Premier Boxing Champions is doubling down on the pay-per-view business.
The boxing management stable headed by Al Haymon has signed a multi-year output deal with In Demand, a major pay-per-view distributor owned by Comcast Cable, Charter Communications and Cox Communications, it was announced today in a release.
“PBC has the best fighters and most anticipated bouts in the boxing world today,” said Mark Boccardi, In Demand’s senior vice president of programming and marketing. “We’ve been distributing PBC’s exciting matches on pay-per-view for some time, but we’ve now cemented our alliance for the next several years.
“It’s gratifying that Premier Boxing Champions recognizes the benefits of committing to a long-term partnership and reaping the rewards that In Demand offers our pay-per-view content providers: revenue, distribution and marketing support.”
PBC has exclusive output deals with Showtime and Fox, an enthusiastic proponent of the pay-per-view business model. In Demand distributed all four Fox Sports/PBC pay-per-view events in 2019, including the recent Deontay Wilder-Luis Ortiz rematch last month. That fight was the sixth pay-per-view boxing event In Demand distributed this year.
In Demand was left with a gaping void in its programming to start the year after the UFC left Fox for ESPN+, the streaming app, and Canelo Alvarez, perhaps the most bankable active boxer in the sport, signed an exclusive deal with streaming upstart DAZN, which started its early ad campaign with a heavy anti-pay-per-view slant.
But the absence of some familiar players in the pay-per-view market is not necessarily leading to its demise, as some had predicted. At Fox Sports, Executive Vice President of Programming Bill Wanger said he remains “very bullish” on pay-per-view. Including the Wilder-Ortiz II show, Fox has broadcast four pay-per-view boxing shows this year. The other three: Manny Pacquiao-Keith Thurman, Errol Spence-Mikey Garcia and Errol Spence-Shawn Porter.
According to Multi Channel News, In Demand’s first boxing event in 2020 could be the joint pay-per-view effort between ESPN and Fox for the Wilder vs. Tyson Fury rematch pegged for Feb. 22.
In Demand also inked a concurrent pay-per-view deal with All Elite Wrestling.