Box Nation and the future for Boxing on Sky...

With the arrival of Box Nation (essentially Frank Warren Tv) where does this leave boxing on Sky? Historically a substantial amount of boxing on Sky has been from Frank Warren's stable. We can assume Warren will now keep his fighters exclusive to Box Nation to warrant the subscription cost (Groves vs Smith to be screened on Box Nation!)

This leaves very little for Sky in the way of quality fights.
It seems they are already positioning themselves to screen fights from Eddie Hearn's stable. Now, as much as I like Kell Brook, I did feel they were over playing the fight at the weekend with one eye on future PPV.

Being as I only subscribe to SkySports for boxing do we think Its going to be worth the coin now that Box Nation is on the scene?

My only complaint with Box Nation is that the production quality looks like its being broadcast from Iran.

Depends how much the Sky money is worth to you. You will get Froch/Ward, some of the domestic fights, Prizefighter and Sturm-Murray this year.

Hearn will be pet promoter, and to be fair with Brook, Froch and Barker he does not have a bad stable particularly when you consider he is behind the Prizefighter series which Sky seem to love.

There are also rumours Khan is going to kiss and back up with Sky one would have to think with one eye on a future Mayweather mega fight. Suspect Sky will still show boxing but the rumours are they are running out of patience because the hassle that comes with the sport such as fights falling through, fights not delivering the excitement they promise etc is seen as being disproportionate to the viewing figures it delivers.

In terms of bang for your buck SkySports is obviously going to deliver less than in the past. At £10 a month BoxNation is looking like excellent value...and the card they have on this Saturday for free is awesome.

Any genuine worth while fights on Sky tend to be on PPV so I think it may spell the end of my subscription. You pay over the odds because they screen football, ideally they should have a banded sports subscription.

At the end of the day Sky have massive clout with the PPV market.

Hatton is still with them, Hearn is still with them and you can bet your bottom dollar that as soon as one of Fwank's big named fighters is not earning the money they want against a big, big named opponent then they'll jump ship to one of the aforementioned promoters and back to Sky.

I'm not sure what world Warren and his advisers live in. They must've seen that Primetime has done sweet f.a. in terms of figures and that's a one-off PPV purchase. Who in their right mind believes they're going to get more than 30-40k people to subscribe?

Don't worry, boxnation will be bankrupt (along with Primetime) and Sky once they put the considerable weight into it will simply strangle these smaller and less professional outfits.

Sky has too much clout and the big, big PPV fights have been big earners for them in years gone past. If JC were to come out of retirement to fight Froch which platform would they both insist on being on? And which platform could pay them a huge amount of money to come and fight on? Yup, Sky.

Coxy Makes a good point. Its not necessarily your avid boxing fan that pays the bills and boxing on sky has to an extent been carried on the coat tails of SkySports. I dont imagine many 'neutrals' will be signing up for Boxnation. I suspect you're right in that the channel may be too specialist to last long term.

Can i just add although they've dropped the PPV platform for the meantime could you honestly imagine (hypothetically) JC coming out of retirement, fighting Froch at that being on normal Sky Sports?

Khan fighting absolute bums is pretty much why they've abandoned the platform for the meantime. Warren paying his fighters over the top amounts of money and then being forced into putting it on PPV didn't help.

Can guarantee that they'd pick up FMJ vs Pac on PPV if that ever happened.

Online streaming is the way forwards.

ThrowingLeather wrote:Coxy Makes a good point. Its not necessarily your avid boxing fan that pays the bills and boxing on sky has to an extent been carried on the coat tails of SkySports. I dont imagine many 'neutrals' will be signing up for Boxnation. I suspect you're right in that the channel may be too specialist to last long term.

Has just got Setanta written all over it, and they had football and other sports as well. Fact is unless one sport is on just one channel most will just stream boxnation fights and watch the fights aired on Sky. It's not like they've got humdingers every week.

