In a tough economy many Americans are forced to conserve their money and only splurge on certain indulgences. As a boxing fan who is pretty much tight on money I always get the same reaction from plenty of the boxing fans I run into….”Man PPV cost too much!” Boxing is hurting itself with unnecessary PPV’s. Many people wonder why our beautiful sport has sunken so low on the totem pole. Well the lack of familiarity and public exposure from boxing has been the major downfall. Back in the day we could turn on ABC and get the wide world of sports big fights for Free! yes FREE!. Boxing was once one of the biggest sports in America now it has been relegated to a niche sport with a cult like fan base of die hard fans like myself. I really don’t have a problem with PPV as long as it is saved for truly huge mega events. The best way to make more money in boxing and to prolong the strength and exposure of the sport is to try and get it back on Network TV.
Now take the UFC for example. The UFC focused on getting more exposure and media attention by getting a deal with Spike TV and showing FREE stacked cards on Spike while still having their PPV fights as well. UFC is able to have amazing PPV buy numbers because their fan base knows the fighters and have been exposed to them in ad’s,commercials,magazines,TV shows and most importantly from watching them fight on Spike TV for free so they are willing to pay for the ppv but in boxing why will people pay for a PPV of fighters they have never seen box before and who they have no idea of?. A big factor as to why MMA or UFC has gotten so big is because of the internet publicity and promotion. Boxing once had a huge fan base because of the Network TV exposure they had before. You could tune in to ABC and see a boxing star or a future star in the making for free and get to be familiar with him and if the fight stunk and was a snooze fest you never felt robbed because the fight was for free.
The UFC did what boxing stopped doing, it advertised and took sacrifices and chances with marketing just to get their name out there to the 18-34 demographic and it paid off. Boxing promoters have been greedy especially as they got older they would rather make the quick buck then take the sacrifices financially to help the sport grow and thrive in the long run. I love boxing as do many other people, we can get new fans who will appreciate the history and craft of the sweet science if boxing only had the exposure it once had. I hope the Boxing Promoters take advantage of the Internet, and take chances financially in the long run to help the sport grow and produce new stars.
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