Reports have emerged that ESPN’s eight-year-long broadcasting partnership with the Top Rank boxing promotion is coming to an end.
According to Front Office Sports, Top Rank’s deal with ESPN is due to expire in August while the promotion has the option to leave the contract early if it finds another partner.
Founded by veteran of the sport Bob Arum and incorporated in 1973, Top Rank has emerged as one of the biggest boxing promotions and remains a dominant force in the sport to this day.
Some of the company’s most notable fighters in the modern era include four-weight world champion Terrance Crawford and former heavyweight world champion Tyson Fury, though the latter has recently announced his fourth retirement from boxing.
The company’s remaining roster is still promising, however, and different media outlets are likely circling the rights should Top Rank ultimately part ways with ESPN. A likely contender is of course DAZN, which has become a dominant force in boxing in its own right in recent years.
DAZN is already partnered with two of the other biggest promotions in boxing, Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom and Frank Warren’s Queensbury, which count a huge number of world champions and contenders in respective portfolios.
Securing US and potentially global rights to Top Rank promotions on an exclusive deal would be a logical and ideal next move for DAZN to solidify itself as the dominant broadcaster for boxing worldwide.
Other contenders could include traditional broadcasters though, like NBC, which is the main US partner of the British boxing promotion BOXXER. Online streaming platforms Amazon and Netflix could also throw their hats into the ring, so to speak, with the latter potentially keen to build up its boxing presence following its coverage of the Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson bout last year.
In other news, separate reports have also emerged suggesting that the expiry date for the UFC’s negotiations with ESPN will fall on 15 April and the MMA promotion may not opt to renew its arrangement.
This too would present a huge opportunity for rights holders, arguably one even bigger than the prospect of securing a media partnership with Top Rank. The UFC dominates the global MMA market share, particularly in Western markets – some estimates put its market share in the US as high as 90%.
Again, DAZN could be a likely contender with the outlet’s main MMA property at the moment being the Professional Fighters League (PFL), a UFC competitor which has made its ‘co-leadership’ ambitions clear on multiple occasions.
