Arum Defends Viewership Numbers For Top Rank's ESPN Shows In June

[Ruthless-RKO]

Arum Defends Viewership Numbers For Top Rank's ESPN Shows In June

Bob Arum isn’t as disappointed as some people invested in boxing over viewership figures from the shows his promotional company has provided ESPN during the past two weeks.

With few live sporting events televised this month due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many industry insiders expected ESPN’s viewership to be higher for boxing shows the network has aired live on Tuesday nights and Thursday nights since June 9 from MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas. More people are home during the pandemic, which theoretically expands ESPN’s viewership potential, but boxing fans’ most common complaint has been the quality of fights ESPN has aired in its four telecasts thus far.

According to Nielsen Media Research, the highest peak audience ESPN has attracted was the 609,000 who tuned in toward the end of the Shakur Stevenson’s sixth-round knockout of Felix Caraballo on June 9. Stevenson-Caraballo, a junior lightweight fight before which the unbeaten Stevenson was listed as a 100-1 favorite, was boxing’s first televised main event from the United States since March 13.

The average audience for that show was 397,000, the highest average of the four Top Rank cards ESPN has aired the past two weeks.

Viewership dipped significantly for ESPN’s second main event June 11, as a peak audience of 392,000 watched Jessie Magdaleno’s 10th-round disqualification victory over Yenifel Vicente in a 10-round junior lightweight bout. That show drew an average audience of 311,000.

Viewership went back up for ESPN’s subsequent broadcast, which was headlined by Mike Plania’s 10-round, majority-decision upset of Joshua Greer Jr. in a junior featherweight fight June 16. Peak and average viewership for that five-fight telecast was 503,000 and 350,000, respectively.

“The ratings I thought were very good for the first show,” Arum told BS.com. “For the second show, not so good. For the third, the numbers were pretty good. But again, the ratings with an ESPN show does not tell the whole story because not included in those ratings are ESPN Deportes, which probably does at least half, if not 60 percent of the [viewership] that ESPN does. All of ESPN Deportes’ audience is Hispanic, and a lot of them choose to listen [in Spanish] and watch on ESPN Deportes.

“Secondly, unlike a Showtime show and unlike even a FOX show, the number of people who watch ESPN in bars and restaurants is enormous. You go into many bars and restaurants – not high-end restaurants, but, you know, good restaurants – they always have ESPN on. And therefore, hundreds of thousands of people are watching the fights in bars and restaurants. So, the fact that number of people who are watching on ESPN through Nielsen appears sort of low, it doesn’t account for people who watch outside of their homes, away from their televisions sets.”

Many bars and restaurants in the U.S. remain closed for indoor dining and drinking.

ESPN’s fourth Top Rank show of June worsened Thursday, when the main event – a 10-round junior welterweight bout between Jose Pedraza and Mikkel LesPierre – was postponed the morning of the card because LesPierre’s manager, Josie Taveras, tested positive for COVID-19. Junior lightweight prospect Gabe Flores, who easily out-pointed Josec Ruiz in what was supposed to be the 10-round, co-featured fight, helped produce a peak audience of 382,000 for a five-fight show that averaged 305,000 viewers.

Broadcasting lower-level undercard fights during three-hour and four-hour shows hasn’t helped maintain audiences, either. ESPN has aired entire cards because its executives want any live sports programming it can offer its roughly 85 million subscribers in the United States.

“These undercard guys who used to go on before people even started filing into an arena, now you’re seeing them on TV, for better or for worse,” Arum said. “I find it fascinating.”

Arum also acknowledged the difficulties his matchmakers, Bruce Trampler and Brad Goodman, had finalizing fights because so many boxers have been unable to train properly. Top Rank also has been limited mostly to boxers who live or at least train in the United States and Puerto Rico while making matches due to coronavirus-related travel restrictions for fighters who would need to enter the U.S. from foreign countries.

