Today, Showtime Sports and Premier Boxing Champions announced that they have entered into a three-year boxing programming agreement extending their long-term partnership. The deal calls for a monthly series of events presented by PBC to air live on Showtime, ensuring the networks dominance over the last few years in relation to their biggest competitor, HBO Sports.
The agreement also calls for Premier Boxing Champions to deliver content for a significant expansion of live boxing programming from Showtime Sports coming in 2019. The announcement was made today by Stephen Espinoza, President, Sports and Event Programming for Showtime Networks Inc.
2018 Boxing Upfront | SHOWTIME Sports & Premier Boxing Champions
10 marquee events across first half of 2018. 12 world champions. 14 undefeated fighters. 12 world championship fights.
Over the past seven-plus years, Showtime has developed the most comprehensive slate of boxing programming in the world, said Espinoza. We have consistently been recognized for making the most significant contributions to the sport of boxing, both financially and editorially. Building off our industry-leading live event schedule, this long-term deal with Premier Boxing Champions ensures that Showtime will remain the No. 1 destination for the worlds greatest fighters and their passionate and diverse fans.
Premier Boxing Champions is a live boxing series created by boxing’s enigmatic impresario Al Haymon under his Haymon Sports, LLC organization and features more than 160 boxers from around the world. Founded in 2014, Premier Boxing Champions boasts the largest collection of world champions from bantamweight to heavyweight, 14 in total and far more than any other entity in the sport.
Showtime and Premier Boxing Champions have collaborated to set the standard for live boxing where the brightest stars in the sport compete in the most compelling and competitive matchups on a consistent basis. Beginning with the defection of Haymon star client, Floyd Mayweather, Jr. to Showtime from HBO to the pulling of all the champions on the Haymon roster to exclusive deals under the Premier Boxing Champions brand, the game has forever been changed due to the moves of this team.
Premier Boxing Champions paved the way for Mikey Garcia’s triumphant return to boxing, established Errol Spence and the Charlo brothers as true champions and helped move the boxing needle from Las Vegas firmly to the County of Kings, otherwise known as Brooklyn, New York.
Premier Boxing Champions is pleased to extend our relationship with Showtime and continue our commitment to providing the best boxing events with the biggest stars across the most popular divisions in the sport, said Tim Smith, Vice President of Communications for Haymon Boxing.
In 2018, Showtime is delivering more live boxing than any other networkmore than 30 presentations in total by the end of this year. In 2019, anchored largely by Premier Boxing Champions events and including content providers from around the world, Showtime will present an even larger schedule with live boxing from virtually every level of the sportprospects and contenders, to world championship bouts, world title unifications and pay-per-view tent pole attractions.
By the end of 2018, Showtime will have presented more than 26 world championship fights, including four world title unifications and 10 bouts pitting top-five rated opponents from around the world.
Planning for the 2019 Showtime boxing schedule is underway, and the first slate of main event matchups will be revealed in January.
