Urgency in a poll is all the motivation Arum needs for bold move to CBS
Bob Arum’s bold move from HBO to CBS and cable subsidiary Showtime is all about numbers. CBS has a lot more of them, more than four times as many, than HBO. But there is another number, pathetically small, that is huge in significance and sums up the move’s urgency.
At about the same time that news of Arum’s deal with CBS/Showtime for rights to Manny Pacquiao-Shane Mosley on May 7 leaked last week, there was a Harris poll of American fans and their preferences in 2010.
Boxing was the favorite of one percent of those polled, right there alongside horse racing, women’s tennis and swimming. You can get more than one percent for a certificate-of-deposit at a bank these days. There’s just not much interest out there. If there is a trend in the Harris poll, the direction is ominous. It points to zero, which adds up to business no more.
Boxing trailed men’s tennis, track-and-field, men’s golf and bowling by one percent on a list topped by the powerful NFL at 31 percent. Golf, down two percent from 2009, figures to regain fans if Tiger Woods wins another major and stays away from waitresses at Denny’s. As long as there is a Michael Phelps, swimming can look forward to a percentage boost in 2012. As long as there is nicotine and standing pins, bowling will inhale and get its usual two.
With doubts about whether Pacquiao will ever fight Floyd Mayweather, Jr., however, boxing has nowhere to go. Nowhere but down, that is.
In 2010, boxing declined by one percent from the two percent it polled in 2009 and 2008. One more percent and it will fall to ground zero, alongside women’s basketball, golf and soccer. Women’s pro and college basketball, at least, has the NBA and Title IX to keep it afloat. But boxing has no sugar daddy. It only has its fans. The Harris poll indicates they are heading to the exits.
The poll also adds up to a message that screams for a new way to do business. Or else. Arum has heard it. Arum’s motivation for the move has been linked to several sources, according to various news stories and blogs. Discontent with HBO and the premium network’s relationship with Arum’s bitter rival, Oscar De La Hoya, is said to be one. I don’t know if it is. I also don’t care. It doesn’t matter.
Only boxing’s dire condition matters. Arum, the businessman, is moving toward CBS because its reach, 115 million households, represents marketing potential that HBO’s 28 million can’t match. There’s also the Latin population, the fastest growing demographic in the U.S.
Through CBS, Arum hopes to communicate with a larger and growing audience. In Pacquiao, he has international celebrity as a face for an attraction that might attract sponsors, introduce other fighters to a public that doesn’t know them from a lamppost and maybe – just maybe – return boxing to free-per-view.
In the process, Arum’s move might re-energize Pacquiao with motivation to fight on, even if that doesn’t mean Mayweather. I’m not sure if anything can heal Top Rank’s rift with De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions. But 115 million households instead of 28 million could create pressure from a public that wants good fights instead of a tired feud.
In announcing the deal, Arum told reporters that he thinks it will get everybody in the business to do things differently.
If they don’t, they won’t be doing business at all.
A good decision for the future
Phoenix junior-welterweight Jose Benavidez, Jr. (10-0, 9 KOs) fought to a decision for the first time Saturday in Las Vegas in a six-round victory over Fernando Rodriguez (5-2, 3 KOs) of Dallas.
“It was a good fight for him,’’ said Phoenix Hall of Famer Michael Carbajal, who was at ringside to watch the 18-year-old Benavidez for the first time. “You’re not going to learn anything by knocking everybody out. That was the kind of fight he can learn from.’’
Carbajal, who posed for photos with Benavidez, liked what he saw.
“He really has potential,’’ Carbajal said. “If he keeps working, keeps learning, he has a chance to really do something.’’ Benavidez, who no longer has famed trainer Freddie Roach in his corner, was bruised in the fight, the toughest in his young career. His father and trainer, Jose Benavidez Sr., said training had been plagued by problems, including the flu. Benavidez still suffered from flu-like symptoms about 10 days before opening bell.
Jose, Sr., said he and his son had a heart-to-heart talk about the difficult bout and what it means. Benavidez’ immediate future might include his first bout in his hometown.
Top Rank matchmaker Bruce Trampler said he is looking for dates and a Phoenix site for Benavidez hometown debut. He was scheduled to fight in the Phoenix area last year, but the bout was canceled because TV Azteca and sponsor Tecate did not want to do business in Arizona amid controversy surrounding immigration legislation, SB 1070. Trampler said TV Azteca and Tecate have given him clearance to do a Benavidez fight in the state. The controversy has subsided, Trampler said.
“He is just anxious to go back to work as if he was starting a new career,’’ the senior Benavidez said. “He knows he is at new level now. It’s going to get tougher.’’