If only 30,000 people signup (which i think is a ballpark figure) @ £10 p/m:

£10 pm x 12 = £120

£120 x 30,000 = £3,600,000

To air a channel costs an absolute fortune, to pay all the guys it takes to air a show costs a fortune, take away tax on that to a net figure reduces it further. It won't be much they're left with. You can take 20% off that for VAT ffs!

As Coxy says Sky will always be there because if you are going to do a PPV or a mega fight there is only Sky who can give it the necessary advertising budget or hype through their multiple channels that can turn a big fight into a mega event. Have to think Khan has realised this and if Mayweather is his long term aim he needs Sky on board to make this into the event it should be.

I do like the concept of paying per month if you like the fights on offer, but I do, like others, wonder how long it will last.

I actually tuned in for the first time last night to be welcomed by the sight of Steve Bunce and his inane grin facing me. I nearly turned off straight away. Knowledgeable, and clearly passionate, but if ever a broadcaster had a face and delivery style for radio, then Buncey is the man.

I actually watched the entire Ree's v M'Baye fight for some unknown reason. ThrowingLeather is wrong though, saying the quality looks like it is broadcast from Iran is grossly unfair on Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. It is worse than that. It makes you realise just how spoilt we are in terms of production with Sky.

It seems strange that they should reinstate the Ringside show, which incidentially, I really enjoy, if they are getting disillusioned with boxing, as has been mentioned previously.

If Wazza wanted / needed 100k subscriptions, why the feck didn't he organise access through Virgin media? I would gladly pay the £10 / month as I have always said, but many Virgin customers probably wouldn't without a trial. Shabby business.

Michaels, Sean wrote:If Wazza wanted / needed 100k subscriptions, why the feck didn't he organise access through Virgin media? I would gladly pay the £10 / month as I have always said, but many Virgin customers probably wouldn't without a trial. Shabby business.

Stupid isn't it. It's annoyed me even before the channel was up and running. You don't start a channel then wonder how you will deliver it. Allow Virgin Media customers to at least access online through their shoddy website.

Did hear that Virgin weren't convinced on what the channel offers but might just be speculation.

My Sky Sports is cancelled, goes off on the 9th of November, i'm not paying hundreds of pounds a year to watch Darren Barker, Carl Froch and Kell Brook fight once in a blue moon.

Do you not follow any other sports GG? If it wasn't for the rugby and the cricket, I would be tempted to follow your lead.

Not sure how much longer Froch will be fighting anyway.

I'd be tempted but watch the rugby and sometimes people come over for the footy.

coxy0001 wrote:

ThrowingLeather wrote:Coxy Makes a good point. Its not necessarily your avid boxing fan that pays the bills and boxing on sky has to an extent been carried on the coat tails of SkySports. I dont imagine many 'neutrals' will be signing up for Boxnation. I suspect you're right in that the channel may be too specialist to last long term.

Has just got Setanta written all over it, and they had football and other sports as well. Fact is unless one sport is on just one channel most will just stream boxnation fights and watch the fights aired on Sky. It's not like they've got humdingers every week.

If only 30,000 people signup (which i think is a ballpark figure) @ £10 p/m:

£10 pm x 12 = £120

£120 x 30,000 = £3,600,000

To air a channel costs an absolute fortune, to pay all the guys it takes to air a show costs a fortune, take away tax on that to a net figure reduces it further. It won't be much they're left with. You can take 20% off that for VAT ffs!

AM sure they will make money of advertising and other things?

If i was still into the Premiership i would have kept it but i've hardly watched a game the last two seasons, watching Rangers is more depressing than anything else. With Setanta i had scottish games every week and the home of Boxing and UFC, it was perfect. I'm disappointed Sky haven't came out to state their intentions with boxing, and with this i've decided to cancel.

Soldier_Of_Fortune wrote:

coxy0001 wrote:

ThrowingLeather wrote:Coxy Makes a good point. Its not necessarily your avid boxing fan that pays the bills and boxing on sky has to an extent been carried on the coat tails of SkySports. I dont imagine many 'neutrals' will be signing up for Boxnation. I suspect you're right in that the channel may be too specialist to last long term.

