The beginning of the end for B0xnati0n?

[chad]

Thinks are starting to look a little grim for B0xnati0n. Their TV deal with Sauerland has expired with the Sauerland brothers happy to work with Eddie and SKY to put cards on here and in Germany. Al Haymon has pretty much decimated the Goldenboy stable, and is poaching Top Rank fighters away too, devaluing the broadcast deals that B0xnati0n have with both parties. Franks stable is ever shrinking with Frankie Gavin joining Matchroom next week and there's horrible rumours of a boxing/MMA prizefighter style tournament coming to the channel in the near future. Even cards they'd usually pick up from Europe, like GGG Vs. Murray, are slipping through their fingers these days.

Sure they can pick up cards from the likes of Canada and Russia, and US promoters like Roc Nation, to pad out their schedule for now however it's just not going to cut it unless they can agree a broadcast deal with Al Haymon. Haymon has 20 shows on NBC this year with a further 9 on Spike TV. I think there's a real chance the 9 fights on Spike TV could find their way onto Channel 5. Both Spike TV and Channel 5 are owned by Viacom and a precedent has already been set for them sharing content across the pond when Bellator 131, featuring Tito Ortiz vs. Stephan Bonnar, was shown by both channels back in November.

Even the big name fighters like Pacman and Mayweather are no longer guaranteed on the channel. With potential fights between Pacquaio, Mayweather and Khan being discussed for this year, if any of them are actually made they're almost guaranteed to be on SKY Box Office.

Tough times ahead for the channel.

[jameswilson]

They will almost always get the big American shows that don't get shown by Sky. Which is nigh on all of them.

That's how it is at the moment anyway. Loads of Al Haymon fighters have been and are being shown on allegedly so not sure how him getting fighters is going to change things.

[deadpan]

I will continue to support them for the good of the sport. Though the 2/3 hours of infomericals in the daytime is a flagrant piss-take on a pay channel.

[expe]

I'd say things are looking up, more domestic shows and bigger ones on too and they still have the top names from the US. Sauerland are willing to work with Sky, but they won't televise every show they put on in Germany and they'll still want UK TV for the shows that aren't on Sky, which will be more or less anything that doesn't involve a British fighter, which is more or less the current situation.

I'm not seeing any signs of Frank's stable getting smaller either, he doesn't have the biggest names domestically or the Olympians, but he's got 3 fighters in for world titles in the first half of this year, I'd say that at least one of those will win and he's got other fighters heading towards that level, along with a number of good domestic fighters. Throw in the co-promotional agreement they have with Fury, who's possibly the most marketable fighter in the country and mandatory for the Heavyweight title and he's in the strongest position he's been in for some time.

They'll have most of the Haymon shows on IMO, Sky aren't interested in that sort of volume of shows, Channel 5 might show a couple, but I can't see them showing them all.

They've simply changed direction a bit, moved away from focusing on international content towards more domestic shows, likely because it sells better, 5 shows in February and March is a good start to the year.

[Wales]

How many people that are subscribed have unsubscribed? Not many i bet.

[JimJim2009]

I wish they'd boost the schedule, one middle of the night show a week is not enough. I know it's still January but we've had very little for our subscriptions lately. If it's only 2-3 domestic shows in the first quarter of the year that is poor going in my view.

[littlepug]

don't know about the logistics of it all but how realistic would it be to show some of these small hall midweek shows that happen up and down the country ?

[Boxerbeetle]

I wish they'd boost the schedule, one middle of the night show a week is not enough. I know it's still January but we've had very little for our subscriptions lately. If it's only 2-3 domestic shows in the first quarter of the year that is poor going in my view.

It's annoying, but a lot more than we've had from Sky Sports.

[Andrew]

Which fighters has Haymon poached from Top Rank ????

Also Frankie Gavin leaving isn't a huge issue for Warren.

Will be very interesting where th Haymon shows end up though.

[JimJim2009]

I wish they'd boost the schedule, one middle of the night show a week is not enough. I know it's still January but we've had very little for our subscriptions lately. If it's only 2-3 domestic shows in the first quarter of the year that is poor going in my view.

It's annoying, but a lot more than we've had from Sky Sports.

True but sky isn't the 24/7 home of boxing charging subs for a single sport.

[Joellucketti]

Is that you Eddie????

