Showtime Boxing

[halfamill]

Is showtime heading in the same direction as HBO? The last televised bout was Garcia vs Porter. The next one that I see scheduled is Davis vs Mares. That's 5 months without boxing (not counting Friday night Shobox). Is it worth being subscribed to Showtime anymore?

[Ruthless-RKO]

Is showtime heading in the same direction as HBO? The last televised bout was Garcia vs Porter. The next one that I see scheduled is Davis vs Mares. That's 5 months without boxing (not counting Friday night Shobox). Is it worth being subscribed to Showtime anymore?

Looks like PBC are sharing the load to FOX as well. Hopefully they distribute evenly.

[halfamill]

So by the time Wilder vs Breazele arrives we will of had Davis vs Ruiz, Lara vs Castano, and Shields vs Hammer in a span of 8 months. Is Showtime still worth it for boxing?

[The Asleep Lamps]

It looks like they have about a dozen showcase bouts a year but there was nothing in October, November and December 2018, and January 2019 featured PPV bouts. So hopefully things pick up and this isn't the shape of things to come.

[marvelous marv]

The schedule is light in the fall to avoid conflicts with American football.

[Best Coast]

The schedule is light in the fall to avoid conflicts with American football.

Good point!! We often forget that...

[Andrew]

Will be out of boxing by the end of 2020

[Enlightened-One]

Since the Garcia-Porter bout (8th September, 2018), Showtime have covered or will be covering the following events:

• 1st December, 2018: Wilder-Fury
• 19th January, 2019: Pacquiao-Broner
• 9th February, 2019: Davis-Ruiz
• 2nd March, 2019: Lara-Castano
• 5th April, 2019: Martinez-Moralde
• 13th April, 2019: Shields-Hammer
• 18th May, 2019: Wilder-Breazeale

If we review the same boxing schedule listed on the Showtime website from this time last year (i.e. 24th March, 2018), you’ll notice that it only had the following fights lined-up:

• 31st March, 2018: Joshua-Parker
• 7th April, 2018: Lara-Hurd
• 21st April, 2018: Broner-Vargas

However, we know for certain that Showtime actually covered many more fights, such as:

• 28th July, 2018: Garcia-Easter
• 16th June, 2018: Spence-Ocampo
• 9th June, 2018: Cruz-Mares II
• 19th May, 2018: Stevenson-Jack
• 8th September, 2018: Garcia-Porter

There might have been a few bouts that I inadvertently excluded, but the point I’m making is that the Showtime schedule seems fairly consistent in nature year-on-year, but they don’t often televise bouts during Autumn.

The Showtime schedule also seems to only cover a very short horizon, which means that just because their website doesn’t list many bouts, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they won’t cover more.

We know for certain that Showtime’s three-year deal with the PBC only covers 12 events annually and there's no reason to expect more than that.

On the 24th September, 2018, Stephen Espinoza claimed that Showtime will invest more money during 2019 than they did for 2018, which is amazing considering they’ve been involved in the sport for more than 30 years.

Is it possible that Showtime will eventually cease to cover boxing? Yes, but there’s no evidence of it and this scenario is unlikely to happen prior to August 2021.

Is it possible that DAZN and ESPN will overtake Showtime in terms of the quality and the frequency of events covered? This is very likely to happen in the short-term, but this doesn’t indicate Showtime’s demise and the long-term trend may look completely different.

