Is a Televised Boxing show that expensive to put on?

[jizzle]

Way over the top???? Way under the top you mean.

He's quoted the cost of 10 people...Try 100! And don't forget the costs of equipment/electricity/streams and feeds.

I know what you are saying that they would already have that anyway.

But each event/show/programme needs to be accountable so would in effect be paying 'Sky' for the rental of staff and equipment. It's how budgets work.

[Chambers2]

It's an interesting topic that I've thought about myself, but unfortunately I know very little about the ins and outs of TV production.

[jizzle]

Way over the top???? Way under the top you mean.

He's quoted the cost of 10 people...Try 100! And don't forget the costs of equipment/electricity/streams and feeds.

I know what you are saying that they would already have that anyway.

But each event/show/programme needs to be accountable so would in effect be paying 'Sky' for the rental of staff and equipment. It's how budgets work.

SKY being the animal they are i would imagine are very good at running things cost effectively so cant see them running things without at least breaking even. They are of course due number of live boardcasts they do pretty organised at boardcasting a live event be it a darts or boxing match to something bigger like an England rugby or football international. I would like to know how the advertising at an event be it the sponser of the program to the ads between claw back the intial lay out. I never said i agreed with Mr palmers guess work but i think a 100 people is over the top when it comes to a FFN and would think the figure is around 20-25. Now of course all the equipment used Sky i imagine would own and all the staff working on the boardcast contracted so maybe the figure is lower than we imagine.

Sky makes revenue from subscriptions and Ad's so with that revenue they would budget a certain amount on live sport boardcasts and what they buy already produce by someone else and the end of the day would still show a huge profit. Are skys profits public knowledge?

Completely agree with you about SKY being an animal and that's probably why they are the only ones who make money/breakeven on boxing. I think they pay a fair price though from small hall Maloney shows right through to Ricky Hatton PPV. They pay what it's worth even if the likes of Warren, and Hennessy disagree (notice that Hearn and Maloney just take the money, churn out the shows and get the dates??)

Yes would be interested to know about how much of the advertising is allocated to the costs and how much as a % they allocate from the subscriber incomes. I wouldn't have a clue about that 1%?

Let's meet in the middle ...50

[Bard of Boxrec]

where does paying the fighters/officials come in?

[jamesmcdonnell]

where does paying the fighters/officials come in?

Officials paid for by the promoter, as are the fighters.

[Maelstrom]

Jizzle is bang on, the original post was way under the top.

Sky have a massive team at each fight. They work shifts, and many will work from midnight to 6am breaking down rigging etc.

You also have insurance costs that can be huge...

All of this is to say nothing of the promoters costs....

[jamesmcdonnell]

Jizzle is bang on, the original post was way under the top.

Sky have a massive team at each fight. They work shifts, and many will work from midnight to 6am breaking down rigging etc.

You also have insurance costs that can be huge...

All of this is to say nothing of the promoters costs....

The promoter puts his own money up for the event, he hires the arena, the security, and all ancillary staff which are not part of the broadcast team, what do you mean by 'promoters costs.'

Sky will have a yearly contract with Warren, and will have agreed to pay a yearly fee plus other ancillary payments (slice of PPV, or bonus based on viewing figures etc), and the promoter in turn pays the fighter.

The problem comes when the fighter wants so much money and there isn't the revenue coming in from advertising and/or PPV buys to support the equation. The broadcaster cannot see where their profit is coming from, or not enough of it, and then decides they don't want to continue their contract with said promoter, or offers significantly less money for the priviledge of doing so.

[jamesmcdonnell]

the live event is mainly paid for by the promoter who has to cover security, Doctors, Insurance, refs etc, set up of the arena/ ring, police, fighters and venue hire. Of course if a TV company pay them money for the right to show their event that money and the advertising that comes of the back of it pays a lot of their overheads which means sometimes selling tickets isnt that important. Of course selling tickets is important because the more money a promoter makes the better for him but i think he would pay some of the fighters on the undercard on a commission of how many tickets they sell from what they have been allocated. Of course i nothing about the setting up a boxing show so i could way off the mark.

sounds about right to me. I'm no promoter, but I've spoken to promoters who've told me that's about the size of it.

As you say, traditionally a lot of the undercard fighters are paid based on tickets they sell. Back in the day, even main event fighters earned a lot of their coin this way.

[ourkid1984]

Would it really be as high as 70k to have the right to show the action?

Maybe i'm being Naive but I would think that the TV company would strike up a good bargain with the promotor to get the TV rights, I don't know but if I was a promotor I would try to get some cash but I wouldn't want to charge too much because of the risk of them saying no. I would be happy to get the fights on TV to get fighters more exposure so that I could get more money at a later date.

Surely most of the camera crew and the people who deal with the rigging and things are on Sky contracts and would probably do more events and not just the boxing shows, so I don't think it would be over expensive and I don't think it takes that long to set everything up, probably not as much time and man power as it would be to organise a similar sized concert and they don't cost the earth.