[JimJim2009]

don't know about the logistics of it all but how realistic would it be to show some of these small hall midweek shows that happen up and down the country ?

I think the cost of filming and broadcasting a show is too great, especially to do it properly, eg multiple cameras, action reply, pundits etc. to be fair to the channel, when they do it, they do it very very well, I just want to see more domestic shows. I'd have thought he could be doing York hall shows at least monthly.

[JimJim2009]

I will continue to support them for the good of the sport. Though the 2/3 hours of infomericals in the daytime is a flagrant piss-take on a pay channel.

On the plus side the infomercials break up all the skeete re-runs

[littlepug]

I will continue to support them for the good of the sport. Though the 2/3 hours of infomericals in the daytime is a flagrant piss-take on a pay channel.

On the plus side the infomercials break up all the skeete re-runs

the reruns get a bit tedious although have watched the walsh v Appleby fight about 10 times cracking scrap that was !

[Boxerbeetle]

I wish they'd boost the schedule, one middle of the night show a week is not enough. I know it's still January but we've had very little for our subscriptions lately. If it's only 2-3 domestic shows in the first quarter of the year that is poor going in my view.

It's annoying, but a lot more than we've had from Sky Sports.

True but sky isn't the 24/7 home of boxing charging subs for a single sport.

It's not, but boxing is the only reason I subscribe to Sky Sports. I'm starting to wonder if it's worth it tbh.

[Manchester Hitman]

The Haymonm/NBC business will have little impact on BN or sky for that matter....I see no reason why BN will not continue to buy the likes Of Danny Garcia's fights whilst sky may decide to have a crack at the odd international fight of interest and definatley if if involves a matchroom kid so pretty much as it stands now.

As for Sauerland, sky will only be interesting on Grooves, possibly Price and that's about it.

Frankie Gavin is a good kid but no big loss

As many have said, BN are also clearly focussing on creating some big domestic shows which Is more likely to catch new subscribers whilst keeping enough international stuff to keep the hardcore who already subscribe generally happy.

If FW can somehow get Fury v Wlad/Wilder on this summer (yes I know it's a massive IF)
Then the station will get a major, major boost..

It's a shame that Lee-BJS seems to have gone titts up otherwise that would have been a big one as well but there are plenty of other big confirmed/potential fights coming up for the likes of Eubank Jnr, Butler, Fury etc to drive the channel forward.

With Hearn on sky, abit of channel 5 stuff and BN British boxing hasn't been in a better place for many a year

[tony1234]

BN needs some more British shows otherwise I'm going to cancel, can't be that hard to pick up a few small hall shows each month to show ? It's getting to the stage where it needs some decent stuff or there is no reason to subscribe

[Manchester Hitman]

BN needs some more British shows otherwise I'm going to cancel, can't be that hard to pick up a few small hall shows each month to show ? It's getting to the stage where it needs some decent stuff or there is no reason to subscribe

Each to their own but I'm assuming your aware of the upcoming domestic schedule?

February 14 Flanagan - Ormond
Feb 28 Fury - Hammer & Eubank etc
March 6 Buter - Tete, Mathews-Abril etc

Is this not enough uk stuff or are you just unhappy with the lack of small hall steve Goodwin type stuff?
Not trying to be a BN cheerleader before someone pipes up just trying to understand where youre coming from

[bripez]

don't know about the logistics of it all but how realistic would it be to show some of these small hall midweek shows that happen up and down the country ?

I think the cost of filming and broadcasting a show is too great, especially to do it properly, eg multiple cameras, action reply, pundits etc. to be fair to the channel, when they do it, they do it very very well, I just want to see more domestic shows. I'd have thought he could be doing York hall shows at least monthly.

Yeah, but how about one cameraman with one fixed camera at a show ? - surely this wouldn't cost much ?

This is surely preferable than endless repeats/infomercials etc and would also be a boost for the lads given the opportunity to appear on the channel.

[Broomhall]

don't know about the logistics of it all but how realistic would it be to show some of these small hall midweek shows that happen up and down the country ?

I think the cost of filming and broadcasting a show is too great, especially to do it properly, eg multiple cameras, action reply, pundits etc. to be fair to the channel, when they do it, they do it very very well, I just want to see more domestic shows. I'd have thought he could be doing York hall shows at least monthly.

