In less than a month from now, the megafight that the world has been waiting between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao will finally take place.
For any boxing fan, it’s been an eternity for this match to materialize.
For the sport of boxing, in the same vein, it’s been an eternity–a much longer one, at that–for the adoption of any kind of technological breakthrough to inject, itself, as part of the bouts.
However, the initiation towards a modernized version–at least how it’s consumed–is slowly gaining traction…
Just last month, NBC Sports created headlines by bringing boxing back on network primetime via its Premier Boxing Champions series. Fast Company reports that Haymon Boxing doled out $20 million to NBC to put those fights on that time slot per year, which was backed by investment companies in order to do so. Ordinarily, the network would have to pay for the rights to air for such programming. Instead, the aforementioned management firm was solely responsible for attracting the advertisers, themselves, as well as the marketing and promotion, keeping the revenues from this arrangement, too. In this format, even the headline boxers ended up earning more than had it been orchestrated by cable companies.
Customarily, shelling out upwards of $50 to watch a boxing via pay-per-view outlets is the norm. An average of 1.2 million and 734,000 viewers were garnered last year from championship fights on HBO and Showtime, per Fast Company. Given the emergence of mixed martial arts, Fox’s cable network received almost 4 million viewers in its most important broadcast last year as well. These figures shed light on potential growth opportunities before the chasm widens for boxing’s lack of mass appeal as a whole, sans for the forthcoming, preeminent fight of this generation.
Just as significant, though, as NBC’s boxing return to primetime pertained to the visibility of new technology to viewers, which has been in the works before this introduction. Some of it could’ve been seen live on TV; but the more compelling iteration was housed inside NBC Sports Live Extra app and its streaming service, where numerous cameras, sensors, and servers produced a technologically-driven boxing fight.
Welltec, a New Mexico-based manufacturer, provided the sensorized gloves and shorts to the boxers, where compiled data is transmitted for broadcasters and designers’ need for information and graphics, respectively. Aqueti, a camera company, supplied its 360, high-resolution devices to capture every angle from the fight, including a customizable one that could be attached to the referee’s headband for their vantage point. NBC Sports’ Chief Technology Officer, Anthony Bailey, claimed that these technological implementations would not support the sport’s scoring system or judgment in their broadcasts anytime soon.
Still, this development isn’t going to prevent other networks from ramping up their own efforts to compete in this space, boosting boxing forward into the 21st century.
Tonight, DIRECTV and Big Knockout Boxing (BKB) will debut its in-glove technology via PPV, headlined by middleweight champion Gabe Rosado versus Curtis Stevens at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Unlike traditional boxing, BKB launched last August and has been designed with the direct purpose to generate more knockouts, escalated action throughout. The key drawing of this format belongs to its circular fighting space known as “The Pit”, which is 17 feet in diameter and replaces the square dimensions and ropes associated with boxing. And two minutes rounds means little time for evasion–just non-stop, pure fury.
Well before NBC Sports’ technical showcase, however, it should be noted that the traces for this kind of venture stemmed from HBO’s ill-fated “the future of boxing” declaration in 2012. HBO’s similar technology was dubbed “PunchForce”, a sensory-based system that supposedly was tested hundreds of times but never made it to broadcast. According to FOX Sports, while it was granted approval by the Federal Communications Commission, PunchForce was left on the sidelines during the controversial Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley match–despite its capabilities to enhance instant replay. The ambiguity surrounding this device and HBO’s reasoning for not deploying it remains unclear, especially back then.
Chris Long, DIRECTV’s Senior Vice President of Original Content and Production, informs SportTechie that based on their understanding, HBO couldn’t master the aforementioned technology in real-time. DIRECTV was fortunate to bring together two companies, Elliott Fight Dynamics and Reality Check Systems, to share IP information and collaborate on how the chips in the glove communicates with graphic machines, syncing in with their EVS operations. Everything had to work in a calculated unison, timing being key for seamless integration. Long doesn’t believe HBO managed to do that well; DIRECTV caught lightning in a bottle, so to speak.
This technology, frankly, may not have been ready when HBO thought it would be. Over the past few years the tech had to evolve. The final product doesn’t happen overnight. For this device to come to fruition, it was instrumental for the manufacturer and TV graphics producer to partner. If these two entities are not already working together, then someone needs to align them accordingly.
Bottom line: DIRECTV wanted to find something that would differentiate themselves from everyone else; and this technology presented a good way of doing so, with an analysis of the hardest punch that measures speeds and pounds of pressure.
“For example, the yellow line in NFL broadcasts was a signature piece of technology; and so was the telemetry in cars during NASCAR race broadcasts. In sports TV, you’re known for your technology and how you illustrate certain points more than others. And this is what we decided to do with BKB,” explains Long whom previously worked at FOX Sports, with regards to deciding factors to include this high-tech for the broadcast.
The only main concern during this endeavor was to make sure all the respective parties understood the technology is for entertainment purposes–nothing more, nothing less than that. Since the chips just notifies what boxer threw the hardest punch–not whom has the best round–the ability to influence judges won’t be in the realm of possibility.
Considering that BKB has been developed by industry veterans and licensed by the Nevada Athletic Commission, they had to get the boxers’ permission as well as place a disclaimer on the screen that this technology is solely for entertainment reasons. DIRECTV received a one-event approval for this technology by the governing athletic body. After tonight, it will be up to the commission to evaluate it and determine whether they can continue to use it.
For fans watching, the graphics will be shown between rounds and at the end of the fight; the latter depending on how compelling the data proves to be based on what transpires. This will mark the first time this technology is shown by DIRECTV, contingent on the Nevada Athletic Commission’s foresight to acknowledge this can be a case study to change how people view boxing.
That said, this technology on its own won’t be a monetization driver–in spite of the reality that boxing lags behind the likes of MMA and WWE in interest.
“Our technology is not going to drive PPV buys,” Long states.
“It’s going to be the collection or totality of the fighters, the production value, and the technology that will set the value proposition for our customers, plus the price point is pretty reasonable,” added Long, with $40 and $30 options for HD and standard, respectively.
The in-depth information from this high-tech is a fair measurement of a boxer’s ability coupled with his training. It’ll be able to inform fans of boxer’s fights from the past and track tendencies as a guide for future bouts. A better viewing experience should at least begin as a byproduct of these high-tech gloves.
NBC Sports’ Premier Boxing Champions series produced the most-watched boxing broadcast since 1998, with a peak viewership at 4.2 million and more than 575,000 livestreams from NBC Sports Live Extra app. DIRECTV and BKB can project a favorable ratings outcome–although it’s on PPV instead of network primetime–as well due to the technologically powered gloves that are packed with new data.