HBO has announced that it will no longer broadcast boxing on its premium network, ending nearly half a century of coverage. The news comes in the face of digital challenges from ESPN+ and especially DAZN.
The network aired 1,111 fights over 45 years, but only one more fight night is scheduled: Oct. 27 from the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden, headlined by a bout between Daniel Jacobs and Sergey Derevyanchenko for the vacant middleweight world title.
“This is not a subjective decision,” HBO Sports EVP Peter Nelson told the New York Times. “Our audience research informs us that boxing is no longer a determinant factor for subscribing to HBO.”
Viewership for HBO’s Sept. 8 super flyweight title bout reportedly was among the lowest in network history. HBO has fared very well with original dramatic programming in recent years (Game of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire, The Wire, etc.) in addition to its slate of movies.
“Our mission at HBO Sports is to elevate the brand. We look for television projects that are high-profile, high-access, and highly ambitious in the stories they seek to tell and the quality of production in telling them,” HBO Sports said in a statement. “Boxing has been part of our heritage for decades. During that time, the sport has undergone a transformation. It is now widely available on a host of networks and streaming services. There is more boxing than ever being televised and distributed. In some cases, this programming is very good. But from an entertainment point of view, it’s not unique.”
SportTechie Takeaway
Boxing fans are shying away from the steep pay-per-view pricing HBO often attached to its marquee bouts. A Sept. 15 card headlined by a Canelo Alvarez-Gennady Golovkin rematch, for instance, cost $84.99. HBO pioneered that format in 1991 with an Evander Holyfield-George Forman fight, and recorded significant success with it for more than two decades.
DAZN, meanwhile, has entered the market with a $1 billion investment in Matchroom Boxing fights over the next eight years at a price point of $9.99 per month. The Alvarez-Golovkin fight alone cost the same as eight-and-a-half months of DAZN—actually, nine and a half because subscription starts with a free trial month. ESPN has also sunk capital into boxing in a partnership with Top Rank Boxing, with a significant amount of the action airing on its streaming service, ESPN+ ($4.99/month). These two platforms represent a seismic shift in the way boxing fans will be able to watch fights in the U.S.