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Why Al Haymon is Killing The Old Guard Of Boxing
By BT 1 on 17 June 2015
by Paul Magno
If the business of acquiring TV outlets for boxing were a prizefight, Al Haymon would've TKO'd the entire rest of the boxing industry after three one-sided rounds.
Most recently, Fox Sports 1 has announced that they will not be renewing their contract with Golden Boy after it runs out at the end of this month. In its place will be Haymon's Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) series. Fox will add itself to a growing list of PBC media outlets that includes NBC, CBS, ABC, Spike TV, ESPN, Showtime, and Bounce TV.
With the exception of HBO, everyone that would broadcast boxing is deciding to align themselves with Haymon...and the question is why.
Like him or not, trust him or not, Al Haymon is a man of unique talents. An Ivy League-educated businessman, he speaks the language of corporate suits who run the entertainment business. With his charts and graphs and five and ten year business plans, he gives executives something they can understand and consider. By creating the PBC brand, he has created in essence a league that he can market, which is bigger than any one of the individual names involved. The networks want long term investments, not hot property bouts and fights in the short term that may or may not pan out.
And as adept as he is with the corporate types, he can just as easily navigate in the hustler's world of big-time professional boxing. His rise to power is a blueprint for how an outsider can come to rule the roost by exploiting the hustles and cons inherent in the system.
He is also a guy who has a reputation among associates of keeping his word when it comes to business deals. While recently speaking to a member of Haymon Boxing's inner circle (who preferred not to speak on the record), it was assured to me that, at least so far, Haymon's word has been his bond and that from punctuality to paychecks, he has been 100% trustworthy.
Of course, this is a big difference from the circus ringleader mentality many old school boxing promoters tend to radiate. To corporate America, and to the execs making money decisions for TV time, the typical boxing promoter comes off as less than reliable and sometimes downright sleazy. It's no secret why HBO and Showtime have been the only real media outlets willing to discuss long term deals with the old guard boxing power brokers.
Also, frankly, the established boxing promoters tend to ruin any goodwill they may have every time they get a little bit of network trust. As I wrote in March:
Arum and De la Hoya, whenever they get beyond the guaranteed money shoveled into their pockets by premium cable, fail miserably at putting together a show even worthy of third-tier cable TV. Main Events had their foot in the network door, but blew it because mildly entertaining scraps between Bulgarian boat people will only take you so far in your quest for crossover appeal. Were Shaw or Goossen or King trying to bring in new fans?
Haymon has been aware of the ill will and general distrust between the networks and boxing and, aside from his corporation-friendly wheeling and dealing, he also had the smarts to offer many outlets a no-lose deal where his company would carry all or some of the cost of production via varying degrees of time buy arrangements. Consider it a free sample and a gesture of good will.
Will it all come together and bring boxing back to mainstream prominence once again? It's still too early to tell and without any outsider really knowing the long term business plan, it's not fair to make a blanket judgement call.
But the fact is that Haymon is definitely whipping the behinds of boxing's old guard promoters and powerbrokers. And given boxing's general reluctance to ever evolve or adapt, don't expect that to change anytime soon
By BT 1 on 17 June 2015
by Paul Magno
If the business of acquiring TV outlets for boxing were a prizefight, Al Haymon would've TKO'd the entire rest of the boxing industry after three one-sided rounds.
Most recently, Fox Sports 1 has announced that they will not be renewing their contract with Golden Boy after it runs out at the end of this month. In its place will be Haymon's Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) series. Fox will add itself to a growing list of PBC media outlets that includes NBC, CBS, ABC, Spike TV, ESPN, Showtime, and Bounce TV.
With the exception of HBO, everyone that would broadcast boxing is deciding to align themselves with Haymon...and the question is why.
Like him or not, trust him or not, Al Haymon is a man of unique talents. An Ivy League-educated businessman, he speaks the language of corporate suits who run the entertainment business. With his charts and graphs and five and ten year business plans, he gives executives something they can understand and consider. By creating the PBC brand, he has created in essence a league that he can market, which is bigger than any one of the individual names involved. The networks want long term investments, not hot property bouts and fights in the short term that may or may not pan out.
And as adept as he is with the corporate types, he can just as easily navigate in the hustler's world of big-time professional boxing. His rise to power is a blueprint for how an outsider can come to rule the roost by exploiting the hustles and cons inherent in the system.
He is also a guy who has a reputation among associates of keeping his word when it comes to business deals. While recently speaking to a member of Haymon Boxing's inner circle (who preferred not to speak on the record), it was assured to me that, at least so far, Haymon's word has been his bond and that from punctuality to paychecks, he has been 100% trustworthy.
Of course, this is a big difference from the circus ringleader mentality many old school boxing promoters tend to radiate. To corporate America, and to the execs making money decisions for TV time, the typical boxing promoter comes off as less than reliable and sometimes downright sleazy. It's no secret why HBO and Showtime have been the only real media outlets willing to discuss long term deals with the old guard boxing power brokers.
Also, frankly, the established boxing promoters tend to ruin any goodwill they may have every time they get a little bit of network trust. As I wrote in March:
Arum and De la Hoya, whenever they get beyond the guaranteed money shoveled into their pockets by premium cable, fail miserably at putting together a show even worthy of third-tier cable TV. Main Events had their foot in the network door, but blew it because mildly entertaining scraps between Bulgarian boat people will only take you so far in your quest for crossover appeal. Were Shaw or Goossen or King trying to bring in new fans?
Haymon has been aware of the ill will and general distrust between the networks and boxing and, aside from his corporation-friendly wheeling and dealing, he also had the smarts to offer many outlets a no-lose deal where his company would carry all or some of the cost of production via varying degrees of time buy arrangements. Consider it a free sample and a gesture of good will.
Will it all come together and bring boxing back to mainstream prominence once again? It's still too early to tell and without any outsider really knowing the long term business plan, it's not fair to make a blanket judgement call.
But the fact is that Haymon is definitely whipping the behinds of boxing's old guard promoters and powerbrokers. And given boxing's general reluctance to ever evolve or adapt, don't expect that to change anytime soon