[halfamill]

Non PPV and Showbox Fights covered from September 9 2017 - May 18 are 2018 are
Lara vs Gashua
Joshua vs Takam
Wilder vs Stiverne
Spence vs Peterson
Garcia vs Rios
Wilder vs Ortiz
Garcia vs Lipinets
Joshua vs Parker
Lara vs Hurd
Broner vs Vargas

Fighters covered from September 9 2018 - May 18 2019 are
Davis vs Ruiz
Lara vs Castano
Shields vs Hammer
Wilder vs Breazeale

[Enlightened-One]

Non PPV and Showbox Fights covered from September 9 2017 - May 18 are 2018 are
Lara vs Gashua
Joshua vs Takam
Wilder vs Stiverne
Spence vs Peterson
Garcia vs Rios
Wilder vs Ortiz
Garcia vs Lipinets
Joshua vs Parker
Lara vs Hurd
Broner vs Vargas

Fighters covered from September 9 2018 - May 18 2019 are
Davis vs Ruiz
Lara vs Castano
Shields vs Hammer
Wilder vs Breazeale

I can understand your thoughts questioning whether it’s worthwhile subscribing to Showtime, but the other things you’ve said are rather dubious in nature.

You're excluding the ShoBox event scheduled for the 5th April and you've also failed to check that Showtime has a proven track-record of only listing a few events in their schedule at any point in time, as detailed in my post above. And why are you excluding PPV's also, such as the events I've already mentioned?

Showtime are committed to covering 12 PBC events per year until 2021. We're only in March and we already know of six of them for 2019.

There's no evidence of Showtime leaving the sport of boxing. It might happen at some point in the future, but there's currently no proof that it'll happen imminently.

The only people speculating about Showtime boxing's demise are Bob Arum and Eddie Hearn, but these guys are boxing content providers for rival networks.

It’s a personal choice as to whether Showtime boxing is worth subscribing to, but there’s no indication that it’s following HBO’s destiny and your list of their events for 2018/19 is technically incorrect.

[halfamill]

Non PPV and Showbox Fights covered from September 9 2017 - May 18 are 2018 are
Lara vs Gashua
Joshua vs Takam
Wilder vs Stiverne
Spence vs Peterson
Garcia vs Rios
Wilder vs Ortiz
Garcia vs Lipinets
Joshua vs Parker
Lara vs Hurd
Broner vs Vargas

Fighters covered from September 9 2018 - May 18 2019 are
Davis vs Ruiz
Lara vs Castano
Shields vs Hammer
Wilder vs Breazeale

I can understand your thoughts questioning whether it’s worthwhile subscribing to Showtime, but the other things you’ve said are rather dubious in nature.

You're excluding the ShoBox event scheduled for the 5th April and you've also failed to check that Showtime has a proven track-record of only listing a few events in their schedule at any point in time, as detailed in my post above. And why are you excluding PPV's also, such as the events I've already mentioned?

Showtime are committed to covering 12 PBC events per year until 2021. We're only in March and we already know of six of them for 2019.

There's no evidence of Showtime leaving the sport of boxing. It might happen at some point in the future, but there's currently no proof that it'll happen imminently.

The only people speculating about Showtime boxing's demise are Bob Arum and Eddie Hearn, but these guys are boxing content providers for rival networks.

It’s a personal choice as to whether Showtime boxing is worth subscribing to, but there’s no indication that it’s following HBO’s destiny and your list of their events for 2018/19 is technically incorrect.

I didn't fail to mention ShoBox and PPV fights, I intentionally left them out, as you can tell in the original post. Were subscribers able to enjoy Pacquiao/Broner and Fury/Wilder live on Showtime? If so then my mistake. There's no denying that the amount of Showtime Championship boxing fights is half of what it was in that time period. This isn't an attack towards Showtime I'm just hoping they pick it up.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Let’s not forget Fox is sharing PBC cards now too.

The card tonight would have been on showtime if PBC didn’t do a deal with Fox.

It’s good with Fox, comes more exposure.

[Enlightened-One]

.

[Enlightened-One]

Non PPV and Showbox Fights covered from September 9 2017 - May 18 are 2018 are
Lara vs Gashua
Joshua vs Takam
Wilder vs Stiverne
Spence vs Peterson
Garcia vs Rios
Wilder vs Ortiz
Garcia vs Lipinets
Joshua vs Parker
Lara vs Hurd
Broner vs Vargas

Fighters covered from September 9 2018 - May 18 2019 are
Davis vs Ruiz
Lara vs Castano
Shields vs Hammer
Wilder vs Breazeale

I can understand your thoughts questioning whether it’s worthwhile subscribing to Showtime, but the other things you’ve said are rather dubious in nature.

