Why is Ward fighting on BET?

[firstborn]

Just about every pro fighter respects Ward as one of the best. That by itself says more than anything the naysayers here have to offer. All the hate for a guy that usually minds his own business shows how much fans of other fighters fear him.

[Weebler I]

Probably because Jay Z has music industry connections with them.

Nobody can sell Ward. They need to introduce him to the black audience. They can do life stories on him and his wife, do reality shows to get a female audience and a whole bunch of other stuff to promote him and build him a fan base that will support him.

I think Ward is actually one of the biggest American draws.

1. Mayweather
2. Daylight
3. Ward (7k tickets, 1m HBO viewers)

[OnePunch]

Because that's what most of his fanbase tunes into.

haha well played

[Cutthroat]

Why wouldn't he?

-Public exposure allows you to reach a much broader fan base, HBO is not free, the only free quality boxing on TV is PBC, that's it. The black demo and ********** are mostly low income that can't afford things like HBO. Sometimes you must give stuff away for "free" to gain a mass of customers, build your fan base.

-Jay Z is targeting the hip hop community, the same hip hop community that helped Mayweather/Broner explode in popularity. The same hip hop community that will also help Wilder explode soon. Athletes want to be rappers, rappers want to be athletes, that's how it works.


As much as these pro boxers are making, they should be making A LOT more. People don't realize the sheer wealth in America, it's huge, these guys are fighting for peanuts.


I am a marketing manager, this is pretty much my job. Jay Z knows what he's doing.

[Spray_resistant]

Why wouldn't he?

-Public exposure allows you to reach a much broader fan base, HBO is not free, the only free quality boxing on TV is PBC, that's it. The black demo and ********** are mostly low income that can't afford things like HBO. Sometimes you must give stuff away for "free" to gain a mass of customers, build your fan base.

-Jay Z is targeting the hip hop community, the same hip hop community that helped Mayweather/Broner explode in popularity. The same hip hop community that will also help Wilder explode soon. Athletes want to be rappers, rappers want to be athletes, that's how it works.


As much as these pro boxers are making, they should be making A LOT more. People don't realize the sheer wealth in America, it's huge, these guys are fighting for peanuts.


I am a marketing manager, this is pretty much my job. Jay Z knows what he's doing.

It is his best bet but with Ward its kind of tough because people like stories, controversial ones and Ward is just a nice respectable family man so what can J do to sell him?

[Cutthroat]

It is his best bet but with Ward its kind of tough because people like stories, controversial ones and Ward is just a nice respectable family man so what can J do to sell him?

That's what may hold him back, but a large % of this country is religious and like what Ward is. Some people will root for him just because of his race as well as nationality. He will use Ward's 0 to sell him as much as possible.


If you think about it, the fan base Jay Z is trying to target is actually his own, and based upon his net worth of $600 mill, he def. knows how to target them.
Ward simply being around Jay will boost his popularity, Jay will host all sorts of promotional events, introduce him to the public. Wherever Jay goes, the cameras follow, you can become famous just hanging out with him, highly respected everywhere.

This whole boxing on free TV is huge for the sport, it hasn't been done in so long. I think boxing is going to see a massive jump in popularity these upcoming years.

[The Gambler1981]

I mean it gets his name out there a bit, and he does need a tune-up that HBO doesn't seem to want (at least for the asking price). It would also be a fairly good kickoff for their series on the network since it is a big name.

[PACnPBFsuck]

I guess they're going after Broner's fans

[Barcham]

Why wouldn't he?

-Public exposure allows you to reach a much broader fan base, HBO is not free, the only free quality boxing on TV is PBC, that's it. The black demo and ********** are mostly low income that can't afford things like HBO. Sometimes you must give stuff away for "free" to gain a mass of customers, build your fan base.

-Jay Z is targeting the hip hop community, the same hip hop community that helped Mayweather/Broner explode in popularity. The same hip hop community that will also help Wilder explode soon. Athletes want to be rappers, rappers want to be athletes, that's how it works.


As much as these pro boxers are making, they should be making A LOT more. People don't realize the sheer wealth in America, it's huge, these guys are fighting for peanuts.


I am a marketing manager, this is pretty much my job. Jay Z knows what he's doing.

Give me a break. Jay Z. has nothing to do with it. The reason Ward is fighting on BET is because both HBO and Showtime told him they were not interested. And he certainly is not going to be on any network Haymon is affiliated with. That does not leave very many choices. It's either BET or maybe he can get on TLC or The Comedy Network. There is always the Weather Channel.

He is asking way too much money for his tune up fights and the opponents he suggested were simply not worth it. Neither is Ward at this point of his career for that matter, having been mainly inactive for the past 4 years. Ward will have to fight his next few fights on BET or another similar outlet before he finds an opponent that HBO finds acceptable.

As far as BET is concerned, it is not a 'free' cable channel and has to be selected as part of an extra package. While not a premium station like HBO or Showtime, it is not a free station such as ABC, CBS or NBC.

[Cutthroat]

Give me a break. Jay Z. has nothing to do with it. The reason Ward is fighting on BET is because both HBO and Showtime told him they were not interested. And he certainly is not going to be on any network Haymon is affiliated with. That does not leave very many choices. It's either BET or maybe he can get on TLC or The Comedy Network. There is always the Weather Channel.

He is asking way too much money for his tune up fights and the opponents he suggested were simply not worth it. Neither is Ward at this point of his career for that matter, having been mainly inactive for the past 4 years. Ward will have to fight his next few fights on BET or another similar outlet before he finds an opponent that HBO finds acceptable.

As far as BET is concerned, it is not a 'free' cable channel and has to be selected as part of an extra package. While not a premium station like HBO or Showtime, it is not a free station such as ABC, CBS or NBC.

That's why you build up a fan base, once that fan base increases, the money follows.

BET isn't free, but practically anybody has it because it's so affordable, it's in the homes of over 90 million Americans, a large part of that is the exact demo they're looking to target, Jay Z's own fans. Compared to what, 30 million people that have HBO?

You have to sacrifice in order to gain, this is how marketing works.