“When we first kicked this off, Bruce and Brad were having terrible problems trying to make fights,” Arum said. “They’d call up managers from all over and they said, ‘Oh, we’d love to be on the show. But our fighters aren’t ready. They haven’t been in the gym.’ I mean, that is the reason why it’s been so difficult, because a lot of these kids were locked down, they couldn’t get into a gym, there were no gyms open and that sort of stuff. So, to make matches in that sort of environment is really a hell of a lot of work. People ask, ‘How come they weren’t matched with better opponents?’ Well, there weren’t any better opponents.”

ESPN will air another Top Rank card Tuesday night. Australia’s Andrew Moloney (21-0, 14 KOs) will defend his WBA world super flyweight title against San Antonio’s Joshua Franco (16-1-2, 8 KOs) in the main event of a five-fight telecast set to start at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.

[SportsRatings]

Was that the show Dana White said lost to a "cornhole" tournament in terms of ratings?

[Ruthless-RKO]

Was that the show Dana White said lost to a "cornhole" tournament in terms of ratings?

I believe so.

[Jeff_lacy_ko]

Hahaha bars and restaurants are booming eh bob?

[Ruthless-RKO]

ESPN Show Peaked At 390,000 Viewers, Averaged 310,000

ESPN televised a much more compelling main event Tuesday night, but viewership was only slightly higher than it was for its previous boxing broadcast on a weeknight.

Nielsen Media Research revealed Wednesday that the network’s three-hour, 31-minute telecast Tuesday night was watched by an average of 310,000 viewers. The peak audience of 390,000 tuned in toward the conclusion of the main event, Joshua Franco’s upset of Andrew Moloney in their 12-round, 115-pound title fight at MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas.

ESPN’s previous weeknight show, which aired Thursday night from MGM Grand Conference Center, attracted a peak audience of 382,000 and an average audience of 305,000.

The main event of Thursday’s card, Gabe Flores Jr.’s easy victory over Josec Ruiz, was supposed to open ESPN’s five-fight broadcast. Their 10-round lightweight bout was elevated to the main event Thursday morning because the Jose Pedraza-Mikkel LesPierre bout was postponed once LesPierre’s manager, Josie Taveras, testing positive for COVID-19.

The 10-round junior welterweight battle between Puerto Rico’s Pedraza (26-3, 13 KOs) and Brooklyn’s LesPierre (22-1-1, 10 KOs) has been rescheduled for July 2 at MGM Grand Conference Center.

Pedraza and LesPierre will have a tough time matching the type of entertainment Franco and Moloney produced during their WBA world super flyweight title fight. San Antonio’s Franco (17-1-2, 8 KOs) overcame a slow start, took complete control in the final four rounds and scored an 11th-round knockdown on his way to winning a majority decision over Australia’s Moloney (21-1, 14 KOs).

In the co-featured fight of ESPN’s four-bout broadcast, Puerto Rican featherweight Christopher Diaz (26-2, 16 KOs) out-boxed Jason Sanchez (15-1, 8 KOs), of Albuquerque, New Mexico, to win a 10-round unanimous decision.

ESPN will televise live boxing again Thursday night, starting at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.

Australia’s Jason Moloney (20-1, 17 KOs), Andrew’s twin brother, will meet Mexico’s Leonardo Baez (18-2, 9 KOs, 1 NC) in the main event, a 10-round bantamweight bout. The six-bout broadcast also will include a 10-round lightweight bout in which Abraham Nova (18-0, 14 KOs), of Albany, New York, will face Philadelphia’s Avery Sparrow (10-1, 3 KOs, 1 NC).

[Ruthless-RKO]

Moloney-Baez ESPN Telecast Peaked At 430K Viewers, Averaged 345K

More viewers tuned in for Jason Moloney’s big win in Las Vegas than was the case for the first career loss suffered by his twin brother in the same right two nights earlier.

The June 25 edition of Top Rank Boxing on ESPN averaged 345,000 viewers over the course of the six-fight, three-plus hour telecast according to Nielsen Media Research. Thursday’s show reached a peak audience of 430,000 viewers, coming at the 11:15-11:30pm ET block which coincided with the main event.

Australia’s Moloney (21-1, 18KOs) stopped Mexico’s Leonardo Baez (19-3-2, 7KOs) after seven rounds of entertaining bantamweight action in the evening’s headliner at MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas. The win marked Moloney’s second fight in the United States, though the first win on American soil for anyone in his family. The top-rated bantamweight contender came up just short versus then-unbeaten 118-pound titlist Emmanuel Rodriguez in their October 2018 thriller in Orlando, Florida.

