegas, Steve Carp notes the debut card "features the quality one would expect from an HBO or Showtime event." And the fact that it is "on free TV will undoubtedly put pressure on the two cable networks to match the star power NBC is bringing to its telecasts." Showtime Sports Exec VP & GM Stephen Espinoza: "It's great for the sport. We're not threatened at all. I'd love to see it succeed. In the long term, the more exposure for the sport is a good thing" (
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 1/15). ESPN.com's Rafael & Campbell noted most of the Haymon fighters who will "now appear on NBC have been supported in recent years by Showtime." The net 's Senior Dir of Communications Chris DeBlasio declined to comment on the move "that takes away much of Showtime's top talent, at least for several bouts." But "PBC on NBC" VP/Operations Lamont Jones said that the boxers "were not exclusive to NBC" (
ESPN.com, 1/14). In L.A., Lance Pugmire notes though there has "been some outcry that Haymon stiffed Showtime with the temporary defections, it wasn’t as if he did the CBS-owned network any favors previously" by assigning Garcia and super-bantamweight champion Leo Santa Cruz "to recent mismatches." If the NBC deal "leads to better fights on Showtime, that’s a deal worth taking," and it also is a "big if." But Espinoza said that he "believes Haymon" (
L.A. TIMES, 1/15).
BACK TO THE FUTURE? In N.Y., Richard Sandomir writes the "question for NBC is, Can it take us back to a future in which boxing is not a niche sport -- or is it impossible to resurrect the heralded past?" An audience "exists for boxing, even if it resides on the margins of major sports, save for the occasional mega-bout." HBO’s and Showtime’s championship bouts last year "averaged 1.2 million and 734,000 viewers." ESPN2’s fights "averaged 393,000 viewers last year," and FS1’s 33 bouts "have brought in 170,000 viewers since the network’s inception" in '13 (N.Y. TIMES, 1/15).