Has just got Setanta written all over it, and they had football and other sports as well. Fact is unless one sport is on just one channel most will just stream boxnation fights and watch the fights aired on Sky. It's not like they've got humdingers every week.

If only 30,000 people signup (which i think is a ballpark figure) @ £10 p/m:

£10 pm x 12 = £120

£120 x 30,000 = £3,600,000

To air a channel costs an absolute fortune, to pay all the guys it takes to air a show costs a fortune, take away tax on that to a net figure reduces it further. It won't be much they're left with. You can take 20% off that for VAT ffs!

AM sure they will make money of advertising and other things?

They probably will make cash from advertising but that galls even more, having adverts on a channel you're having to pay for separately.

GG believe the contracts Sky have with all the promoters do not expire until mid 2012 so whatever they were to say now isn't likely to change and could not be acted upon. Suspect we will get a better idea of their commitment to the sport then but as one of those promoters is Hayemaker seems obvious that will not be renewed as I am not sure they have anyone in their stable anymore.

Have to think Hearn will be renewed as he has a decent stable, prizefighter and a good relationship with Sky through the other sports he provides (darts, snooker etc) whether the same is true for Hatton and Maloney remains to be seen. If Hayemaker is out could be an opportunity for Hennessy to get back in, depends how sold Sky are on Fury's potential I would guess.

It's a sad state of affairs Rowley isn't it. You would think a boxing channel would be a good thing and it is in some ways, i just don't think the timing is right. It looked like we could have been on to a winner when Sky stated they were not doing PPV, but it has backfired bigtime.

It is tricky because as you say a channel dedicated to the sport we love should in theory be a great thing but I am not willing to get rid of sky sports to cover the cost as there are too many other sports I enjoy watching and still want to see fighters not attached to Warren and whilst a tenner a month is not likely to break the bank on top of a licence fee and sky subscription there has to be a point where you say enough is enough and much as it pains me I may have reached that point, particularly as I watched the Walsh fight and I would not be exaggerating to say I have seen better picture quality filmed through a phone.

Soldier_Of_Fortune wrote:

coxy0001 wrote:

ThrowingLeather wrote:Coxy Makes a good point. Its not necessarily your avid boxing fan that pays the bills and boxing on sky has to an extent been carried on the coat tails of SkySports. I dont imagine many 'neutrals' will be signing up for Boxnation. I suspect you're right in that the channel may be too specialist to last long term.

Has just got Setanta written all over it, and they had football and other sports as well. Fact is unless one sport is on just one channel most will just stream boxnation fights and watch the fights aired on Sky. It's not like they've got humdingers every week.

If only 30,000 people signup (which i think is a ballpark figure) @ £10 p/m:

£10 pm x 12 = £120

£120 x 30,000 = £3,600,000

To air a channel costs an absolute fortune, to pay all the guys it takes to air a show costs a fortune, take away tax on that to a net figure reduces it further. It won't be much they're left with. You can take 20% off that for VAT ffs!

AM sure they will make money of advertising and other things?

What company would pay good money to have exposure to 30,000 people? They won't be selling 45s adds for much, heck - might see if i can get an ad for web design! YES! I can then make contact with Elisha Cuthbert to see if she'll play the love interest.. (for a web design advert)...... Am thinking "beautiful websites make lots of money and get girls like this" as she girates on top of me stark naked (with some tasteful black and white filming hiding her regions from the cameras)

God i have the best ideas sometimes!

rowley wrote:It is tricky because as you say a channel dedicated to the sport we love should in theory be a great thing but I am not willing to get rid of sky sports to cover the cost as there are too many other sports I enjoy watching and still want to see fighters not attached to Warren and whilst a tenner a month is not likely to break the bank on top of a licence fee and sky subscription there has to be a point where you say enough is enough and much as it pains me I may have reached that point, particularly as I watched the Walsh fight and I would not be exaggerating to say I have seen better picture quality filmed through a phone.

