BoxRec

https://fightnews.com/wilder-ortiz-2-on-fox-ppv/55860

The November 23 rematch between WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder and Luis Ortiz will land on Fox PPV. Showtime has invested heavily in Wilder, carrying the Bronze Bomber’s last four fights and seven of his ten world championship fights overall. But Fox PPV, which is also distributing this weekend’s Spence-Porter PPV, locked up Wilder-Ortiz 2 when Showtime pulled out of negotiations.

Deontay Wilder’s Championship Fights
Dominic Breazeale (Showtime)
Tyson Fury (Showtime PPV)
Luis Ortiz (Showtime)
Bermane Stiverne (Showtime)
Gerald Washington (Fox)
Chris Arreola (Fox)
Artur Szpilka (Showtime)
Johann Duhaupas (NBC)
Eric Molina (Showtime)
Bermane Stiverne (Showtime)

Espinoza said something like Showtime couldn't justify it as a PPV.

Fox may do decent numbers. The build up shows for Spence-Porter has been averaging 1 mil viewers each time and they getting good slots.

“We had the opportunity to distribute the pay-per-view, but the deal didn’t make sense for us,” Espinoza told Boxing Scene on Tuesday. “Obviously, we love Deontay Wilder and we believe Wilder-Ortiz will be an exciting fight. But we’re not gonna take disproportionate risks in order to secure it. We know the boxing market has been undergoing significant change, but that’s not unprecedented. Over the years, we’ve seen a lot of newcomers enter the sport and try to change the marketplace. But we were here before that, we will be here after that and continue to thrive by making smart, strategic choices at the right times.”

“Whether it’s sports or entertainment, there are times when you have to pass on a certain deal – whether it’s a film or TV series or sports rights,” Espinoza said. “And sometimes the best deals are the ones you don’t make. That can be disappointing, when you have to let a fight go somewhere else, but that’s the nature of the beast. We’re disappointed, of course, because of our long relationship with Deontay. But we’ll continue to focus on delivering the best boxing on TV for subscribers and delivering, when the time is right, the sport’s biggest pay-per-views, like we’ve been doing.”

Espinoza declined to discuss the possibility of Showtime distributing the Wilder-Fury rematch along with ESPN, with which Fury has an exclusive deal. He did assure anyone predicting Showtime’s demise in the boxing business that the network remains firmly committed to televising the sport.

With money freed up that would’ve gone to marketing, production and other costs involved in distributing a Wilder-Ortiz rematch, Showtime will now offer an additional “Showtime Championship Boxing” broadcast before the end of what has been a challenging 2019 for the network.

The date for that third “Showtime Championship Boxing” telecast hasn’t been determined. Showtime already has such shows scheduled for October 26 and December 7.

Including “ShoBox: The New Generation” and “Showtime Special Edition” broadcasts, Showtime will air seven boxing shows within the final three months of this year.

“We’ve been in this sport a long time,” Espinoza said. “We understand this sport as well as anyone. We have the best production. We have the strongest announcer team. We know the business and we know how to make the biggest fights, and we’ve done more of the sport’s biggest fights than anyone else. And we didn’t become the industry leader and the sport’s longest-running platform by taking forced risks. We became the industry leader by making smart business decisions and smart strategic decisions. That’s what [the Wilder-Ortiz rematch] outcome was, a principled strategic decision for the long-term strategy of Showtime boxing.”


https://tinyurl.com/wilderortizppvno

PPV for less interesting version of a fight 'free' on Showtime

margaret thatcher wrote: ↑26 Sep 2019, 07:32 PPV for less interesting version of a fight 'free' on Showtime

Exactly this.
But it must be irritating for Showtime. The groundwork they put in. All the empty talk of loyalty

Used to be promoters were the ones at risk for ppv shows. Showtime made the right move, this will lose money and the fury fights will lose much more.