'Press Passes' - An easy ticket?

[dbf]

Saw on twitter that Michelle Phelps (retweeted by someone I follow), who has a small following on YT/Twitter for her BTG page has said she is coming over for Froch v Groves 2 and is expecting a press pass from Eddie. Now, I know she’s a big hit with the lads (some of them get a little weird and creepy) but does someone with her marginal following deserve a press pass at such a massive event when they are at a premium, over a more established website? To be fair she’s not dreadful but I think being a model has no doubt helped boost her popularity.

Would for example, BoxRec news get a pass for that fight? Would a writer from Eastside? I don’t know, I’m genuinely asking. I assume they will.

Just thought it was interesting that there is almost an expectation there. At what stage do you become 'big' enough to get on the press list?

It seems you can set up a website/blog/YT channel and basically call yourself a writer and get a press pass at some events.

Ultimately its up to the promoters I guess but for the smaller shows, they are probably grateful for the coverage.

[Counter-puncher]

I bet Danny Flexen will get a press pass

[dbf]

I bet Danny Flexen will get a press pass

The really purpose of this thread was for me to have a dig against my arch nemesis (in the battle of usernames) Danny Flexen.

[broomy7s]

This is the bird Kuggie bear hooked up with in America ain't it? Hardly a surprise.

[The Insider]

I'm sure it's all been pre arranged. If not she'll just let Kugie finger blast it and he'll open a fire exit for her on the quiet.

[danconnollyeire]

Saw on twitter that Michelle Phelps (retweeted by someone I follow), who has a small following on YT/Twitter for her BTG page has said she is coming over for Froch v Groves 2 and is expecting a press pass from Eddie. Now, I know she’s a big hit with the lads (some of them get a little weird and creepy) but does someone with her marginal following deserve a press pass at such a massive event when they are at a premium, over a more established website? To be fair she’s not dreadful but I think being a model has no doubt helped boost her popularity.

Would for example, BoxRec news get a pass for that fight? Would a writer from Eastside? I don’t know, I’m genuinely asking. I assume they will.

Just thought it was interesting that there is almost an expectation there. At what stage do you become 'big' enough to get on the press list?

It seems you can set up a website/blog/YT channel and basically call yourself a writer and get a press pass at some events.

Ultimately its up to the promoters I guess but for the smaller shows, they are probably grateful for the coverage.

A lot of the time you can blag it. A mate of mine started an indie music magazine. Very new, very small but had to top graphic designer design the website and quickly gathering fb likes and blagged 2 press passes to reading festival

[The Law]

It's very much 'who' you know rather than 'what' you know. It's all about networking and 'brown-nosing'. If you piss a promoter off with an article then you can potentially get banned from attending their shows as a member of the press (I've seen this happen on a few occasions). If I ever get declined for a press pass (which has happened with Hayemaker promotions) then I don't take it personally because I'm sure there are people who are more deserving than me.

[milpool]

If she's fit and would look good sat at ringside, it's more than likely that she'll get her pass and be sat amongst the cast of TOWIE, Danny Dyer and Barry from Eastenders.

[dbf]

It depends on the size of your site, existing relationship with the promotional outfit and your own standing. An event like this will see a surge of pass requests. The press officer will then have to prioritise the print publications, leading to gnashing of teeth when print writers who rarely show up to events get prime seats, and the Internet ones will be filtered out last—it’s the same on open press/training days. I rarely attend open press days. You’re told that one-to-ones will be made available for Internet writers, but I’ve been to a few where the fighter becomes bored quite early and it’s always the .coms who get told to f&ck off.

I’ve only ever been knocked back when there’s been a problem, or when the people who deal with PR for a firm send me to Coventry or misrepresent me, and when I’ve applied past the deadline date, which happens almost every single time I apply. I generally am accommodated, I was offered one for the first fight, but had already made plans and got someone else to cover for ‘Scene as he was having problems with a different publication request. The person who did it for us then joined a different site, fair dues (although he should have done a few articles for us as a repayment), but has since asked if he can apply for fight two for ‘Scene—that isn’t going to happen. I’ve lined someone up for the show, he does both print and online so I am optimistic that the application will be successful.

The only time ‘Scene’s had problems when applying for other writers is when someone went through the press list highlighting names that he recognised, our guy didn’t make the cut for that one. That one was a chicken and egg situation as our writer wasn’t allowed entry to the pre-fight press conferences, he had to phone a friend on the inside and ask him to vouch for him.

Passed and interviews tend to flow freely at the bottom to midway points of the ladder. Top-end interviews and events can be far more troublesome for Internet writers. There’s also plenty who have followed a fighter through the ranks only to hit problems once the fighter hits the “big time”.