I think i will try it out hoping they can sort out HD sometime in the near future but it really doesn't sit well that £120 of my money is lining Warrens pockets. They do seem to have secured a decent number of fights that we would otherwise not being seeing on Sky think I will give it a go and ditch ESPN. Does anyone know when it is due to turn into a subscription channel?

coxy0001 wrote:

God i have the best ideas sometimes!

Feel free to share them with us occasionally

rowley wrote:

coxy0001 wrote:

God i have the best ideas sometimes!

Feel free to share them with us occasionally

Here's a freebie.....

Invest in manufacturing brown paper bags with handles for the supermarkets. I've already made contact with an Asian manufacturing firm and after my business plan is written will be making contact with the giants of the UK supermarket scene.

Will be taking ownership of my new Ferrari F450 by around February time hopefully.

coxy0001 wrote:

Soldier_Of_Fortune wrote:

coxy0001 wrote:

ThrowingLeather wrote:Coxy Makes a good point. Its not necessarily your avid boxing fan that pays the bills and boxing on sky has to an extent been carried on the coat tails of SkySports. I dont imagine many 'neutrals' will be signing up for Boxnation. I suspect you're right in that the channel may be too specialist to last long term.

Has just got Setanta written all over it, and they had football and other sports as well. Fact is unless one sport is on just one channel most will just stream boxnation fights and watch the fights aired on Sky. It's not like they've got humdingers every week.

If only 30,000 people signup (which i think is a ballpark figure) @ £10 p/m:

£10 pm x 12 = £120

£120 x 30,000 = £3,600,000

To air a channel costs an absolute fortune, to pay all the guys it takes to air a show costs a fortune, take away tax on that to a net figure reduces it further. It won't be much they're left with. You can take 20% off that for VAT ffs!

AM sure they will make money of advertising and other things?

What company would pay good money to have exposure to 30,000 people? They won't be selling 45s adds for much, heck - might see if i can get an ad for web design! YES! I can then make contact with Elisha Cuthbert to see if she'll play the love interest.. (for a web design advert)...... Am thinking "beautiful websites make lots of money and get girls like this" as she girates on top of me stark naked (with some tasteful black and white filming hiding her regions from the cameras)

God i have the best ideas sometimes!

Thats if 30,000 subcribe. Might be more might be less. The advertiser will at have a guranteed target market from people watching the channel which will be an extra incentive

Cricketing God
Golfing legend
Rugby genius
Playground guv'nor
IT whizzkid
Investment portfolio that would make Buffet wince.

I wanna be just like you when I grow up Coxy.

Mind the windows Tino. wrote:Cricketing God
Golfing legend
Rugby genius
Playground guv'nor
IT whizzkid
Investment portfolio that would make Buffet wince.

I wanna be just like you when I grow up Coxy.

I don't blame you kid, i don't blame you

I would happily stump up £10 to see there output, but as I have Virgin I can’t, do we know when they will stream live fights on there website?

It seems like would be the easier and cheapest thing for them to do, even the clowns at Primetime manage that.

Duncan wrote:I would happily stump up £10 to see there output, but as I have Virgin I can’t, do we know when they will stream live fights on there website?

It seems like would be the easier and cheapest thing for them to do, even the clowns at Primetime manage that.

Bannable offense round these here parts, partner

Scottrf wrote:

Duncan wrote:I would happily stump up £10 to see there output, but as I have Virgin I can’t, do we know when they will stream live fights on there website?

It seems like would be the easier and cheapest thing for them to do, even the clowns at Primetime manage that.

Bannable offense round these here parts, partner

Duncan, send me a PM mate. Unless they have whipped it away from you quicksmart.

Eh!

Anyway, I have answered my own question, apparently its being streamed on some other highly reputable outfit, PERFORM.

http://www.frankwarren.tv/index.php/news/fwtv-news/latest-news/1415-perform-to-stream-big-saturday-fight-night-live-on.html

box nation are offering free streaming for this weekends action so i am chuffed being as i live abroad and rarely get to listen tot he uk commentary when i watch big fights. who knows how long this will last, Bunce boxing hour was a bit unporfessional with him saying that his show might be 1-2 hours and could be any day of the week, oh really steve great! I l tune in every night on the off chance something is on then shall i..ffs

scrap that, only stream if you live in UK...ARGH!