For Moloney, family glory was restored two nights after his twin brother Andrew Moloney came up well short in his U.S. debut. Andrew saw his unbeaten record and 115-pound title go in a 12-round defeat to San Antonio’s Joshua Franco, also leaving him with two perforated eardrums and considerable facial cuts and bruises. The bout also headlined an ESPN show, averaging just 310,000 viewers and hitting a peak audience of 390,000 toward the conclusion of the telecast.

ESPN has now presented six shows from Las Vegas behind closed doors along with one from Mexico City, beginning with the series’ June 9 premiere which averaged 397,000 viewers. The June 25 show posted the third-highest rating and the most favorable of the last four telecasts. It also lands above the current seven-event series average of 335,000 viewers.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Hearn: Ratings Produced By ESPN/Top Rank Shows Horrible For The Sport

Eddie Hearn thinks the viewership figures from Top Rank’s ESPN shows in June are bad for the boxing business overall.

The British promoter pointed to the level of fights Top Rank has put together the past three weeks as the primary reason more viewers haven’t watched consistently. The first of six Top Rank cards ESPN has aired on weeknights since June 9 from Las Vegas drew the highest viewership, a peak audience of 609,000 during Shakur Stevenson’s sixth-round knockout of Felix Caraballo in the main event and an average audience of 397,000.

ESPN’s following five weeknight broadcasts each drew lower peak and average viewership than the Stevenson-Caraballo card. That’s troublesome, according to what Hearn stated during a recent appearance on “The Ak And Barak Show,” which streams daily on DAZN and SiriusXM.

“You’re seeing a little bit of boxing back right now,” Hearn said. “The content is not good enough. And you’re seeing that being reflected in the ratings. You know, Top Rank and ESPN shows are running non-competitive fights and a lot of the times with fighters that don’t have significant profiles. You’ve only gotta look at the ratings that are being produced by ESPN and Top Rank – it’s horrible for the sport. It’s giving people an excuse to say, ‘Boxing’s dead!’ Boxing’s not dead, when you get the product right. And when we come back, we’ve gotta make sure we get the product right.”

Promoter Bob Arum told BS.com recently that Nielsen Media Research’s viewership figures for Top Rank’s ESPN shows in June are deceptively lower than some might’ve expected because viewers from ESPN Deportes aren’t counted among Nielsen’s totals and less bars and restaurants are open in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic, which results in fewer viewers of ESPN. Arum also noted that it has been difficult to make more competitive bouts due to budget and travel restrictions, as well as availability among fighters who haven’t been able to train properly.

Maintaining audiences for three-hour and four-hour telecasts also has been challenging for ESPN because the network is airing Top Rank’s entire cards. Some of those dull undercard encounters haven’t included even one contender or prospect.

Hearn conceded that there are more matchmaking issues during the pandemic, yet he still feels Top Rank and ESPN should be offering better boxing. Hearn believes his company, Matchroom Boxing, has put together more evenly matched, intriguing fights for its upcoming “Fight Camp” series on Sky Sports, which was announced Friday

“My thoughts are that you can’t have A-level guys against A-level guys at the moment, with no gate,” Hearn said. “Financially, it’s impossible. But what you’ve got to have is you’ve got to have your B-level guys against your B-level guys, your C-level guys against your C-level guys. And if you manage to throw in an A-level guy, at least make him against a B-level guy. And what you saw in your first show – and by the way, this isn’t just a problem for Top Rank, because it’s very difficult. You know, on one hand, you wanna get Shakur Stevenson out, right? Because he’s a good talent, could be a big future Hall-of-Famer even. But you haven’t got a budget to give him a decent opponent. So, you don’t even get him an A, B or C. You get him a D or an E, no disrespect to the opponent.

