Popular American streaming service Amazon Prime appears to be shifting its television programming as popular sports such as NFL and NBA are set to be showcased on their schedule this year and the next. With these changes, combat sports programming appears to have become the victim of Amazon’s new approach with MMA promotion ONE Championship, formerly ONE FC, largely expected to no longer be included ― spelling a similar occurrence for Premier Boxing Champions which has already been faced with fewer pay-per-view events and inadequate promotional backing since working with Amazon Prime.
According to media and brand strategist in sports, Blake Avignon ― a pseudonym, MMA promotion ONE Championship’s deal with Amazon Prime Video is coming to an end. The streaming deal between ONE and Amazon Prime, which was first announced in 2022, would reportedly last for five years until 2027 but might end sooner following a disappointing three years in which ONE failed to gain any notable notoriety.
Though this premature split between the two companies has not yet been officially announced, Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) might very well become the next to be speculated to part with Amazon ― with boxing insider Rick Glaser supporting the theory of an impending end to their partnership:
“Rumors of PBC to ESPN are exaggerated. If there is any deal, ESPN would solely be a PPV distributor of the PBC PPV offerings, as Amazon Prime Video is dropping PBC,” Glaser stated on social media last week.
“PBC is not getting a Boxing content-rights deal like Top Rank has had for 8 years from ESPN. A little history, from 2015 to 2017 PBC stupidly paid for their airtime on ESPN. Then ESPN threw out PBC, in favor of Top Rank, & paid TR for their content. That entire scenario can not be ignored.“
However, despite at least two sources indicating an upcoming fracture is set to occur, PBC has shown remarkable resilience in surviving seperations from several broadcasters, and a potential break with Amazon Prime would likely benefit PBC given it has produced less shows since the partnership came to fruition.
With some of the NFL’s matches already broadcasted heavily on Prime while the NBA and WNBA’s regular season are set to feature on Prime this year and the next, there will likely be programmes cut; programmes that could easily include ONE and PBC. Though their commercial failure is hard to discern, as the numbers released regarding the performance of their shows can not be relied upon, PBC has lost its main attraction in Canelo Alvarez and with its face, Gervonta Davis, not fully expected to win his potential upcoming rematch against Lamont Roach Jr., there are little to no fighters left PBC can continue to build with.
The lack of name recognition can therefore be a contributing factor for PBC and Prime splitting. Especially given we are now in a period where Turki Alalshikh virtually reigns boxing through his Riyadh Season and The Ring-sponsored shows ― with DAZN taking a likewise top spot in prominence as the best broadcaster for boxing shows.
PBC might not be down for the count yet, but the walls are clearly closing in as the boxing landscape continues to shift. With the upcoming September 13th show between Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford set to be showcased on Netflix, PBC clearly faces a somewhat uphill battle to maintain its relevance ― yet it has done so quite well despite the challenges.
Given their ability to always land on their feet, PBC might yet survive this new era of boxing where collaboration between promotions is not only expected but almost compulsory if one where to remain a significant player.
As such, PBC finds itself on the brink of at least a potential comeback again depending on whether its partnership with Amazon Prime truly ends ― and depending on whether they are willing to swallow their pride and finally strive to play ball with their competitors.