A lot of worthwhile Internet writers will get the shaft on this one, some less worthy names will be cleared for passes due to better connections.

I have no sympathy for people who apply for their blogs, join a proper site instead.

Promotional outfits love you to push their smaller shows, but when they land a bit one that sells itself you’re going to be at the back of a long queue. It’s the nature of the beast.

Anyone who is already on Twitter bragging about bagging a pass is either deluded or is expecting a bit of nepotism/favouritism to kick in.

Great insight as always Terry. Good to know that Boxing Scene is well respected.

It is a shame if writers (regardless of format) invest a lot of time in a fighter in the early stages of their career and then get knocked back in the future. I feel for them. I don't feel for uppity blogs/youtubers who think its their right to attend these events. Thats not a slight at Michelle, just a comment about some of them in general.


Its east to fabricate a following sometimes and I think some do. But look at Ellie Sekback, no one could touch him for views in the states a few years back now the market is so saturated (for video coverage) his videos aren't as big hitting as they once were. But that goes back to your point that people should be looking to write/contribute to established sites.

Appreciate promoters will have favourites. Matchroom clearly have theirs, and its their show so they can do what they want.

[lefty]

This is the bird Kuggie bear hooked up with in America ain't it? Hardly a surprise.

fornicate off did he ... he's clearly in the friend zone.

[lefty]

It depends on the size of your site, existing relationship with the promotional outfit and your own standing. An event like this will see a surge of pass requests. The press officer will then have to prioritise the print publications, leading to gnashing of teeth when print writers who rarely show up to events get prime seats, and the Internet ones will be filtered out last—it’s the same on open press/training days. I rarely attend open press days. You’re told that one-to-ones will be made available for Internet writers, but I’ve been to a few where the fighter becomes bored quite early and it’s always the .coms who get told to f&ck off.

I’ve only ever been knocked back when there’s been a problem, or when the people who deal with PR for a firm send me to Coventry or misrepresent me, and when I’ve applied past the deadline date, which happens almost every single time I apply. I generally am accommodated, I was offered one for the first fight, but had already made plans and got someone else to cover for ‘Scene as he was having problems with a different publication request. The person who did it for us then joined a different site, fair dues (although he should have done a few articles for us as a repayment), but has since asked if he can apply for fight two for ‘Scene—that isn’t going to happen. I’ve lined someone up for the show, he does both print and online so I am optimistic that the application will be successful.

The only time ‘Scene’s had problems when applying for other writers is when someone went through the press list highlighting names that he recognised, our guy didn’t make the cut for that one. That one was a chicken and egg situation as our writer wasn’t allowed entry to the pre-fight press conferences, he had to phone a friend on the inside and ask him to vouch for him.

Passed and interviews tend to flow freely at the bottom to midway points of the ladder. Top-end interviews and events can be far more troublesome for Internet writers. There’s also plenty who have followed a fighter through the ranks only to hit problems once the fighter hits the “big time”.

A lot of worthwhile Internet writers will get the shaft on this one, some less worthy names will be cleared for passes due to better connections.

I have no sympathy for people who apply for their blogs, join a proper site instead.

Promotional outfits love you to push their smaller shows, but when they land a bit one that sells itself you’re going to be at the back of a long queue. It’s the nature of the beast.

Anyone who is already on Twitter bragging about bagging a pass is either deluded or is expecting a bit of nepotism/favouritism to kick in.

Great insight as always Terry. Good to know that Boxing Scene is well respected.

It is a shame if writers (regardless of format) invest a lot of time in a fighter in the early stages of their career and then get knocked back in the future. I feel for them. I don't feel for uppity blogs/youtubers who think its their right to attend these events. Thats not a slight at Michelle, just a comment about some of them in general.


Its east to fabricate a following sometimes and I think some do. But look at Ellie Sekback, no one could touch him for views in the states a few years back now the market is so saturated (for video coverage) his videos aren't as big hitting as they once were. But that goes back to your point that people should be looking to write/contribute to established sites.

Appreciate promoters will have favourites. Matchroom clearly have theirs, and its their show so they can do what they want.

Elie is still pretty powerful even if he is a clueless bufoon. He's definietly got an insiders track on the Robert Garcia camp for example.

[dbf]

It depends on the size of your site, existing relationship with the promotional outfit and your own standing. An event like this will see a surge of pass requests. The press officer will then have to prioritise the print publications, leading to gnashing of teeth when print writers who rarely show up to events get prime seats, and the Internet ones will be filtered out last—it’s the same on open press/training days. I rarely attend open press days. You’re told that one-to-ones will be made available for Internet writers, but I’ve been to a few where the fighter becomes bored quite early and it’s always the .coms who get told to f&ck off.

