Showtime Sports Shutting Down After 38 Years, Paramount Won't Broadcast Boxing

Showtime Sports, which has long produced and broadcast some of the biggest events in boxing, is shutting down after nearly four decades of operation.

According to John Ourand of Sports Business Journal, Paramount Global, which is the parent company of Showtime, released a statement on the decision to shutter Showtime Sports:

"As we evolve our strategy to more efficiently allocate resources and align our content offering across the business, we've made the difficult decision not to move forward with boxing and other content produced by the Showtime sports team. Showtime will continue to air and support the remaining 2023 boxing slate and honor obligations through the end of the year."

Showtime Sports lasted for 38 years, debuting in March 1986 with a fight between Marvin Hagler and John Mugabi.

CBS Sports will be the main sports division for Paramount moving forward, but there are reportedly no plans for boxing to air on CBS Sports, per Ourand.

For many years, Showtime and HBO alternated putting on huge boxing pay-per-view cards. While Showtime has aired other sports content over the years, such as MMA, Inside The NFL and numerous documentaries, it was synonymous with pugilism.

Some of the biggest bouts in boxing history aired on Showtime Sports, including the highly anticipated clash between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao in 2015, which reportedly stands as the most-purchased boxing pay-per-view fight in history with 4.6 million buys.

Showtime currently has an exclusive deal with Premier Boxing Champions (PBC), but with Showtime Sports set to dissolve, PBC is in talks with Amazon Prime Video and DAZN for broadcast rights, per ESPN's Mike Coppinger.

Paramount may be getting out of the combat sports game completely, as it owns Bellator MMA, but has been trying to sell the promotion "for months," according to Ourand.

MMA insider Ariel Helwani reported Tuesday that Bellator is expected to be sold "in the coming weeks," although he did not note who the potential buyer is.

Although it is possible sports could continue to air on Showtime in 2024 and beyond, any sports content that is featured on Showtime will be produced by CBS Sports, per Ourand.

That includes not only live sporting events but also any sports-related documentaries that are made for the platform.