“But all of a sudden, you’ve got a one-sided fight, with no fans in the arena, no atmosphere. How do you think that’s gonna translate as a TV product? The answer? Poorly. So, one, you’ve gotta try and build this vision of a show, and that’s why we’re doing our stuff outdoors [on the grounds of Matchroom’s headquarters], just something completely different. But secondly, the fans right now, I don’t even feel like the fans are expecting a great deal. Just give ‘em great fights. That’s it, you know? And I think that’s what we’re gonna be trying to do.”

[gilgamesh]

I mean for the most part the cards have been competitively matched. They just haven't featured major names in the sport.

This has only been going on for what? 3 or 4 weeks, and we've already seen 2 of the Main Eventers upset. So you definitely can't say they're all showcase fights.

[Ruthless-RKO]

A time-marking ring appearance by Miguel Berchelt along with a strong combat sports lead-in helped ESPN produce its most favorable ranking for a boxing telecast during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The reigning junior lightweight titlist from Merida, Mexico moved up in weight for a non-title showcase headliner versus countryman Eleazar Valenzuela (21-14-4, 16KOs). The bout topped the June 27 special edition of Top Rank Boxing on ESPN, live from a closed-doors TV Azteca studio lot in Mexico City with the telecast averaging 416,000 viewers according to Nielsen Media Research.

Saturday’s card reached a peak viewing audience of 793,000, which came right at the start of the telecast at 11:43pm ET. The overall telecast average is an improvement from the same location one week prior, when reigning 122-pound titlist Emanuel Navarrete scored a 6th round stoppage of Uriel Lopez in a non-title fight which averaged 327,000 viewers. The June 20 event peaked at 808,000 viewers, most of which lingered from a preceding UFC Fight Night card and very few of whom stuck around for the main event.

The live feed was picked up 43 minutes after its originally scheduled 11:00pm ET start time, due to a lead-in UFC Fight Night card running long. Two preliminary bouts on the Mexico City card failed to make the broadcast as a result, though viewers had to be content with what ran its in place.

The latest installment of UFC Fight Night—which aired live from Las Vegas—was headlined by Dustin Poirier’s unanimous decision win over Dan Hooker in one of the best fights to take place in any combat sports capacity in 2020. The five-round war anchored the 163-minute main card telecast which averaged 1,070,000 viewers.

For the second straight week, however, the opening bout of the trailing boxing telecast carried far more viewers than the main event. By the time Berchelt (38-1, 34KOs) made his way to the ring, the televised audience was reduced by more than half as 381,000 viewers remained locked in for the start of the main event, dropping to an average of 349,000 viewers over the course of his latest victory.

Unbeaten featherweight titlist Shakur Stevenson headlined the June 9 inaugural edition of Top Rank’s closed-doors summer series in Las Vegas, with the show averaging 397,000 viewers and a peak viewing audience of 609,000 coming at the time of Stevenson’s 6th round knockout of Felix Caraballo in their non-title fight.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Pedraza-LesPierre ESPN Telecast Peaks At 448K Viewers, Averaged 350K

Jose Pedraza breathed new life into his career atop a card which provided ESPN with its best rating for a boxing telecast in nearly a month.

The July 2 edition of Top Rank Boxing on ESPN averaged 350,000 viewers over the course of the five-fight, three-plus hour telecast according to Nielsen Media Research. Thursday’s show reached a peak audience of 448,000 viewers, coming at the 10:45-11:00pm ET block which coincided with the heart of the 10-round main event.

Puerto Rico’s Pedraza (27-3, 13KOs) scored two knockdowns en route to a dominant unanimous decision win over Brooklyn-based former title challenger Mikkel LesPierre in the evening’s headliner at MGM Grand Conference Center (‘The Bubble’) in Las Vegas. The win was the first for Pedraza in more than a year, when the former two-division titlist stopped Mexico’s Antonio Lozada in nine rounds last May in Kissimmee, Florida.

As far as ratings go, Pedraza's win proved to be worth the wait. The overall telecast average marked more than a 17% improvement from its preceding show, where Alex Saucedo’s 10-round win over Sonny Fredrickson topped a four-fight card averaging just 298,000 viewers.

