Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer and HBO Pay-Per-View boss Mark Taffet hosted a small press gathering last week in New York to discuss the marketing and sponsorship game plan for the May 5 showdown between Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather Jr. at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Titled the “De La Hoya vs. Mayweather Sports Business Forum” it offered a behind-the-scenes look at how Golden Boy Promotions and HBO through their own ingenuity and the financial support of various sponsors will make sure just about everyone in America, if not the world, is aware of the upcoming fight between boxing’s biggest star and it’s best fighter.

For more than an hour, Taffet used a detailed power-point presentation to breakdown various segments of the financial and business end of the bout.  No stone was left unturned:  Venue and Live Gate, Foreign Distribution, Closed Circuit, Merchandise, the pay-per-view industry, sponsors, marketing, programming, and advertising. Most of the time, stuff like that puts me to sleep.  But this was actually fascinating.

Simply put, if you don’t hear about De La Hoya-Mayweather sometime over the next three weeks, it means you’re either doing solitary in a state institution or you live on a deserted island without Wi-Fi.

Calling it “the most comprehensive plan in HBO pay-per-view history,” Taffet said more than 600 million consumer impressions will be generated in the market place promoting De La Hoya-Mayweather.  That’s more than two impressions for every breathing individual in the United States alone.

“Whatever you read, watch, listen to; wherever you eat, shop, work or play—you will know about May 5, De La Hoya vs. Mayweather fight,” Taffet said.

Here what you can expect:

·        Merchandise is already available in selected markets.

·        Radio advertising and programming in 28 markets.

·        Print advertising in major newspapers and magazines across the county including the New York Post.

·        Video coverage on major websites.

·        Special marketing programs with DirecTV, Dish Network, Comcast, Time Warner.

·        Television advertising on HBO, ESPN, BET and Hispanic television.

·        Special programming on urban radio and Univision radio.

·        Billboard advertising.

·        24/7, a groundbreaking 4-episode series on HBO.

·        Imprints on Tecate beer cans.

·        Posters, banners, and email blasts provided by Bally’s Fitness, Starwood Hotels, and Cazadores Tequila.

·        Sweepstakes promotions by Rock Star, Southwest Airlines and Circle K convenience stores. 

Schaefer is particularly proud of the unprecedented line-up of sponsors, which he hopes will lead to partnerships for future fights.

“We’ve taken it upon ourselves (at Golden Boy) to bring corporate America back to the sport of boxing,” Schaefer said.  “We hope if we can give these sponsors a positive experience aligning their brand with the sport, we’ll have these companies not only a fight by fight basis, but a multi-fight, multi-year basis.”

Schaefer might be nuts, but his big-picture plan is if he can collect enough sponsors to support Golden Boy Promotions, he’ll be able to buy network time and televise fights.

“Most sports sponsorships today are very expensive,” Schaefer said. “But boxing is so cheap for what you get.  If can convince the companies of that fact as well, it's the best deal in sports. If we can show them that we run a clean business, the next level is to approach an ABC or CBS and do a time buy because those networks are not just going to put boxing back on television. We’re going to have to buy a certain slot and then go out and sell the sponsorship and advertising.  If we have the sponsors tied in with us, they'll help us do that.  That's the key to bringing boxing back on network television."

With all the money being spent on the promotion, Taffet was asked what is the magic number in pay-per-view buys to make all the expense worthwhile.  "Anytime a fight does one million buys it's deemed a mega-fight and a success,” Taffet said. "We believe the fight has the potential to go beyond that. But things have to fall in place.”

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