Showtime Sports’ closure at the end of 2023 left its properties needing new platforms, including its extensive boxing rights. Notably, Showtime had broadcast boxing for over three-quarters of its existence.
Premier Boxing Champions (PBC), which held most of Showtime’s former rights under Al Haymon’s leadership, found a new home on Amazon’s Prime Video last December. The multi-year deal guaranteed PBC fights on the streaming platform starting in 2024.
Furthermore, All The Smoke Productions seems ready to fill the void left by Showtime.
On Monday, they launched “All The Smoke Fight,” a new platform dedicated to combat sports events. This week, they’ll cover the upcoming PBC pay-per-view event on Prime Video, featuring Lightweight Champion Gervonta Davis, David Benavidez, Gary Antuanne Russell and more.
Here’s more from the release:
ALL THE SMOKE PRODUCTIONS today announced the launch of ALL THE SMOKE FIGHT, a new multi-platform content vertical surrounding combat sports events with premium storytelling, interviews, coverage, and analysis from all corners of the fight game. Founded by some of the most trusted sources for honest, engaging, and relevant coverage of combat sports for last two decades
Led by ALL THE SMOKE PRODUCTIONS founders and executive producers Matt Barnes and Brian Dailey, the former Showtime Sports executive that helped define the digital content era for the network’s sports verticals, ATS FIGHT launches this week with the popular and award-winning series MORNING KOMBAT WITH LUKE THOMAS AND BRIAN CAMPBELL, an all-new episode of FIGHT TOWNS with Stephen Jackson, and live remote coverage from one of this year’s most anticipated boxing events. Additional talent and programming announcements are in process and will be unveiled throughout the summer.
“Authentic voices. Real Stories. Championship DNA. That is the essence of ALL THE SMOKE PRODUCTIONS,” said Barnes. “We are proud to launch ALL THE SMOKE FIGHT in the same spirit of trust and unapologetic candor that has turned our original series ALL THE SMOKE into a contemporary media production company that is redefining the space with talent-driven, original IP, and premium storytelling.”
“At Showtime, we developed the ecosystem and the formula to cement our position as a leader in combat sports,” said Dailey. “ALL THE SMOKE FIGHT is an extension of that legacy, and we will carry the stewardship and respect we’ve earned for combat sports forward, partnering with the biggest names and promotional companies in the game.”
“I am so excited to be able to continue exploring and learning the fight game from the inside,” said Jackson. “I am a lifelong boxing fan and working with the team at Showtime Boxing for the past five years has been incredible. I think you will see my genuine enthusiasm coming through in everything I do with ATS Fight, in particular, this next edition of FIGHT TOWNS. We will see you in Vegas!”
The launch of All The Smoke Fight by All The Smoke Productions is significant. With Brian Dailey, a former Showtime Sports executive who played a crucial role in shaping the network’s digital content strategy for combat sports, joining their team, All The Smoke appears poised to take over a substantial portion of the void left by Showtime’s departure from the boxing scene.
