How do boxing promoters make money

The promoter has to find talented boxers, usually locally, who people will want to come and see at a fight or event. Once the promoter finds several people to set up an event, the promoter has to find a venue that will suit the needs of the fighters and fit an audience that is appropriate in size for the type of fight being held. The majority of expenses involved in this process, such as renting a location, hiring a referee , and arranging ticket sales, are typically handled by the promoter and this often requires finding investors.

A boxing promoter usually finds people with extra money who are looking for opportunities to invest in a somewhat unorthodox opportunity. These may be professionals with disposable income or boxing enthusiasts looking to help support local fighters and the sport in general. Regardless of where the money comes from, the promoter has to find a way to convince investors that a particular fight is a good investment. In this atmosphere where media conglomerates own many properties across the spectrum of broadcast, cable, premium and even satellite programming, they are starting to expand their horizons and operate more creatively for a potential constituency that has many more choices on their remote than they had when pay-per-view first became a prominent part of the boxing culture.

You can expect that activity on the part of HBO, Showtime and even ESPN which has a pay-per-view apparatus , all of which are owned by a different conglomerate, will reflect that into the future.

Listen Now:. Load More Articles. View More Episodes. The staff of BoxingInsider. Also, fighters are making, proportionately and literally, more than they would under that old model.

The promoter fee is negotiable, often depending on the scale of the event. Al is pushing every button. In the music business, Haymon learned that the leverage belonged to the headliner. He thought the same should be the case in boxing. The court concluded that the conflict of interest provision in the Ali Act was not intended to compensate promoters for lost profits. One week later, FOX announced a four-year licensing deal with them for a similar annual amount. The debate over his role continues.

But what is the moral issue if there is no legal one? The back and forth over whether Haymon is a promoter draws attention away from a more meaningful debate: Do boxers need a long-term promoter? Former two-division champion Paulie Malignaggi currently works with Showtime as an analyst.

One way is through social media. A Navigate Research study showed that sports fans were 67 per cent more likely to use Twitter to enhance their experience compared to non-sports fans. But most pound for pound lists have them on top. I believe there are other boxers as good or better than them. Arum works the media and tells them how great his fighters are. As it stands, there are no breakout stars in boxing other than Canelo Alvarez and Anthony Joshua. The next few years will determine whether this can be accomplished without a long-term deal with an established promoter.

They see how he operates. You want to put me on DAZN. Wilder has been on both sides of the fence. He fought under Golden Boy before becoming world champion. Yet he also believes a nascent prospect generally needs a promoter. Lou is not only a good promoter, but a good friend. But is there incentive for promoters to market a boxer without having them under an extended contract? He was never signed to Golden Boy, yet we worked together on all his fights from until I left in We shattered pay-per-view records.

Sometimes relationships without a contract are better than the ones with it. There are other issues associated with being tied to one promoter. The only way to get TV exposure for your fighters is to make deals with these other promoters and that means giving up control of the fighter. Boxers are encountering a similar problem. He should go on a fight by fight basis and see which network would make each PPV more money.

But not everyone believes a fighter must wait that long. His father advised him to start his own promotional company. Today, Haney is He also became the youngest promoter in boxing history when California granted him a promotional license on August Fighters may be independent, but fans do suffer for it. One major issue associated with most of these promotional free agents is their activity, or lack thereof.

A dedicated promoter guarantees boxers a certain number of dates.