HBO drops boxing coverage at the end of 2018

After being for 45 years the broadcaster of most of the biggest boxing fights, the platform that has created modern pay television and the launch pad for most of the biggest sports stars for decades, HBO has announced Thursday cover by the end of the year.

"Our mission at HBO Sports is to elevate the brand.We are looking for high-profile, high-access, very ambitious television projects in the stories that they seek to tell and the quality of the production to theirs. say, "said HBO Sports. in a report. "Boxing has been part of our legacy for decades, while the sport has undergone a transformation and is now widely available on a multitude of streaming networks and services.There is more boxing than ever televised and distributed. In some cases, this programming is very good, but from an entertainment point of view, it is not unique.

"By 2019, we will be moving away from live boxing programming on HBO, and as always, we will remain open to events that fit our programming, which could include boxing, but not in the foreseeable future." deeply grateful to the many brave fighters we have had the privilege of covering the career. "

The announcement by HBO Sports executive vice president Peter Nelson, 37, who met his team on Thursday morning, does not constitute a total shock. The network's commitment to sport has clearly declined in recent years and its fighting quality has dropped at a time when there has been more competition from its longtime rival Showtime as well as sales outlets. such as ESPN. Rang and DAZN, the new streaming channel created to acquire the best fights.

Top Rank sought his agreement with ESPN, in part because he had been neglected by HBO, who had broken a few years earlier with Al Haymon's powerful team of fighters. Once it was separate from the two largest sports content providers, it was difficult to keep up.

Its "Superfly 3" card from September 8 illustrates the depths of the fall of its boxing franchise when Juan Francisco Estrada-Felipe Orucuta's bantamweight title eliminator attracted an average audience of just 298,000 viewers, one of which the least-watched fights in HBO's history. .

HBO was the gold standard for boxing on television for most of its journey, often drawing millions of viewers for its fights. It has so far broadcast 1,111 fights, beginning with George Foreman's second round annihilation against Joe Frazier to win the world heavyweight championship in Kingston, Jamaica, in January 1973. He has launched the modern era of pay TV with TVKO. became HBO PPV – in 1991, when Evander Holyfield retained the undisputed heavyweight title against Foreman in the second act of Big George's career.

"There have been hundreds of dedicated and remarkably creative men and women who have produced the best of TV production for boxing coverage by HBO and we are very grateful for their contributions," the statement said. from HBO. "It was a great trip that tells the careers and stories of so many spectacular talented prizefighters.

"We are a storytelling platform, the future will see unscripted series, long-running documentaries, reality shows, sports journalism, special events and unique content from HBO Sports." We are constantly evaluating our programs. Audience studies clearly show the type of programming adopted by our subscribers.For HBO Sports, it's a programming that viewers can not find elsewhere. "

HBO has another boxing card on its schedule – a world championship doubleheader on Oct. 27 at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York. He is titled by the title of world middleweight champion vacant between Daniel Jacobs and Sergey Derevyanchenko, Alberto Machado defending his belt against Yuandale Evans.

The network could still schedule additional boxing events in November and December, said a spokesman for the network at ESPN, but it is also possible that the Oct. 27 card will be the last boxing show.

The exit of the boxing network will have an impact on his group of broadcasters, including the punch announcer, Jim Lampley, the analyst Max Kellerman – who also works for ESPN – and expert analyst Roy Jones Jr.

Although Lampley no longer calls boxing matches, he said he would stay on the network.

"My 30-year love affair with HBO continues and I am motivated and ready to support storytelling initiatives in the sports department," Lampley said. "Then I will stay in place."

The end of the network's involvement also means that fighters such as Jacobs, Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin, all with maturing network contracts, will become agents without a network that should have no problem to find any. 39, other contenders for their services.