Since Fox Sports 1 began in August 2013, it has aired periodic boxing cards promoted by Oscar de la Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions. Fox’s contract with Golden Boy expires at the end of this month and it appears that it will bring in a new boxing series to replace it.
ESPN.com reports that it will be none other than Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions which has bought time on several networks to broadast his cards. This year, PBC bouts have been seen on CBS, NBC/NBCSN and Spike and will be televised on ESPN2 and Bounce TV starting in July. Haymon also has a contract with Showtime.
As Haymon has signed deals to have networks air his fights, it also has laid waste to existing boxing series such as ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights and now Golden Boy Live. A former music and concert promoter, Haymon entered the fight game in 2000 and began to build a stable that has grown to about 200 fighters.
Haymon doesn’t do interviews so we don’t know the reasoning behind his decision to buy time on so many networks. It’s not known if the upcoming Fox Sports 1 deal is also a time buy, but based on the networks, it’s not out of bounds to think this would be similar.
As for Golden Boy, it hopes to find a new home for its fights. But with Haymon buying time for PBC and eliminating the competition, it might be a long time for Golden Boy fights to be seen on another network. In the meantime, the Premier Boxing Champions series continues to expand to the point where it may be on all of the cable sports networks by the time all is said and done.
[ESPN.com]
Comments are closed.