You're excluding the ShoBox event scheduled for the 5th April and you've also failed to check that Showtime has a proven track-record of only listing a few events in their schedule at any point in time, as detailed in my post above. And why are you excluding PPV's also, such as the events I've already mentioned?

Showtime are committed to covering 12 PBC events per year until 2021. We're only in March and we already know of six of them for 2019.

There's no evidence of Showtime leaving the sport of boxing. It might happen at some point in the future, but there's currently no proof that it'll happen imminently.

The only people speculating about Showtime boxing's demise are Bob Arum and Eddie Hearn, but these guys are boxing content providers for rival networks.

It’s a personal choice as to whether Showtime boxing is worth subscribing to, but there’s no indication that it’s following HBO’s destiny and your list of their events for 2018/19 is technically incorrect.

I didn't fail to mention ShoBox and PPV fights, I intentionally left them out, as you can tell in the original post. Were subscribers able to enjoy Pacquiao/Broner and Fury/Wilder live on Showtime? If so then my mistake. There's no denying that the amount of Showtime Championship boxing fights is half of what it was in that time period. This isn't an attack towards Showtime I'm just hoping they pick it up.

I did say that I understood your thoughts about questioning whether it’s worthwhile subscribing to Showtime.

I just feel that there isn’t enough (or even any) evidence to suggest that Showtime is departing the sport like HBO did.

[The Asleep Lamps]

I can see someone maybe making the move from Showtime to DAZN (or vice versa) if they don't want to spend more of their money on boxing. So I think it is valid to talk about where is the best place(s) to spend our money, and get the most bang for our buck. It is good to make a science out of it. I go to the BS's schedule where you can compare cards by channel.

[jas80s]

I'm always torn on this one. As a fight fan, I definitely want to see fighters get paid. On the other hand, I want a certain level of economic failure because boxing is being priced out of existence. There is so much money out there that fighters simply don't need to take tough fights and providers (networks, promoters, managers..) don't seem like they have to provide competitive match ups on anything other than a most occasional basis. A hitting of rock bottom might just produce a change that is badly needed.

So I say, if the schedule looks weak? Hell yes, cancel that sh-t immediately! Show them they need to step up because you aren't shelling out for crap!

Just my opinion.

[Impractical Poster]

I foresee all sports heading the streaming way. DAZN and ESPN+ are starting to pick up all the major combat sporting promotions and plugging them on their streaming platforms. Cable TV, as we know it now, is on it's way out.

[oogiebe]

I foresee all sports heading the streaming way. DAZN and ESPN+ are starting to pick up all the major combat sporting promotions and plugging them on their streaming platforms. Cable TV, as we know it now, is on it's way out.

The only problem is high speed internet access, which only the cable companies can provide. Your phone as a hot spot can't go that fast. Unless I'm missing something, please let me know, because I hate cable!!!!

[Impractical Poster]

I foresee all sports heading the streaming way. DAZN and ESPN+ are starting to pick up all the major combat sporting promotions and plugging them on their streaming platforms. Cable TV, as we know it now, is on it's way out.

The only problem is high speed internet access, which only the cable companies can provide. Your phone as a hot spot can't go that fast. Unless I'm missing something, please let me know, because I hate cable!!!!

Right. The cable companies will and do offer the internet services. But, pretty soon cable TV, as in tv packages in the form we get it now will be obsolete. It looks like a streaming box, like roku, is taking the place of the traditional cable box. And instead of buying a TV package, we are getting more and more options for a la carte programming.

Anymore, I am watching TV on my phone using unlimited cellular data. I have cable internet that the family uses for the desktop and tv streaming. But, using a hotspot for all needs isn't that crazy. Not as reliable or fast as a home modem connection. But, these things are only going to get faster.