Showtime is done with boxing and MMA.
In an internal email, Paramount executives informed employees that Showtime Sports, which oversaw major boxing events involving fighters like Floyd Mayweather and Gervonta “Tank” Davis as well as Bellator MMA, will be shut down at the end of 2023. Paramount president and CEO Chris McCarthy stated in an email that Showtime would be shifting resources towards more scripted material moving forward to drive subscribers to the network as well as the streaming service, Paramount+.
Paramount Global confirmed the news in a statement sent to MMA Fighting following an initial report from
Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Iole.
“As we evolve our strategy to more efficiently allocate resources and align our content offering across the business, we’ve made the difficult decision not to move forward with boxing and other content produced by the Showtime sports team,” Paramount Global said in the statement.
“Showtime will continue to air and support the remaining 2023 boxing slate and honor obligations through the end of the year. We want to express our deepest gratitude to our employees who have contributed to this award-winning sports programming over multiple decades.”
As part of the changes happening at the network, Showtime Sports president Stephen Espinoza was laid off after he held that position since 2011. Espinoza spearheaded much of the growth for boxing on Showtime, which included working with the UFC in 2017 on the showdown between Mayweather and
Conor McGregor.
Espinoza also took oversight for Bellator MMA when the promotion started airing events on Showtime but now that relationship is done.
“The company’s decision is not a reflection of the work we have done in recent years, nor of our long and proud history,” Espinoza said in a statement sent to Sports Business Daily. “Unfortunately, in a rapidly evolving media marketplace, the company has had to make difficult choices allocating resources, resetting priorities and reshaping its content offering. While today’s news is certainly difficult and disappointing, it is entirely out of our control.”
The decision to shut down Showtime Sports comes at a time when Bellator has been surrounded by volatility with persistent rumors that the promotion was up for sale. Paramount owns Bellator outright but the company has been seeking out potential buyers for several months.
Plans for a Bellator MMA sale may be heightened now that Showtime has announced plans to stop airing all combat sports events at the end of 2023. Right now, Bellator MMA only has one more show on the schedule — the upcoming
Bellator 301 card scheduled on Nov. 11 in Chicago.
It remains to be seen if that could possibly end up as the final Bellator card.
Meanwhile, Showtime gets out of the boxing business after airing events for the past 37 years, which included a number of hugely successful cards and pay-per-views. Most recently, Showtime had partnered with Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions, which included events featuring fighters such as Saul “Canelo” Alvarez as well as Terence Crawford and David Benavidez.
Benavidez vs. Demetrius Andrade is currently the only boxing event scheduled on Showtime for the remainder of the year with that card slated to take place on Nov. 25.