When HBO discards boxing in 2018, where will K2, Main Events, GBP & TR go?

[Eff Pandas]

So now UFC is exclusive to FOX, when does their FOX deal end maybe they will go there?

Yea thats what I'm speculating on. Believe that deal ends in 2019(?). I'd assume if HBO were going to be a player in getting the UFC rights they end boxing sometime between 2018-2020 a lil before or after they seal the deal.

Unless HBO creates their own MMA company, if they do create one they would dominate and it would be awesome. Id tune in for sure.

That was in play about 10 or so years ago iirc when Oscar (& Donald ***** oddly enough) were down with Affliction for it short life. HBO was on board & planning to air it. MMA was more open at the time. I don't believe its viable for HBO to form an MMA league now. UFC has almost all the top talent. Bellator has the rest + a big pocketbook which is getting them nabbing a lot of UFC guys lately via free agency. So they'd either have to work with the UFC, Bellator or Rizen who are probably the 3 biggest names in the game as starting from scratch would put them on some minor league level of talent which isn't likely to grab the audience they'd want to grab.

Boxing is getting outdated, I dont know many people especially young folks who even follow it, UFC is a powerhouse thats for sure they are superior in the way they have been able to grasp the youth, something boxing has trouble with doing for decades.

Unless Boxing can recapture the youth, its just going to continue and be a niche sport.

Its crazy how boxing went from being one of the Biggest major sports in America to now a niche sport rarely covered on mainstream tv or sports shows.

Sadly yea agree with all this. I think in the US boxing needs PBC to succeed or boxing is only going to get smaller for the foreseeable future until someone does what the PBC is attempting successfully or some other game changer comes into play. I think the last 3 or 4 decades of elite level boxing only being available to premium cable subscribers & pay per view buyers has damaged the US boxing fanbase greatly. The clusterf#ck of champions & bad decisions & about 8 other things hasn't helped, but mainly the access to boxing for young fans hasn't been there to keep the fanbase being renewed.

So just due to all the money in boxing someone is gonna help boxing through a regrowth stage sooner or later over the next decade or so & I suspect boxing will be better for it & hopefully boxing will work a lot differently than it does now with so many fractions keeping boxing from reaching its highest point.

[BWC]

Then pbc would go full blown ufc mode... If they're still around. Or sho/cbs would possibly go that route

Showtime/CBS would essentially become PBC. Haymon undisputed king of boxing..

[BWC]

Yea thats what I'm speculating on. Believe that deal ends in 2019(?). I'd assume if HBO were going to be a player in getting the UFC rights they end boxing sometime between 2018-2020 a lil before or after they seal the deal.



That was in play about 10 or so years ago iirc when Oscar (& Donald ***** oddly enough) were down with Affliction for it short life. HBO was on board & planning to air it. MMA was more open at the time. I don't believe its viable for HBO to form an MMA league now. UFC has almost all the top talent. Bellator has the rest + a big pocketbook which is getting them nabbing a lot of UFC guys lately via free agency. So they'd either have to work with the UFC, Bellator or Rizen who are probably the 3 biggest names in the game as starting from scratch would put them on some minor league level of talent which isn't likely to grab the audience they'd want to grab.



Sadly yea agree with all this. I think in the US boxing needs PBC to succeed or boxing is only going to get smaller for the foreseeable future until someone does what the PBC is attempting successfully or some other game changer comes into play. I think the last 3 or 4 decades of elite level boxing only being available to premium cable subscribers & pay per view buyers has damaged the US boxing fanbase greatly. The clusterf#ck of champions & bad decisions & about 8 other things hasn't helped, but mainly the access to boxing for young fans hasn't been there to keep the fanbase being renewed.

So just due to all the money in boxing someone is gonna help boxing through a regrowth stage sooner or later over the next decade or so & I suspect boxing will be better for it & hopefully boxing will work a lot differently than it does now with so many fractions keeping boxing from reaching its highest point.