Additionally, it provided the best performing Thursday night telecast since Top Rank began its closed-doors ‘Bubble’ series in June. The telecast average matches the second-best overall weeknight performance, bested only by the June 9 series debut—topped by unbeaten featherweight titlist Shakur Stevenson in a 5th round knockout of Puerto Rico’s Felix Caraballo—which played to a 397,000 viewership average, peaking at 609,000.

Philippines' Mike Plania scored a 10-round upset over Chicago's Joshua Greer atop a June 16 show which also averaged 350,000 viewers.

The July 2 show also lands just north of the overall series average to date. The card marked the 10th show to air live on ESPN, which has carried four each shows on Tuesday and Thursday from Las Vegas along with two Saturday shows live from Mexico City, which now average 340,900 viewers including last Thursday’s show.

The Saturday cards have been aided by strong lead-ins from UFC, in turn boasting high peaks but its overall average skewered as viewership (327,000 on June 20, 416,000 on June 27) has rapidly declined over the course of each telecast.

[jujigatame]

I mean what were they expecting? These are mostly bottom of the barrel trash matchups. Moloney vs. Franco was the only particularly compelling one and how many people even knew it was on?

Maybe instead of giving us this embarrassingly transparent spin attempt, Bob should take a note from the UFC and actually try to give us at least 1 compelling fight each week.

[world ranked]

Don't really care about who else watching. Boxing will always be niche. We care so much about who's watching. Personally don't care.

[margaret thatcher]

Good fight between Vences and Lopez here

[margaret thatcher]

lol dre

[margaret thatcher]

Where is best coast to jizz about the fact that Ruben Villa beat that dude

[margaret thatcher]

Fights been decent tonight, an upset and a prospect getting a scare

[Ruthless-RKO]

Top Rank Boxing on ESPN Tuesday night drew 318,000 viewers according to Nielsen via ShowBuzz Daily.

The event featured Jose Zepeda and Kendo Castaneda with Zepeda getting the Unanimous Decision from the MGM Grand Bubble in Las Vegas.

After nine events upon its return to live action the average on ESPN is 330,000 viewers.

[Ruthless-RKO]

[jujigatame]

It's a shame because to some extent it demonstrates that quality of matchups doesn't really matter that much with respect to ratings.

[Ruthless-RKO]

It's a shame because to some extent it demonstrates that quality of matchups doesn't really matter that much with respect to ratings.

Some of the fights have been good, but there has just been no appeal.

You don’t really know if a fight is gonna be good until you’re actually watching it.

Let’s see how FOX fairs when they air James-Dulorme.

[jujigatame]

I don't totally agree with the "you don't know what a good fight is until you're watching it" sentiment.

I judge whether a fight is worth watching by the stature of the fighters and how evenly matched the fight is, and I was under the impression most boxing fans do the same. But maybe these numbers show that's not entirely the case, and that some boxing fans will watch any boxing on TV, and some will only watch ultra-elite high profile matchups, and there aren't as many folks in between as I thought.

[Ruthless-RKO]

I don't totally agree with the "you don't know what a good fight is until you're watching it" sentiment.

I judge whether a fight is worth watching by the stature of the fighters and how evenly matched the fight is, and I was under the impression most boxing fans do the same. But maybe these numbers show that's not entirely the case, and that some boxing fans will watch any boxing on TV, and some will only watch ultra-elite high profile matchups, and there aren't as many folks in between as I thought.

What I meant was, Just because a fight does low views, doesn’t mean it’s a crap fight.

But I understand what you mean. Some fans will want to watch the better names.

[Ruthless-RKO]

The heavyweight-headlined July 9 edition of Top Rank Boxing on ESPN averaged 299,000 viewers over the course of the two-hour, forty-seven minute telecast, according to Nielsen Media Research. The four-fight card reached a peak audience of 344,000 viewers, which came at the 10:15pm-10:29pm ET block during the headlining act which saw Cameroon’s Takam (39-5-1, 28KOs) score a 10-round decision over Forrest live on ESPN from the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas.

From Boxing Scene

[Ruthless-RKO]

[jujigatame]

So Berchelt crushing a can gets the best ratings of them all, while a real high-level competitive matchup in Moloney/Franco gets one of the worst.

No me gusta.