Coxy0001: Don't worry, boxnation will be bankrupt (along with Primetime) and Sky once they put the considerable weight into it will simply strangle these smaller and less professional outfits.
--------
That's only if Sky have the inclination to do so coxy. From everything you read boxing is a very problematic sport to screen due to there being no singular governing body, fighters dropping out of fights, poor undercards blah blah. Sky are moving into the F1 market and I suspect boxing may be left behind - which will leave plenty of scraps for PT and BN to feast on - and charge a premium for in the knowledge that boxing fans have nowhere else to turn. Skys commitment to the sport seems to be wilting IMO, I don't see that they will 'strangle' these other outfits to become the main player again, more that boxing coverage will become more fragmented and more expensive.

Seanusarrilius wrote: Bunce boxing hour was a bit unporfessional with him saying that his show might be 1-2 hours and could be any day of the week, oh really steve great! I l tune in every night on the off chance something is on then shall i..ffs

Yeah - it looked like Bunce had been given the go ahead at the last moment, shifted his coffee table and a few chairs into his garden shed and broadcast from there. He didn't even an email address for gods sake - my window cleaner has a better set up than him!

Sugar Boy Sweetie wrote:

Seanusarrilius wrote: Bunce boxing hour was a bit unporfessional with him saying that his show might be 1-2 hours and could be any day of the week, oh really steve great! I l tune in every night on the off chance something is on then shall i..ffs

Yeah - it looked like Bunce had been given the go ahead at the last moment, shifted his coffee table and a few chairs into his garden shed and broadcast from there. He didn't even an email address for gods sake - my window cleaner has a better set up than him!

Find it hard to believe the man who served us up Enzo Macarinelli vs Bobby Gunn would be involved in a sub standard product.

I really can't see how Boxnation will succeed.

Whilst I don't have the stats, we all know that ppv figures for boxing in the UK aren't great and most boxing fans are over subscribed with tv as it is, so to now expect people to pay a monthly fee for just some of the better British fighters shows a lack of market understanding.

Especially in - to quote a phrase in vogue - these times of austerity.

One would like to think that Hearn and co will forge a closer relationship with Sky which will leave Warren and his boxnation marginalised, but I suspect his standing and stable of fighters is too important to Sky if indeed they continue to commit to boxing. Eventually after realising he cannot chase the rainbow, he will be welcomed back into the fold.

Either that or Channel 5 will go crazy bananas and become the new home of boxing in this country, showing all domestic and international fights on a platform free to all - isn't that a thought.

I am annoyed he has the Nonito fight though!

The Donaire fight will be shown free do not fret!

Hi everyone,

Just to update you, you will be able to subscribe to BoxNation on Virgin or Sky by Wednesday November 30th. Just visit the boxnation.tv and follow the instructions for subscribing.

Enjoy!

BoxNation

What if i want to subscribe and stream online?

I'll probably subscribe. Loads of good boxing between BoxNation/Sky in December.

I have finally decided I won't be subscribing, agree the content thus far has been pretty good and looks likely to continue in that vein but don't agree with the channel on principle so will not be shelling out.

I won't be subscribing as there are other methods to watch the fights which don't cost money.

I will not post the links as I will get into trouble.

But as long as I can get it free, the more I will not be paying for it.

Just being honest.

Union Cane wrote: but we’d like you to know that there’ll be some exciting news for online viewers coming soon.

Maccarinelli Gunn rematch?

rowley wrote:

Union Cane wrote: but we’d like you to know that there’ll be some exciting news for online viewers coming soon.

Maccarinelli Gunn rematch?

OMG!!!! Has this been confirmed!!???

Sorry reborn was only joking, should have made that more clear, cruel of me to build everybody's hopes up like that.

i guess i will have to no real great alternatives i hate streaming online and only do if the fight isnt broadcast here.