EPIX's "Moneybox" Strategy

EPIX's "Moneybox" Strategy
Mark E. Ortega
Queensberry-Rules.com
July 12, 2012


Despite not being available in the same number of households or bringing the same kind of budget, the New York based premium network EPIX has, in a short amount of time, been able to make an impact on the boxing landscape by finding value where the “Big Two,” HBO and Showtime, don't see any.

A comparison could be made to the early 2000s version of Major League Baseball's “Moneyball” Oakland Athletics, of which a major motion picture and book was based on, starring Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill. Call EPIX's strategy “Moneybox.”

“If you say so,” laughed EPIX Executive VP and Chief Creative Officer Travis Pomposello on the analogy in a phone interview with TQBR on Tuesday afternoon. “Just don't make me Jonah Hill, I'd rather be Brad Pitt.”

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July 2011 Monthly Wrapup

July Monthly Wrapup

Mark E. Ortega

Leave-it-in-the-ring.com

August 1, 2011

On the first day of each month at Leave it in the Ring, lead writer Mark Ortega will be doing a summing-up of the previous month's action for those that may have missed out on some of it, or just want to relive some of it.

Fighter of the Month – Amir Khan

Though he beat a fighter in Zab Judah who had never won against a marquee name in his entire career [despite getting numerous opportunities], Khan instantly jumped to the top of the Ring Magazine 140 pound rankings with his fifth-round stoppage of Zab. Khan likely put himself in the running for a Floyd Mayweather, Jr. fight should Floyd beat Victor Ortiz like he is supposed to this September.

Arreola has chance to make history

Arreola has chance to make history

Mark E. Ortega

FightFanNation.com

September 25, 2009

To be the first Mexican anything in boxing is impressive, and Cristobal Arreola has a chance to do that tomorrow night in front of a basically hometown crowd at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, one of the best places to see a fight bar none. Not to mention the fact that it is HBO's lone televised bout tomorrow night, and it is being featured with a replay of Floyd Mayweather, Jr.'s dismantling of Juan Manuel Marquez that met a reported one million pay-per-view buys last weekend. Arreola is going to receive the ultimate exposure, and if he is somehow able to pull off the upset [Arreola is at least a 4:1 underdog most places], he would become the first heavyweight of Mexican descent to claim a piece of the heavyweight championship of the world, which was at one point the most prestigious championship in all of sports.

Kirkland-Angulo: As hot as it is going to get?

Kirkland-Angulo: As hot as it is going to get?
Mark E. Ortega
Freelance
March 12, 2009


Also eight other matchups and whether they would come off better now or later

There are fights out there that quickly grasp the attention of the boxing public, sometimes a bit too early in time for it to be a realistic possibility based on where in their careers those two fighters are. That is one of the many things that make our sport intriguing, it is all in the timing. It isn’t like football or baseball, where they play basically the same set schedule with a few differences here and there. In boxing, you never can guess where you will be eight months from now; let alone two to five years from now.

With that said, in boxing, many times a fight will start building up heat and excitement even if it doesn’t make sense at that exact moment for that fight to come off. Promoters are always trying to build a fight up so much until both guys are at similar stages in their career, near their projected primes, so that it makes the most money. A lot of times, this has worked and many fights have come together that took years of build-up to produce. It seems that fights like Hagler-Hearns and Tyson-Holyfield, despite their numerous setbacks, were always meant to come together the way they did, and it served the winners in both of those fights much better based on the timing.