Yeah, but how about one cameraman with one fixed camera at a show ? - surely this wouldn't cost much ?

This is surely preferable than endless repeats/infomercials etc and would also be a boost for the lads given the opportunity to appear on the channel.

TBH with modern tech, I dont think that difficult or expensive. Hatton TV do it, and so does Coldwell TV.

[expe]

BN needs some more British shows otherwise I'm going to cancel, can't be that hard to pick up a few small hall shows each month to show ? It's getting to the stage where it needs some decent stuff or there is no reason to subscribe

Each to their own but I'm assuming your aware of the upcoming domestic schedule?

February 14 Flanagan - Ormond
Feb 28 Fury - Hammer & Eubank etc
March 6 Buter - Tete, Mathews-Abril etc

Is this not enough uk stuff or are you just unhappy with the lack of small hall steve Goodwin type stuff?
Not trying to be a BN cheerleader before someone pipes up just trying to understand where youre coming from

March 14th McKenzie-Askin
March 27th York Hall

[JimJim2009]

don't know about the logistics of it all but how realistic would it be to show some of these small hall midweek shows that happen up and down the country ?

I think the cost of filming and broadcasting a show is too great, especially to do it properly, eg multiple cameras, action reply, pundits etc. to be fair to the channel, when they do it, they do it very very well, I just want to see more domestic shows. I'd have thought he could be doing York hall shows at least monthly.

Yeah, but how about one cameraman with one fixed camera at a show ? - surely this wouldn't cost much ?

This is surely preferable than endless repeats/infomercials etc and would also be a boost for the lads given the opportunity to appear on the channel.

I think the argument against that is subscribers - not particularly hardcore fans - would be decidedly unimpressed at the cheapo production values and rivals like sky would be clearly streets ahead on the quality front. Personally I'd be happy with it.

In reply to hitman, yes 3 upcoming uk shows are great but I don't think it is enough. When the channel launched we were told it's two live shows a week with loads of domestic coverage. It would be fair to say sky actually cover more of the domestic scene than BN mainly because Eddie has got most of the top domestic fighters.

As a die-hard fan I'd still subscribe if they went down to one show a month but I would personally like to see more. I sky-plus the middle of the night shows to watch the next day and at the moment it seems for my twelve quid a month I'm getting one show a week which I can't even record in HD so the HD upgrade is not good value...

I'm just having a moan. I want the channel to prosper, it's output is great I just want more of it.

[expe]

I think the cost of filming and broadcasting a show is too great, especially to do it properly, eg multiple cameras, action reply, pundits etc. to be fair to the channel, when they do it, they do it very very well, I just want to see more domestic shows. I'd have thought he could be doing York hall shows at least monthly.

Yeah, but how about one cameraman with one fixed camera at a show ? - surely this wouldn't cost much ?

This is surely preferable than endless repeats/infomercials etc and would also be a boost for the lads given the opportunity to appear on the channel.

I think the argument against that is subscribers - not particularly hardcore fans - would be decidedly unimpressed at the cheapo production values and rivals like sky would be clearly streets ahead on the quality front. Personally I'd be happy with it.

In reply to hitman, yes 3 upcoming uk shows are great but I don't think it is enough. When the channel launched we were told it's two live shows a week with loads of domestic coverage. It would be fair to say sky actually cover more of the domestic scene than BN mainly because Eddie has got most of the top domestic fighters.

As a die-hard fan I'd still subscribe if they went down to one show a month but I would personally like to see more. I sky-plus the middle of the night shows to watch the next day and at the moment it seems for my twelve quid a month I'm getting one show a week which I can't even record in HD so the HD upgrade is not good value...

I'm just having a moan. I want the channel to prosper, it's output is great I just want more of it.

Maybe showing small hall shows on tape delay would be an option, send a few cameramen out and take the footage back, edit it, then show it. Would probably help to cut costs while still keeping the production quality at a reasonable standard.

[tobyh5]

i have unsubscribed to the channel and I have also cancelled Sky Sports after 20 years.

allegedly as nothing on at the moment that interests me and Sky Sports because I do not give a shit about the matchroom cards that have their marquee fighters against gimmes

[Black Sam Bellamy]

Bad news for boxing fans in this country if allegedly goes under. End of story.