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Showtime to exit Boxing after nearly 4 decades

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That’s a wrap, folks! Showtime is pulling out of the boxing programming niche after 37 years of “Showtime Championship Boxing” being aired with some of the biggest names and fights in boxing history. Showtime will exit the boxing niche at the end of 2023 according to Paramount Global, the parent company, who announced this today according to ESPN.

Paramount Global’s statement said: “As we evolve our strategy to more efficiently allocate resources and align our content offering across the business, we’ve made the difficult decision not to move forward with boxing and other content produced by the SHOWTIME sports team… SHOWTIME will continue to air and support the remaining 2023 boxing slate and honor obligations through the end of the year. We want to express our deepest gratitude to our employees who have contributed to this award-winning sports programming over multiple decades.”

Showtime hosted boxing matches often brought on by Al Haymon and PBC through an exclusive deal since 2013, even including names like Floyd Mayweather. ESPN says the PBC didn’t have a comment on this matter, at the time this was published. It’s unclear what happens next for PBC if Showtime isn’t showing their fights next year. Where will Al Haymon take the PBC bouts once Showtime pulls out of boxing for good?

PBC certainly has options with all the different streaming platforms making a dent into cable television and programming in general. There’s always places like Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, or even a cable TV partnership. There’s always pay per view as well, but not every card is a big money match that people are willing to pay for. Some are just good enough to watch, but not worth dropping big bucks for it.

ESPN’s report says DAZN may also be an option. DAZN “has a partnership with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing and Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions, sources told ESPN.” And what about YouTube TV? They could stream exclusively on there. Or could they?

Stay up to date on your boxing news to figure out where PBC ends up next and if Showtime really does pull out of boxing. Who knows, maybe they’ll change their mind – but I doubt it. I don’t think they would have announced their end ox boxing if it wasn’t serious. Especially after 37 years of boxing matches.

And don’t forget, Showtime still has some boxing on YouTube:

Photo from YouTube video

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Frank is a Phillies and Eagles fan, gamer nerd (Destiny 2, old-school Halo), and Dad who graduated from Kutztown in PA. He played lacrosse in college and the PBLA. He now plays rec league basketball in hopes to score once or twice, keeping the bench warm for everyone else. Frank works as a webmaster and ad/monetizing whiz for much bigger websites.