The UFC is still pretty niche outside Conor cards. I mean who possibly cared about UFC 204?

[Eff Pandas]

The UFC is still pretty niche outside Conor cards. I mean who possibly cared about UFC 204?

Compared to the NFL the MLB & NHL is niche too, but the main component the UFC has is its in a solid place as we speak & only growing & spreading which suggests its a good time to get on the bandwagon. In the event MMA can become a worldwide viable sport 2nd only to something like soccer. I think fighting holds big appeal everywhere so I think its possible even if its not probable. Aka its worth the $ risk on the gamble. And worse case with its expected growth in the US with all these MMA schools & gyms all over the place now you're gonna make nice bank even if it doesn't blow up huge around the globe anytime soon.

[jdp28tx]

Report: Fed cautioned Goldman Sachs about UFC deal

I thought this was fascinating.

Report: Fed cautioned Goldman Sachs about UFC deal





October 7, 2016

Bloomberg.com reports that the Federal Reserve bank cautioned Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. over debt risks in a deal it arranged to fund the $4 billion purchase of the UFC.

Goldman Sachs was hired to market the debt to purchase the UFC this past July. Regulators have criticized deals that push a company’s debt load to more than six times its earnings.

“Add-backs,” which estimate a company’s future profitability after an acquisition or buyout were used to double projected cash flow for the UFC. The concern is that the projections may be too optimistic for the companies that are purchased. This could lead to a default which is the reason why the Federal Reserve cautions deals where the debt load looks to be more than the projected earnings.

According to the Bloomberg story, prospective investors were shown estimates that EBITDA would more than double from $142M to $298M. Per the article, the adjustments had the effect of lowering UFC’s leverage to 6 times EBITDA.

The UFC raised a total of $1.8 billion of debt which included $1.4 billion in first lien loans and another $425 million in second lien loans. Based on the current EBITDA of $142M this would have the company leveraged at approximately 12x EBITDA.

Payout Perspective:

Notably, the Bloomberg report states that the UFC’s EBITDA as of June 30th was $142 million. A previous SBJ report had the EBITDA at $180 million although that did not have “as of” date. The obvious goal of the Fed is to reduce the risk of default in acquisitions. While the deal may never reach critical mass in terms of a default on the debt, the deal is considered high risk.

[boliodogs]

I don't go by rumors. I go by facts. I don't believe HBO is dropping boxing unless they announce that they are doing so. As of now I believe they will continue to feature boxing regularly as always. Why would they bother having a show like the fight game if they were planning to drop boxing?

[Jsmooth9876]

Promoters supply fighters, Haymon has the deepest stable right now and Arum is not working with HBO, so they only left with Golden Boy and Duva and Roc Nation as their main.

I dont think UFC will go to HBO they almost did until the guy working there put his girlfriend in a rear naked choke and got fired nixing the deal.

So now UFC is exclusive to FOX, when does their FOX deal end maybe they will go there?

Unless HBO creates their own MMA company, if they do create one they would dominate and it would be awesome. Id tune in for sure.

Boxing is getting outdated, I dont know many people especially young folks who even follow it, UFC is a powerhouse thats for sure they are superior in the way they have been able to grasp the youth, something boxing has trouble with doing for decades.

Unless Boxing can recapture the youth, its just going to continue and be a niche sport.

Its crazy how boxing went from being one of the Biggest major sports in America to now a niche sport rarely covered on mainstream tv or sports shows.

Arum is putting LOMA-Walters on Nov 26th...he's a businessman, he will work where the money is... The money wasn't there for Pac but that doesn't mean he's done with HBO altogether.

[Eff Pandas]

Why would they bother having a show like the fight game if they were planning to drop boxing?

They've had shows about other sports with or without having those sports on HBO. I could see them keeping Fight Game around even if they didn't have boxing.

Boxing is one of the most dramatic & passionate stories sports in the history of sports. There is always going to be a place for talk of fighting & fighting stories probably long past fighting if we were to reach some perfect peaceful utopian hug everyone society lol.