SHOWTIME ENDS BOXING AFTER 37 YEARS & PBC IN TALKS WITH AMAZON PRIME & DAZN
Las Vegas, NV (October 18th, 2023)– For 37 years, “Showtime Championship Boxing” has televised some of the most lucrative fights in the sport, but Showtime will exit boxing programming at the end of 2023, the network’s parent company Paramount Global announced in a statement Tuesday.
“As we evolve our strategy to more efficiently allocate resources and align our content offering across the business, we’ve made the difficult decision not to move forward with boxing and other content produced by the SHOWTIME sports team,” the company said. “SHOWTIME will continue to air and support the remaining 2023 boxing slate and honor obligations through the end of the year. We want to express our deepest gratitude to our employees who have contributed to this award-winning sports programming over multiple decades.”
“The company’s decision is not a reflection of the work we have done in recent years, nor of our long and proud history… Unfortunately, in a rapidly evolving media marketplace, the company has had to make difficult choices allocating resources, resetting priorities and reshaping its content offering. While today’s news is certainly difficult and disappointing, it is entirely out of our control.”
Stephen Espinoza had this say…
“I’m smiling because everyone’s got an inside source,” Espinoza said. “Everyone’s an expert, everybody has a source who’s telling them exactly what’s going on — none of which is accurate. Now, look, there’s a budget process and there’s things to be discussed, and there’s a media business that’s a lot of transformation, and there’s a Paramount corporation that is under financial pressures like all media companies nowadays.
‼️ Now officially confirmed that Showtime Sports, including Showtime Boxing, will be shutting down at the end of this year. Stephen Espinoza is reportedly being laid off and has said in a statement: “The company’s decision is not a reflection of the work we have done in recent…
— Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) October 17, 2023
Al Haymon’s PBC has an exclusive deal with Showtime and has been the main provider of fights on the network since 2013. That included the sport’s top star at the time, Floyd Mayweather.
PBC did not comment on the matter.
Boxing writer, Mike Coppinger said Showtime won’t be programming boxing after this year, making it necessary for PBC to look for a new broadcast deal with Amazon Prime or DAZN. If PBC goes to DAZN, it could be broadcasted with Misfits Youtuber fights and with Matchroom Boxing’s UK division. It’s unclear whether PBC would get enough dates to show their fighters on DAZN if they compete with Matchroom and the Misfits Youtuber shows.
PBC is also exploring broadcast deals with Amazon Prime Video, which is a digital streaming service.
It’s been a successful year for PBC and Showtime. In April, Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia met in a superfight. Then in July, PBC and Showtime delivered the long-awaited undisputed welterweight championship fight between Terence Crawford and Errol Spence Jr. Previously PBC struggled for many years to produce quality boxing events and the recent success could of came too late for the network.
The PBC stable still has strong collection of fighters in boxing. Besides the recent signing of Canelo Alvarez, Gervonta “Tank” Davis, former heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder, Errol Spence, the Charlo twins, Benavidez and Caleb Plant are all in the PBC stable among other stars.
And now, they’re set to fight on a new platform in 2024 and beyond.
Showtime prepares to exit the sport five years after its competitor, HBO, ceased boxing programming after 45 years. When Showtime landed Mayweather in 2013, it was a major coup for the network. Mayweather went on to fight seven times on Showtime pay-per-view, including the 2015 bout with Manny Pacquiao that shattered revenue records (a joint pay-per-view with HBO).
Showtime also landed Mike Tyson in the ’90s and televised his pair of fights with Evander Holyfield, including the infamous “Bite Fight” rematch and his successful 2002 PPV with Lennox Lewis.
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