I’ve only ever been knocked back when there’s been a problem, or when the people who deal with PR for a firm send me to Coventry or misrepresent me, and when I’ve applied past the deadline date, which happens almost every single time I apply. I generally am accommodated, I was offered one for the first fight, but had already made plans and got someone else to cover for ‘Scene as he was having problems with a different publication request. The person who did it for us then joined a different site, fair dues (although he should have done a few articles for us as a repayment), but has since asked if he can apply for fight two for ‘Scene—that isn’t going to happen. I’ve lined someone up for the show, he does both print and online so I am optimistic that the application will be successful.

The only time ‘Scene’s had problems when applying for other writers is when someone went through the press list highlighting names that he recognised, our guy didn’t make the cut for that one. That one was a chicken and egg situation as our writer wasn’t allowed entry to the pre-fight press conferences, he had to phone a friend on the inside and ask him to vouch for him.

Passed and interviews tend to flow freely at the bottom to midway points of the ladder. Top-end interviews and events can be far more troublesome for Internet writers. There’s also plenty who have followed a fighter through the ranks only to hit problems once the fighter hits the “big time”.

A lot of worthwhile Internet writers will get the shaft on this one, some less worthy names will be cleared for passes due to better connections.

I have no sympathy for people who apply for their blogs, join a proper site instead.

Promotional outfits love you to push their smaller shows, but when they land a bit one that sells itself you’re going to be at the back of a long queue. It’s the nature of the beast.

Anyone who is already on Twitter bragging about bagging a pass is either deluded or is expecting a bit of nepotism/favouritism to kick in.

Great insight as always Terry. Good to know that Boxing Scene is well respected.

It is a shame if writers (regardless of format) invest a lot of time in a fighter in the early stages of their career and then get knocked back in the future. I feel for them. I don't feel for uppity blogs/youtubers who think its their right to attend these events. Thats not a slight at Michelle, just a comment about some of them in general.


Its east to fabricate a following sometimes and I think some do. But look at Ellie Sekback, no one could touch him for views in the states a few years back now the market is so saturated (for video coverage) his videos aren't as big hitting as they once were. But that goes back to your point that people should be looking to write/contribute to established sites.

Appreciate promoters will have favourites. Matchroom clearly have theirs, and its their show so they can do what they want.

Elie is still pretty powerful even if he is a clueless bufoon. He's definietly got an insiders track on the Robert Garcia camp for example.

Ellie > Ifilm = same result.

[lefty]

Great insight as always Terry. Good to know that Boxing Scene is well respected.

It is a shame if writers (regardless of format) invest a lot of time in a fighter in the early stages of their career and then get knocked back in the future. I feel for them. I don't feel for uppity blogs/youtubers who think its their right to attend these events. Thats not a slight at Michelle, just a comment about some of them in general.


Its east to fabricate a following sometimes and I think some do. But look at Ellie Sekback, no one could touch him for views in the states a few years back now the market is so saturated (for video coverage) his videos aren't as big hitting as they once were. But that goes back to your point that people should be looking to write/contribute to established sites.

Appreciate promoters will have favourites. Matchroom clearly have theirs, and its their show so they can do what they want.

Elie is still pretty powerful even if he is a clueless bufoon. He's definietly got an insiders track on the Robert Garcia camp for example.

I may have been on a radio show with him once. Does he look like George from Zippy and Bungle only with Himmler's glasses?

[lefty]

He looks like a mix between Pee Wee Herman and the mask from the poster for The Purge. I don't know him from Adam. He also looks like he's about to introduce Annie, a 21-year-old from Omaha who is enjoying her first day in the big city. She didn't know it got so hot and stuff in these studio lofts, is it OK if she removes her...

[lefty]

Jeff Bridges... great actor.

[Alba]

i have been a boxing blogger, enjoyed doing the interviews and it got people talking which at the time was what i was really wanting as i felt they wernt getting exposed ..not all bloggers are bad.

Anyway, i have dealt with requests for the prospect shows and we have been lucky to only get folk who write it . Some of the stories ive heard s had me in stiches including someone who runs a page and applied for there own pass and a photogropher pass for there wife. This wasent on our show ...

[broomy7s]

This is the bird Kuggie bear hooked up with in America ain't it? Hardly a surprise.

eff off did he ... he's clearly in the friend zone.

Kuggie hooked up with Michelle. (so what did they actually do? Did they meet at the park? Did they talk? or did they duke like viagra-injected rabbits? who knows...)