The long-running television network, Showtime, has been announced to be integrated within Paramount+, a streaming service that was launched around two months ago by mass media conglomerate Paramount Global. Showtime shows a number of different television programs, including boxing which is often televised, and even subject to PPV buys for the biggest of fights.

Paramount CEO, Bob Bakish, has already hinted at a possible merging of Showtime with Paramount+, after remarking that it “didn’t make sense to run Showtime as a 100% stand-alone organization”. Though Showtime has not been keen on publicly displaying their profit margins, it is reasonable to assume that their current programming did not result in a significant portion of financial gain.

Though it is still unknown if any of the boxing programs contributed to the alleged lack of profit for Showtime – due to a lack of transparency, there is a decent chance that Paramount+ will not feature the boxing matches that have become nearly a staple for Showtime in the past couple of decades.

Chris McCarthy, who will head the Showtime portion of Paramount+, has hinted at a possible exclusion of boxing within its network after highlighting their focus would partially land on their most popular television shows including as Billions, The Chi and Yellowjackets.

“To do this, we will divert investment away from areas that are underperforming and that account for less than 10% of our views,” McCarthy wrote in a memo, referring to Paramount+ looking to concentrate on its biggest programs. “We have already begun conversations with our production partners about what content makes sense moving forward and which shows have franchise potential.”

Though McCarthy’s and Bakish’s memos drive home to the point of them integrating both the Showtime network and Paramount+ to expand their customer base and garner larger profit gains, there are plenty of reasons to speculate on whether boxing is part of the areas that are “underperforming” and “account for less than 10%” of the network’s viewer count.

A similar instance happened less than a decade before when HBO World Championship Boxing, a program tied to the main HBO premium network that had featured boxing bouts for decades, was canceled after HBO launched their own streaming service in HBO Max, similar to Paramount+.

Boxing can easily be put on the wayside, if history is the indicator. HBO Boxing was canceled for multiple reasons, but at the forefront was a loss of profits, interest in the sport by subscribers and the rise of streaming services such as DAZN and ESPN+.

There have also been signs brewing of a potential collapse of Showtime Boxing after remarks made by Bob Arum where he compared them to HBO Boxing following its cancellation from the network.

“So I’m predicting also that within the next year Showtime will be exiting from boxing because, as great as they’ve been for boxing, they don’t belong. Does FOX belong in boxing? Of course they do. They’re a regular network that has a lot of sports. ESPN is perfect for boxing. That’s where it’s going. The world never stays the same. It always changes. Their time has now passed.” Bob Arum stated.

Showtime is best known for its ability to produce some of the best television of shows since the 80s. Showtime featured boxing matches relatively early on since its existence, and boxing became a regular part of the network’s programming in 1986 under the Showtime Championship Boxing brand. Showtime has, as of recently, incorporated other fighting sports such as MMA – through Bellator – within their programming, but boxing has been a regular feature for decades.

But even for a popular network such as HBO, boxing was set aside in favor of other forms of entertainment, and Showtime, regardless of its affiliation with boxing, is best known for its television shows rather than the sports they feature. With the rise of streaming services HBO was forced to look at the programs that were most profitable, and it seems that Showtime/Paramount+ may be similarly forced to make the hard decision to cancel their boxing programs.

Ultimately, it will be the profit margins that will dictate whether boxing will persist on Paramount+ going forward. In the meantime, boxing will still be featured for Showtime with its upcoming a pay-per-view program on March 25, with the WBC (interim) title bout between former WBO Super Middleweight champion Caleb Plant and former WBC world champion David Benavidez forming the main event for the attraction.