Why Boxing Is Ignoring the Recession and a New Era: Premium Cable

What exactly does “free TV” mean anymore? I find myself asking that more and more. Whenever a fight shows up on Showtime or HBO and seems to be exceptionally interesting we say that we’re getting it for free.

Why?

It wasn’t even three decades ago that this statement meant it might be on ABC or another broadcast station. Now it means that we don’t have to buy a pay-per-view.

I’m a recent college graduate and like most who didn’t get a degree in computer science, math, science, or an equally desirable field, I find myself in a bad economy. As of this moment I have a job that covers my bills and if I’m frugal gives me about two hundred bucks in spending money.

Let’s think about that. I need at least a basic cable subscription which will run me anywhere from forty to fifty-five dollars. Showtime costs about fifteen dollars a month. So does HBO. If we want to see championship fights that is where we go.

So now I’m looking at about eighty dollars a month if I would like to watch one or two fights that are interesting. That’s not including PPV.

The Internet has made it so free entertainment is not only possible, but also desirable. If young people like myself want to see a television show for free we just have to sit through a few ads. In this economy that’s a steal. Asking them to pay $49.99 for one fight they might be interested in doesn’t work anymore. Not for anyone not named Manny Pacquiao or Money Mayweather.

Boxing used to be a sport that not only anyone could watch, but could also join for little money.

Think about the last time you enjoyed a fight and didn’t have to pay for it. No doubt you thought of an ESPN fight.

Now think about the last time you enjoyed a fight, didn’t have to pay for it and it was RELEVANT.

Difficult isn’t it?

The worst part is that boxing’s leaders seem to think that making the right fights will fix this. It’s past that by now. They need to reintroduce boxing to a generation that really didn’t grow up with it. They need to give boxing back to a generation that fed it and is now against the ropes.

Instead we’re told that they're trying to make great fights, which we can see on premium cable. Boxing’s major problem isn’t that it has too many belts.

It isn’t that they have too many weight classes. It isn’t even that they can’t make a mega fight happen.

It’s that no one can afford to see it.

Boxing is perfect for a recession. James J. Braddock proved that. When things are going wrong for everyone, we need an underdog to root for. We need a hero to cheer.

Football can’t do that. The players are just now ending a strike because they wanted minimums that you and I will most likely  never earn.

Baseball? My mind boggles at their salaries.

Boxing though is a sport where cheering for the guy making millions in the main event doesn’t feel contrived. Especially not when he has a lump the size of Nebraska above his eyebrow.

Boxing could be great again. In fact it still is. Just nobody can afford to know it.