Also when you think of some of the smaller promoters who have started to have live feeds of their shows on for a tiny fee like £3 I can't see them making enough money to cover the costs if it really was as expensive as some people are saying.

And concerning adverts, I know from my Business studies stuff that the TV companies charge a lot more than you think for each advert so I wouldn't be suprised if they made enough from advertisments alone.

Interesting topic though

[boxingchat]

this was a subject i read over on ESB yesterday and found it quite interesting so decided to post the same subject here. There are people on this forum who know a lot of the in's and out's of the boxing world and i thought they could shed some light on this. I remember a while back exchanging Emails with Buncey about how much a live show costs someone like the BBC to broadcast and thought it was cheep compared to other sports they boardcast but cant remember the numbers.

Of course i imagine a Sky picking up a overseas broadcast doesnt cost that much as they are arent supplying cameras etc and when Setanta did the same they didnt sometimes used the host boardcasts commentry team which must save money.

Rob Palmer someome who posts a lot over on ESB came up with the following with the following guesstamation for a FFN boardcast which i think is way off:
Sky pay around 70k to a promoter for a FFN. I imagine its simular to what ITV pay.

1) Commentary Team - £750 x 2
2) Punditry Team - £500 x 2
3) Interviewer/Presenter - £500 x2
4) At least 4 Camera Men with Equitment - £5000 x 4
5) All the other equitment to go with it - £5,000
6) Advertising - £10,000
6) The right to show the fight - £70,000

Just guessing but it will cost ITV at least £100,000 to put on a 2.5 hour card. will they make more than 100k from advertising for the 2.5 hours? It seems they do not.

these figures for me are over the top as surely a lot of the sky team are on long term contracts but the other stuf i know very little about so could be true or way of

Way out, totally inaccurate.

[Spud]

Havn't a clue what it costs TV to put on a show - only know what the promoters pay out:

Cost of Venue

BBBofC Officials - Fee & possibly Hotel/Food money

BBBofC sanction fees

Fighters - Fight Fee & possibly Hotel/Food money

Note: Dont forget any foreign officials and fighters you then have to account for Governing Body sanction fees plus costs of flights.

Paramedics & Doctors - Fee

Security (Small Venue) - This can cost more due to having to secure the whole venue

Security (Large Venue) - Normally securing Inner ringside, Ringwalk and Dressing room area

Promotional Firm Staff - Wages

In certain cases - VIP Bar & Food

Initial cost of programmes

Lamanets for Press, TV, BBBofC, VIPs and Access All Areas

Posters

You should also factor in costs for press conference and weigh in facilities if it is a large show

Also sometimes if it is a large show the promoter may choose to take out certain members of the press, BBBofC officials and any foreign officials
the night before the show

I am sure I have forgotten loads but the above is a start of what a promoter shells out.

[ArtOfWar]

Surely most of the camera crew and the people who deal with the rigging and things are on Sky contracts and would probably do more events and not just the boxing shows, so I don't think it would be over expensive and I don't think it takes that long to set everything up, probably not as much time and man power as it would be to organise a similar sized concert and they don't cost the earth.

A lot camera and sound work is done through other companies now, because then they don't have to worry about pensions, sick pay etc. It's all done on day rate, at least with the BBC it is.

[Maelstrom]

Jizzle is bang on, the original post was way under the top.

Sky have a massive team at each fight. They work shifts, and many will work from midnight to 6am breaking down rigging etc.

You also have insurance costs that can be huge...

All of this is to say nothing of the promoters costs....

The promoter puts his own money up for the event, he hires the arena, the security, and all ancillary staff which are not part of the broadcast team, what do you mean by 'promoters costs.'

I mean exactly the costs you just listed - and many others including paying the fighters!

I was just making the point that a night of boxing is very expensive to run... for both the broadcaster and promoter.

[stujones]

Might sound like a daft idea, but the TV execs KNOW that good boxing pulls in the viewers, correct? Why don't they try and "cheapen" the production and see what it does to the viewers.

In the Golden age of boxing.... BBC would often just employ 3 commentators/presenters, and even sometimes knock that down to one. Often it was just Des with Alan Minter and Harry Carpenter on his lonesome, occasionally (especially if it wasn't live but as live) it was Harry Carpenter on his own as the presenter... and he would do the commentating.

ITV similar.... Dickie Davies presenting, with Reg Gutteridge commentating, then with Jim Watt (who would be the analysist also). Sometimes cut down to just Jim Rosenthal and Jim Watt doing everything.

These were ratings winners.

[ERIC GUY]

I dont charge anything to film a show,
GUY SPORTS!!!!

[Hagler2002]

I dont charge anything to film a show,
GUY SPORTS!!!!

Eric, please remind us how you own the rights to every fight ever that has ever happened.

[gasman]

£750 for a commentator and £500 for a studio pundit, surely that is way off the mark. Those guys have to be on a lot more than that? No?